Runout #16: Training Trends With Dan Mirsky


Training is everywhere … actual climbing, less so.

Are climbers training to get better at training, or are they training to get better at climbing? It’s hard to tell just based on what you see on social media. That’s why we decided to bring in an expert, someone who could to help us decipher what the latest trends in training for climbing, and maybe learn about what’s legit and what’s a waste of time.

Joining us today is Dan Mirsky, a professional trainer and a perpetually psyched rock climber. He is one of the few guys I know who literally warms up on 5.14.

This is The RunOut Podcast. Thanks for turning in. I’m Andrew Bisharat, and I’m here as always with my co-host Chris Kalous. In this episode, we ended up not covering as much territory as I would’ve liked. In fact, once the mics went off, we actually started getting into some more interesting stuff, such as why doing routes in the gym is a complete waste of time, even if you’re interested in training endurance. I think we’ll probably have to get Dan on again so we can to dive into some of these other training topics.

If there’s anything you’re interested in hearing discussed, feel free to email us.

On that note, since we’ve been doing these episodes now for a few months, I think we’re starting to find our groove. We really haven’t done much in the way of promoting the podcast, so it’s been especially surprising and meaningful to see so much great feedback already. So, thank you for that. It means a lot. Obviously any reviews on iTunes help, and just sharing the episodes with your friends is also really appreciated.

Anyway, let’s get to it. Here we are with Dan Mirsky.


6 responses to “Runout #16: Training Trends With Dan Mirsky”

  1. Please bring Dan back and just do listener questions or something…love you but pretty much never learned so little about training in 40 minutes of discussion on training. Lol….!!!

    • That’s because you already know too much. Think of it as a primer. We’ll get him back for a deeper session.

      You laughed at the donut thing, though. Admit it.

      • I would eat the donuts. Steve Edwards food challenge. I will concur all you need is a hangboard. I’m also old(er) and bitter….I NEED to be on TAPS episode

  2. Just want to chip in on the point about the lattice guys data collection.
    I think what you missed there is that Tom and the guys at lattice can see quickly from the data, if your training should be focused on technique or strength. For example if you can hang the same as someone that can boulder 8b+ But you only climb 7b then clearly technique is your biggest bang for your buck! And of course if your climbing 7c+ and can’t do a one arm hang on a 20mm edge it’s more likely strength is holding you back.
    So I think the data is really a great tool to get people to train technique properly as it shows them where the gains are. I know you guys probably know all this… but thought it came accross a bit dismissive of what really is the foundation of how training works in all other sports.

    • Only just got round to listening , entertaining podcast.
      Have to say you’re way off the mark about Lattice. Their assesment and database measures all of the energy systems and provides feedback. So if your fingers are way stronger than the average at a grade but your anaerobic capacity and aerobic systems are below you can probably reduce your hangboarding for a while etc etc . Tom Randall has done the odd bit of crack climbing in the USA too.

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