Episode 36: Proven Plans with Blake Cash

Today we're officially releasing our new "Proven Plans," an option that lands between our simple eBooks and our completely individual customized plans.  These "Proven Plans" allow you to work with us in our mobile app, and they allow us to give you customizations and drills that aren't available in our eBooks.  The eBooks are extremely popular - and for good reason - but many of us need a little more personal interaction and something slightly more customized.  The "Proven Plans" answer that question.

Our coach Blake Cash does most of the work with clients in the "Proven Plan" system.  Here, we discuss the plans, how they came about, where their value lies, and what we've learned from them.  
 

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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Kris Hampton  00:31

What's up everybody? I am your host, Kris Hampton. Welcome to Episode 36 of the Power Company Podcast brought to you by powercompanyclimbing.com. I am sitting here right now in Lander, Wyoming, back home as the case may be, and the road trip has officially ended. We did our last climb at Devil's Tower a couple of days ago. I took Annalissa to the top of the tower. I actually told her on our very first date that I was going to take her up Devil's Tower. So I finally made good on that promise, nearly eight years later. And we got to hang out with Frank Sanders there, which was really cool, because I've corresponded with Frank for a long time. And it's it's really fun to meet such an interesting, inspiring character. I mean, the guy, the guy's still taking people up the tower every day, and he's damn near 70. Pretty cool. First off, I want to thank you guys. You know, I just went over and looked at some of the reviews on our iTunes, and I've been asking you guys to go and review the podcast. I'm looking for 100 reviews by the end of 2017. And we are over halfway there. Every time I've asked you guys to do something, you've responding. And thank you for that. That's amazing. I love it. I did have a question that I kind of want to answer because I didn't know the answer to it. Someone asked me how on earth do you review a podcast on your iPhone. And it's not super obvious. So if you haven't reviewed as yet, and you're listening on your phone, go right now, to do it, and I'll walk you through it. You can do it while listening to the podcast. So no need to pause it, you just go into your podcast app, you hit the search tab and enter The Power Company Podcast in the search. When it pops up, you tap on our logo, any of them doesn't matter which, just tap on the logo. That'll bring up the podcast and then you'll see a review tab there. If you tap on that review tab and then click write a review at the bottom of the screen. Then you can tell the world all about how cool we are and how you how obsessed you are with the podcast. Or you can just tell them how much we suck. It's really up to you. Be honest, that's all I ask. So So go ahead and do that now. Oh, wait. Okay, that's that's enough time. You guys can keep typing. While I'm talking here. I do want to highlight a couple of the reviews we've gotten recently. Number one from KevinMcCarthy01 he says, "Kris and Nate are incredible. These guys know their stuff. The podcast is on point with engaging discussions and great questions. You'll learn new skills to be a smarter and stronger climber. Shout out to the Boulder Better session they hosted at Climb So Ill. I learned skills to strategically attack a boulder and analyze my performance. Thanks, guys. And a shout out to BETA Fund because why not?" Absolutely Kevin, shout out to BETA Fund, because we love what you guys are doing over there in the Midwest. So thanks for coming out to to the workshop. And for doing the work you do over the BETA Fund. We appreciate that. And one other one we just got recently from Effie Love, he says, "Kris and Nate nail it more often than not." That's good to hear. I'm glad that ratio exists because I know sometimes we don't nail it. But he says, "They give safe sound advice that resonates with my own background as a rugby player and power lifter with a lot of formal strength training. Any climbers without much of a training background need to listen to this podcast." Thanks so much guys from the crew at the Obed. Thanks Effie. I really appreciate that. And he recently became a patron of the podcast which I also appreciate hugely. So thank you for that. And you know, if you guys haven't become a patron and you want to you can do that at patreon.com/powercompanypodcast and I'm actually working on some things right now that will give the patrons special access to episodes that only they can hear. And that'll be for all the patrons $1 a month and up. So If you want to get in on that, pretty soon, there'll be special episodes just for patrons. All right, today's episode is a conversation with our coach Blake Cash about our new Proven Plan system and why we went that direction and what that means and how it can benefit you, all of our clients. You know, if you if you don't have any intention of ever buying a training plan from us, which is totally cool, I encourage you guys to build your own and experiment with that and learn from it. Then, you know, you could maybe maybe even skip this episode, however, it's a shorty. And there are some some gems in here you can use to help build your own. So I encourage you to keep listening. But first, let's uh, let's get to know Blake a little bit. Blake was originally a client, and I actually didn't expect him to want to train. So it was a surprise when he did. And I was curious why?

