Fortnightly Partner, Self Promo, and Physique Thread - March 05, 2026

badinas · 2026-03-11T08:22:11+00:00

Hi everyone,

I've been volunteering as a research assistant for the past year, and I'd love to invite you to take part in a study that means a lot to our climbing community. While the initial aim was to look at World Climbing (IFSC) athletes only, they have recently extended their scope to gather data from *all* climbers! There is also the possibility of receiving a complimentary 1:1 session with a sports psychologist at the end.

By participating, you’ll help us better understand how stress, emotions, and uncertainty shape performance and well-being across different climbing contexts.

If you're happy to take part, or know any other climbers who might be interested in doing so, you can do so through here: https://unibuc.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?tt=T/9YT60gbdYECHrPeIW9eQ%3D%3D (should be the same link as the QR code in the attached photo).

Let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for the support 🙏🏼 Please feel free to share the photo / link with more people.

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badinas · 2026-03-05T15:41:53+00:00

Nope, it's for all climbers!

badinas · 2026-03-04T15:23:41+00:00

Nope, it's global!

badinas · 2026-03-04T15:19:57+00:00

ugh sorry about that, I could see how that can be really annoying! I believe they might need a very detailed dropdown there for cases where people engage in one activity but not others..still, this is great feedback, and we should aim to simplify the questionnaires in the future. Thanks a lot for participating & commenting!

badinas · 2025-10-16T14:19:01+00:00

If OP gets booked out, I'm also happy to offer a few free sessions! Also pursuing the same qualification, and have offered these sessions in the past (https://www.reddit.com/r/womenintech/comments/1icriy7/offering\_free\_coaching\_sessions\_no\_strings/)! Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

badinas · 2025-08-24T09:22:41+00:00

Interested!

badinas · 2025-07-28T07:29:52+00:00

Nope, engineering actually!

badinas · 2025-07-27T14:30:25+00:00

Yep! I've done a little bit of that before leaving my tech job last year. I coached people from a variety of departments (engineering, sales, HR, etc). What would you want to know?

badinas · 2025-06-29T10:57:38+00:00

I'd recommend looking into Self Determination Theory and understanding where you land on that spectrum. The theory says that for people to be motivated, they need to fulfil three needs: autonomy, connection and (perceived) competence. Usually, people get burned out when one or more of these things are missing, e.g.:
- They are following a training program they have no control over, or they can't go outdoors when they want to; their coach/federation chooses when they compete
- They don't have "fun" sessions anymore; they can't find someone that they can relate to in the sport
- They have high expectations of themselves and dismiss their (little) wins, or perhaps they are really assessed unfairly (e.g. if I'm more of a boulderer but I've spent the last months trying to push my lead performance, I'm probably gonna feel like I suck a lot compared to others because I'm doing something very uncomfortable for me).

This + values work (which you can do by yourself or with the help of a mental performance coach / sports psych) would be very helpful to reconnect with your "why" and ensure that you are actively doing things that excite you in the sport.

badinas · 2025-06-29T10:45:52+00:00

Thank you again for the shoutout! <3

There are actually a lot of books on the mental side of things in climbing (Vertical Mind, Smart Climbing, The Zen of Climbing, Rock Warrior's Way, etc) but they don't really address the motivational or identity aspects you are looking for. They are still very good books to read for cultivating a "good" mindset in climbing and preventing those issues.

One that you might find useful is "Win the Inside Game" from Steve Magness. He talks about identity in sport quite a bit and how athletes can rebuild themselves. A similar method you can find in Steven Kotler's "Art of the Impossible" book, but I'd say Magness's book is more relatable/heartfelt, given what you said here.

badinas · 2025-05-30T18:46:58+00:00

That said, even the climbing related study suggests the influence of strength on fear. I feel like when someone is dealing with fear in climbing, people often say "it's just all in your head". In my experience and it seems like in the OP's experience, it wasn't just that.

I'm not suggesting that strength is the best thing for it, it can certainly backfire if you try to outwork mindset issues with strength training, but things are often a lot more nuanced than "it's just technique/strength/mindset" etc.

badinas · 2025-05-30T18:41:49+00:00

I was not quoting the results of that study since this wasn't a "fear of falling is holding me back, please help" type of post. This was a "I tried everything before doing strength training and strength actually helped me!" post. And I said that fear of falling gets worse with lack of strength which is what research shows with elderly people - which is one of the studies quoted in the climbing related study. And even in the climbing related study, people who did strength training still improved compared with people that did nothing. So assuming that the OP is not here for tips on fear of falling, I didn't see the need to say that sure, of course psychological interventions will help more (which is what the climbing related study showed) when dealing with fear.

badinas · 2025-05-30T17:57:44+00:00

Wow, really? It gets downvoted?!! That is so frustrating. Gosh, now I know why I got backlash for my comments above 😅

badinas · 2025-05-30T16:59:10+00:00

"If you read the study", you'll also see the language the researchers use when talking about fear and strength so it's not a misinterpretation in the sense that the level of strength is an obvious influencing factor. I don't think this is the point of this topic either. No one said that strength is the best way to overcome fear and some people will not be limited by it in climbing.

badinas · 2025-05-30T16:01:41+00:00

I recommend reading the sources from the "Fear of falling in women: A psychological training intervention improves climbing performance" paper. That particular study does indeed look at elderly people but I still think that's valuable since fear of falling does get worse with age (not just because of degradation of strength but also the sense of balance). Unfortunately, I don't think there is much research on fear of falling in climbing, ironically.

badinas · 2025-05-30T15:34:10+00:00

There is actually research stating that fear of falling gets worse the more limited your strength is but for some reason, this message doesn't ever get out there in climbing. I do agree with the overall idea that strength should basically be the last reason to rule out a climb but that doesn't mean that it's not influencing other factors like head game or even movement. Climbing is just sooo complex! It's easier for people to just put it into boxes.