Blake Cash  06:02

Well, I think I'd gotten by for quite a few years just based off my stubborn personality in rock climbing. And just kind of like, I'd always in the back of my mind thought like, Oh, you don't, you don't have to train you just have to like, get your head down and beat it against the wall. Repeatedly.

Kris Hampton  06:24

Yeah, like you'll keep improving along this linear. 

Blake Cash  06:27

Yeah, yeah. And you know, and I think that works to a certain point. And I got really good at trying a route for multiple seasons and just like, dumbing it down and dumbing it down and just getting closer and closer incrementally each season. And I think maybe our first season we traveled to Lander in the summer, I kind of realized that like, oh, there's this whole other style that

Kris Hampton  06:57

 Right. Yeah, pretty radically different.

Blake Cash  06:59

 Yeah, that I'm like, not very good at and and it was also a style that I realized that I needed to show up as strong, if not stronger, than the things I wanted to do, or else I was probably gonna hurt myself. 

Kris Hampton  07:13

Right. 

Blake Cash  07:13

You know, I remember, I remember pulling on the Stetson, on the Rodeo Wave. One year just randomly decided to like, check it out, like, Oh, it's just like, you know, 13c, it's like, can't be that hard. I've climbed 13ds, you know, and not doing any moves on the bottom. 

Kris Hampton  07:30

Oh, yeah.

Blake Cash  07:30

And being like, Oh, well, never doing this.

Kris Hampton  07:33

It's an angry little rock climb.

Blake Cash  07:34

Yeah. And so I think you know, that and then I kind of started hitting a wall here, you know, like, you're climbing...

Kris Hampton  07:42

Here in Chattanooga?

Blake Cash  07:42

Yeah the climbing around Chattanooga, for the most part is kind of characterized by, especially the rock climbing is characterized by like, just really hard cruxes. 

Kris Hampton  07:51

Yeah. 

Blake Cash  07:51

So you know, it's kind of less like the Red where you can climb yourself more or less into fitness for a lot of the routes for the most part. So I kind of realized that Oh, to kind of break through this plateau, I'm at I'm going to actually have to spend a chunk of time in the gym. And I kind of saw what you were doing. And you know, and I'd seen some of the blog posts you'd made about the app, and you were kind of doing this thing, and I decided to corner you.

Kris Hampton  08:25

And I'm glad that he did. You know, early on Blake, Blake really dug into the app. And I know, I wanted feedback. I wanted to know how I could make it better. And he was more than willing to give that feedback and, and he kept asking how he could help. And I had no idea. I was just starting this business. And, you know, the way it started was just I said, you know, help me transfer these blog posts over from Blogspot to Squarespace because it was a pain in the ass and I didn't want to do it. And he jumped right in and did that. And he said, you know, what's next? What can I, what else can I help with? And you know, and, you know, ultimately, the thing that he said to me that made me want to pull him in and figure out a spot for him and how to make it work was he said that he, you know, believed in this movement that I was trying to build, and he wanted to be a part of it. And he was willing to take on whatever tasks I needed. And it didn't take long to discover that, that he was really good at communicating with me and about feedback and you know, how we could improve what we were doing.

Blake Cash  09:39

Yeah, I think I think my personality, I've always been like, I like to make lists. I like to like check boxes. I'm good at holding myself accountable if I have something that I can look at, and I can see. 

Kris Hampton  09:53

Right. 

Blake Cash  09:53

Um, so I think from a training perspective, I think being able to pull it up on my phone, look at it, see what I'm doing that day and go into the gym and not be distracted because I have these things that I have to do, have an objective. And that's kind of the way I approach outdoor climbing too. You know, I'm, I feel like I perform better and I train better when I have a big objective. All of a sudden, I like don't have anything that I'm necessarily excited on. I tend to like get untethered, and don't really care so much about what I'm doing. 

Kris Hampton  10:31

Yeah. 

Blake Cash  10:33

So I think knowing that about the app, and the training and the things that we were doing, suited my personality. And then I think I had always, you know, when I was in college, I I went to school, I started out trying to be a personal trainer. But I don't think it was the right time for me to do that. 

Kris Hampton  10:59

Why did you want to become a personal trainer to begin with? 

Blake Cash  11:01

Well, I'm...

Kris Hampton  11:01

What brought that on?

Blake Cash  11:02

 So I play I played soccer, in college. And during our off season, we'd always you know, like, in soccer, you know, you kind of like, in the off season, you lift a lot. And I was one of the smaller guys on the team. 

Kris Hampton  11:20

You know, welcome to my world.

Blake Cash  11:21

 Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm not that small of a dude in the climbing world.

Kris Hampton  11:25

 Yeah.

Blake Cash  11:25

But I played at a D2 school. They were actually the second ranked team in the nation for D2, but the thing about D2 is there's no age limit. 

Kris Hampton  11:36

Okay

Blake Cash  11:37

So my coach would, I was actually one of I think,  four US players on the team. Everyone else he brought over from like Finland, or Norway. And when we had like a guy that was 32. 

Kris Hampton  11:50

Wow. 

Blake Cash  11:51

And I was 18. But those guys are huge. And so I spent a lot of time working with a personal trainer in the off season, instead of just kind of lifting in the gym with all the other guys because I was not that big. 

Kris Hampton  12:07

Right.

Blake Cash  12:08

 And I remember really liking the kind of like, the one on one kind of relationship that I had.

Kris Hampton  12:17

 Yeah.

Blake Cash  12:18

 And my coach was also a personal trainer before he became a soccer coach. So he kind of was pushing me in that direction, too. So I kind of played around with it for a while. I like, for lack of a better word, interned with the guy that I was personal training with. Basically just wound up like not doing it, for I don't really have good reasons.

Kris Hampton  12:42

I think when we're 18, we just, we're easily led astray. 

Blake Cash  12:45

Yeah, you just try out a bunch of stuff. And you don't really do any of it. But yeah, so yeah,

Kris Hampton  12:52

Yeah. So you know that that one on one relationship, I think is one of the big components of these Proven Plans that the ebook doesn't have.

Blake Cash  13:03

 Right.

Kris Hampton  13:03

You know, I think the ebooks are a great way to, to dip your foot into training. And if you're very self motivated, and can hold yourself accountable, then they're great. But having that relationship with a coach is a really important part of it. 

Blake Cash  13:22

Yep. 

Kris Hampton  13:23

You know, and I think there's a huge human element to climbing that the ebooks can't address. 

Blake Cash  13:29

No. 

Kris Hampton  13:30

Because I can't go in there and write about all the different parts of psychology and emotion that go into this thing. Yeah, you know, it would be a book, and it would cost a lot more. So. You know, is that something that you're finding with these Proven Plans that there's a lot of the you become life coach as much as climbing coach?

Blake Cash  13:50

Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, when you choose to go all in on something like training, you know, and a lot of these people that are doing these plans they have, they have goals, however specific or vague they might be. You know, it might just be you know, climbing a letter grade harder at the local crag, or it might be specifically like, I want to do this boulder.

Kris Hampton  14:17

 Yeah.

Blake Cash  14:17

 Or I want to do this route. And I think when you kind of are able to flip your brain into working towards that goal, you start to come up against a lot of demons that you didn't realize you had. And I think that is something that I see kind of coming out of people that I that I work with, sometimes just kind of dealing with those uncertainties. And, and, you know, personally, I've dealt with a lot of that. So I have, I feel like I have a bank of experience that I can kind of talk to these people about it.

Kris Hampton  14:57

I think it's important for them to have a you know, a neutral voice.

Blake Cash  15:02

 Yeah. Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  15:03

Who is not just trying to talk to their friends. It's more someone who's been there been through it, that isn't going to bullshit them and tell them oh, no, you're doing great when you're not doing great.

Blake Cash  15:16

Yeah, or isn't so, you know, like, so invested in their success that, like, I'm gonna tell them everything they want to hear. 

Kris Hampton  15:23

Right, exactly. So, you know that if someone is causing themselves to be, to fail, for whatever reason, you know, either it's too crowded at the boulder they want to do so they won't try it. Or if the, you know, they're afraid of people watching them in the gym or whatever, you can point that out to them through their messages.

Blake Cash  15:49

Yeah yeah. And they're, you know, I see, you know, I look at the notes that people leave, you know, I get, I get an email every morning, you know, telling me what people have done the day before. And I can like, scroll through it. And I see the notes people leave. And you know, I read them, because I'm interested in what people have to say what their experiences are with their workout from the day before. And you can definitely pick out patterns that people are going through. And, you know, when I start to see something that I think is pertinent needs to be addressed, I'll shoot that person a message, like, Hey, you want to chat about this? You know, I've been seeing this for the last week. And it seems like you're maybe having a negative experience with your training. And generally, that person just wants to be heard. 