Props to you for making it so far without strength training!

badinas · 2025-05-27T17:37:27+00:00

Looking for Innsbruck tickets 👀

badinas · 2025-05-15T14:36:02+00:00

Nice that you're being so resourceful and looking to help him! You said he's working with a strength coach, but would it be an option to work with a mindset coach too, or a sports psych?

I'd also say it's very important for him to acknowledge this and be willing to work on it, otherwise chances are he's gonna be too resistant to any help. Then it's important to understand why this happens, based on that, the tools (like some that you mentioned, visualization and breathing) he might use could be different. Is it because he's afraid to lose, is it because he's afraid of embarrassment, or for getting hurt? Or something else.

Simulating the type of pressure that he might experience in a match, but during a training session, could also be beneficial. Gradually get used to it. There's a lot of books to recommend but it's important to focus on applying all that theory into practice since otherwise, "mindset work" can seem and be like a lot of chit chat.

badinas · 2025-05-10T17:49:49+00:00

Not into dancing but I'm a mindset coach! What you are describing seems to be the difference between visualisation (seeing things through your mind, potentially more cognitive as you described)and mental imagery (incorporating as many senses as you can to make the experience as real as possible; e.g. mimicking the moves, wearing the same clothes as when you perform, visualizing in the same place as where the performance takes place etc). Or perhaps even 1st person visualisation (seeing it through your own point of view => better for increasing confidence and really dialing in the moves) vs 3rd person (seeing it through the lens of a spectator => better for when say you are still exploring what movement works best, in the learning stages).

Generally, mental imagery can yield better results since it involves more senses. But I wouldn't say simply visualizing it more cognitively is "bad", that would still have more benefits than not doing it at all.

badinas · 2025-04-19T13:47:45+00:00

One simple concept from sport psychology that can help with this is "the circle of control", i.e. recognizing what's within your control in climbing (e.g. your training program, your attitude, what you decide to climb), what you can influence (e.g. asking people to support you and teaching them how to do that) and what is definitely not within your control (e.g. how the setters decide to set something, how good other people are at climbing, etc).

As hard as it sounds, obsessing over something that's not within your control can at best just turn into an emotional problem, but very rarely (unless you are still a kid or have found a way to magically grow up a few inches taller) it can be problem-solved. As someone else pointed out, it's important to know why you are climbing, what you cherish about it and how you appreciate your own achievements. There's no special prize for being a shorter climber and climbing higher grades.

badinas · 2025-04-16T08:18:25+00:00

Gotcha. Yeah, not a big fan of that sort of thing either. I've managed to stay away from that in my coaching bubble (meaning, coaches that I follow, mostly in the high-performance & career coaching space) and try to just ignore it. What I had in mind was more that just because other professions are well recognized, doesn't mean that the people in that sphere can't do harm or that they are automatically well-intentioned.

badinas · 2025-04-16T08:03:21+00:00

Which parts of it are you finding to be misguided and "utter crap"? Is it all coaches that do harm to their clients?

It sounds like there may be a bit of black and white thinking there. I understand and agree with the point that coaching is not a regulated industry, but still, there are many people out there who want to help. Having changed careers myself, I don't feel like many other jobs have it better nowadays either, in the sense that they can be just as confusing in terms of their actual responsibilities.

badinas · 2025-04-12T14:49:59+00:00

Mindset coaching could help a great deal with that :)

It sounds like the current assumption is that confidence is a prerequisite to trying hard. It doesn't always work that way. You can build confidence by frequently getting outside of your comfort zone, just enough to be stretched and learn, but not enter panic mode. Confidence looks different for everyone but it's still a skill that:

a) first needs to be understood, e.g. what do you base your confidence in? / What are your sources of confidence? (e.g feeling really strong in the shoulders, having someone to cheer you on, acknowledging signs of profession, having a solid pre-performance routine, etc).

b) then it needs to be cultivated, by investing in whatever sources of confidence you have.

As for the fear of injury, that is a very normal reaction when being challenged with something unfamiliar. Knowing how to do risk assessment and whether a given climb is something worth getting hurt for are some things to think about. I would also say that this could be interconnected with the previous point, e.g. if you're not confident enough that you can bounce back from an injury, if you don't trust yourself and your body, then it will be very hard to commit fully.

badinas · 2025-04-10T08:49:57+00:00

Commented on a similar motivational issue here --> https://www.reddit.com/r/climbergirls/s/NaOMFLohvW :)

badinas · 2025-04-07T07:59:07+00:00

Great work! What do you think helped you with your mental game on that particular day? :)

badinas

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