Kris Hampton  16:37

Yeah, totally.

Blake Cash  16:37

 You know, they just want their feelings validated. But they also want to be told like, Buck up.

Kris Hampton  16:45

Yeah, yeah. And you know, this stuff is, it's hard, frankly. That's, that's why so many people fail at it.

Blake Cash  16:51

 Yeah.

Kris Hampton  16:51

 It's why so many people start training, and then they bail out. Its because it fucks with your head, you know, if your training is more about failing than it is about succeeding and spending three months in a place where you're failing almost all the time is hard.

Blake Cash  17:11

Yeah. And I think, you know, I think something that a lot of people don't realize, at first, especially if they're new to training is that you're not going to get better in the first couple of weeks. You're probably not going to see many gains in what you're doing. And that's generally when I get the most, you know, stress mail from people. Its in those first couple of weeks, and they're like, I feel like crap.

Kris Hampton  17:40

 Yeah.

Blake Cash  17:40

I felt horrible on this workout today. 

Kris Hampton  17:42

This is making me worse. 

Blake Cash  17:43

Yeah, I'm getting worse. I'm, you know, falling off the hangboard. I can't do whatever,  pistol squats. I can't complete any of my circuits, etc, etc. And you know, like, you're, you've done seven workout days.

Kris Hampton  18:01

Yeah, yeah. And sometimes it takes time to connect with the workouts too.

Blake Cash  18:04

 Yeah, exactly.

Kris Hampton  18:06

 I mean, even when I go in and do a workout that I've written, it takes me a few sessions before I'm like, Oh, I'm starting to feel the groove of this thing.

Blake Cash  18:14

Oh, yeah. I got my ass kicked last week. I think I actually texted Erynn, I'm never gonna do this workout ever again.

Kris Hampton  18:23

Totally. You know, that's just the nature of it. So yeah, keeping people on course, is a huge part of it. 

Blake Cash  18:32

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  18:33

So before we get too far here, let me let me just rewind, you know, what is a Proven Plan? And how does it work? Basically, you know, I think it's probably easiest if I give you the quick, brief history of how these things came about. So when I was first writing custom training plans for people, I did it, you know, via Google Docs, and via MS Word, and, you know, just delivered PDFs to people, and then had to have long conversations with them about, you know, describing each exercise, and I didn't have videos for everything. So it made for a laborious, not very efficient method. And that's when I started developing the app that we now use to deliver our training plans through. But I didn't want to let those old school paper plans go to waste. And in the process of building those I had come up with, you know, the basic templates that were required at each level. For most climbers, you know, if you're a 5.12 climber looking to go to 5.13, there's some basic things that most people in that category need. And those templates became our ebooks, which were and still are wildly popular, and you know, they're at a really low price point. And then our custom plans are at a much higher price point because it's a lot more work and it's customized to each client, built from scratch, but I wanted something in between. And that's when I decided to take our ebooks, give them some important updates, and load them into the mobile app. And that became these Proven Plans. Okay, so how does it work? You know, essentially, once you purchase the Proven Plan that best fits you or we can help you choose which one best fits you, we send you a liability waiver and a set up email to download the app and set up an account. And you'll fill out a consultation form that lets us know where we can make a few adjustments that all personalize the plan a little more. And then the plan is delivered to you via our mobile app, which is available for iPhone and Android. And, you know, you get workouts. Each workout laid out for you for each phase of your training plan. And those exercises come with videos and descriptions. And we let you sort of build your own schedule, because everyone's is different. So we aren't trying to force a specific schedule on you, though, we can help you with scheduling, because you have constant, you know, communication with your coach. And I think that's a really important part of these Proven Plans is the the interaction that we can have, and these these personal, this personal communication that you can have with your coach, and I think that's invaluable, frankly. You know, so so essentially, I built these things, because there was a, you know, a gap that I needed to fill in what I was offering to people and but there was there was something I hadn't even realized about the value of, of these plans for you guys. I think another reason people really like having these plans is, and this goes for the ebooks as well, but also the Proven Plans is because there's so much fucking information out there. Yeah, to sort through and wade through and, and I think if you're left to your own devices, like we were talking about earlier, you pick out the things you already are good at. 

Blake Cash  22:11

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  22:11

And that you want to do, because they sound fun instead of they sound hard, you know. So if you're left your own devices, you make a training plan that is going to get you exactly where you are right now, instead of making you better. 

Blake Cash  22:26

Yeah, exactly. 

Kris Hampton  22:27

And I think that's the cool thing about having these Proven Plans available is, especially for people who haven't trained or who have hit a plateau, there's a really basic formula to get through that with some changes, you know. And a lot of people don't know what that formula is, because there's so much bullshit out there to wade through.

Blake Cash  22:50

Yeah, and I think I think an important thing to know about the Proven Plans is that this the concepts and the ideas, and that kind of, to me define what The Power Company kind of believe in, are present, whether you're doing a custom plan, or you're doing the Proven Plan.

Kris Hampton  23:11

Yeah, totally.

Blake Cash  23:12

 Like, you can look at, you know, a strength phase in one of the Proven Plans, and you can look at a strength phase that's custom built. And, you know, they're relatively similar in terms of like, you know, the way we get people to train skill, and you know, the way we get people to train strength.

Blake Cash  23:35

Yeah, the only difference is that the custom plans are a little more pinpointed.

Blake Cash  23:39

 Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Kris Hampton  23:41

 Looking at that specific person and their specific goals and in their specific experiences.

Blake Cash  23:47

 Right. Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  23:47

And in general, yeah. 

Blake Cash  23:48

And when, you know, we get people that have really specific, you know, goals for themselves, you know, and if that doesn't fit into what the Proven Plan can do for them, we send them by way of a custom plan.

Kris Hampton  24:02

 Yeah. 

Blake Cash  24:02

Which I think is, you know, also important to know that, like, people aren't going to be led astray, based off of, you know, a Proven Plan or a custom plan. But I think the gains you're gonna see out of the Proven Plan are just as much as out of a custom plan. 

Kris Hampton  24:21

Oh, yeah, definitely and, you know, if I have a 5.14 climber who has some really specific weakness, then I'm not going to say we have a Proven Plan. 

Blake Cash  24:32

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  24:32

But if you're a general 5.12 climber, and you're pretty good at 5.12, then making that next step, there's a lot of different ways you can improve. 

Blake Cash  24:45

Yeah.

Kris Hampton  24:46

You know, and, and what these Proven Plans do is give you a roadmap to how to get to that next level. 

Blake Cash  24:54

Yeah

Kris Hampton  24:54

You know, and and you make some customizations. I mean, if you don't have the equipment available or, you know, the time available, there are some simple little changes that you can make. And you talk with them about and can implement those things.

Blake Cash  25:09

Yeah, you know, and I mean, you know, you have people who have specific skills they want to work on. And you know, and that's not, maybe that's not present, you know, like those are, those are all things that I can do within the confines of a Proven Plan and still hold true to the integrity of the Proven Plan.

Kris Hampton  25:25

Yeah. You know, one place, I think that the ebooks fall short is that, you know, when we, and this is a, this is a strange, and I go back and forth on this, I think that simple is good. And you don't always need to have the new cool toys, you know. But one thing I would like to be able to do with the ebooks is update them easier. And really you can't do that. Once they're in someone's hands, you can't update it. You know, you can update what you have, and then put them for sale out there again. But midstream, you can't update what people are doing, you know, and and that's one of the things I really like about the Proven Plans is that if we discover a drill or come up with a drill, that's super, super effective and we all really love it, then we can just pop it in there. And then every person from then on is going to do you know they're going to have that drill. 

Blake Cash  26:27

Yeah.

Kris Hampton  26:27

 And and these drills, I think are the bread and butter of what we're doing here. 

Blake Cash  26:33

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  26:34

You know, building these movement drills and technique drills and really teaching the core principles of climbing and why it works as opposed to making people better climbers, as opposed to just stronger climbers. You know, that stuff i think is relatively easy. Like you go hangboard, you lift weights, you limit boulder.

Blake Cash  26:59

Yeah, we all know how to get stronger. Lift heavy shit. You hang with heavy shit. 

Kris Hampton  27:03

Yeah, it's the getting better that's really tough, you know. And if you go look at any other, any other source, be it Climbing Magazine, or Rock and Ice or other coaches or whatever. Oftentimes, what you see is practice heel hooks, practice drop knees, you know, and that doesn't tell you a fucking thing really. 

Blake Cash  27:26

No

Kris Hampton  27:27

If you don't understand the heel hook or the drop knee, what are you practicing? You know, it's it's the super vague information that doesn't do its job really.

Blake Cash  27:39

Yeah, there's so much that goes into a heel hook, you know, like, how do you...

Kris Hampton  27:42

I think it's our movement drills that are that are the real money. 

Blake Cash  27:46

Yep. 

Kris Hampton  27:46

You know, and those are a huge portion of these Proven Plans. Are you...what feedback are you getting from your clients with the movement drills?

Blake Cash  27:56

I mean, people are psyched on the movement drills, I think. I think most people haven't had to really put that much thought into their easier climbing before, which I think is at first is can be challenging for people. But I think what I tell people is as long as you're focusing as hard as you can, on whatever drill you're doing, you're getting something out of it, and it will get easier. 

Kris Hampton  28:28

Yep. 

Blake Cash  28:29

And I think I think a lot of people one that people really seem to connect with are the are the rooting drills?

Kris Hampton  28:38

 Yep.

Kris Hampton  28:38

Which I know know, been discussed multiple times in other podcasts, but I think like, if I had to pick one drill that really I think, set us apart, I think like the concept of rooting, and even you know, the rooting level two.

Kris Hampton  28:55

Yep. I get so many messages from clients who are like, Oh, I sent my project today. Thanks, rooting.

Blake Cash  29:00

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think. And I mean, I still I use it all the time, you know. I think I think the cool thing about the skill practice and the drills that we give people is, it's also something that I've personally noticed, is that it gives me something to focus on when I'm outside too. You know, that whole idea of like, you know, when I'm in a really hard crux of a route, or boulder, you know, like, I can focus on those specific things like the rooting and the tension. And generally that is the trick.

Kris Hampton  29:45

Yeah. And, you know, I think, I think this is something that we didn't necessarily do intentionally. But I think it's a really interesting byproduct of these movement practices that we implement is that awareness and intention is something you also need to practice. 

Blake Cash  30:04

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  30:05

And by giving people these, these points with which to focus on and things to be aware of, and this intention to bring into their session into into each exercise and each warm up, they're doing 

Blake Cash  30:18

Yep.

Kris Hampton  30:19

 That builds their ability to be aware, and to have intent with every move. And definitely when, when you go outside that transfers over, you know. There's a lot about training in the gym, that's tough to make transferred outside. But your ability to have awareness at what you're doing and what your body does while you're climbing, it that transfers over 100%, I think.

Blake Cash  30:47

Yeah

Kris Hampton  30:48

 And I think that's one of the huge takeaways that I don't know if we even I didn't maybe Nate had that in mind. I don't know. But I think that's one of the big takeaways that we never discussed or thought about.

Blake Cash  31:01

Yeah, and then, you know, it's, for me, it's definitely maintaining that level of like, present mind when I'm training is hard. You know, I'll go 20 minutes through something and realize I haven't been paying attention to anything, I know what I've been doing. And then having to go back and refocus on what I'm doing, you know, specifically those kind of more nebulous drills, like the rooting or the, you know, the different speeds, you know, like the slow, smooth contrast. You know, sometimes I'm like, I just climbed this boulder six times, and it's just all the same.

Kris Hampton  31:43

Yep, totally

Blake Cash  31:43

I know what I did. And I think mindfulness is a practice just like any other part of your climbing, it's training in and of itself. And I think the more you can focus on what you're doing, and why things work, and why they don't work, I think, the better of a climber you are, and I think we're all we're all stronger than we give ourselves credit for. I just think it's learning how to turn that on

Kris Hampton  32:12

How to access it 

Blake Cash  32:13

And how to access it, and how to activate those parts of your body more, and I think that's where these drills really shine is in kind of, like, identifying your strength.

Kris Hampton  32:25

Yep. And they're a huge part of every session.

Blake Cash  32:27

 Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  32:28

And I just had a phone conversation with one of my guys yesterday, Tyler and, and he pointed out that, you know, early on, in his, in his climbing practice, he was just going through the motions with the drills, like, just expecting, I'm going to do this drill, and then something's going to work.

Blake Cash  32:46

Yeah. And I see, I mean, I've seen that from people here. You know, there's some people that I work with, or you work with that live here in Chatt. And I've seen them in the gym, and you know, they just kind of turn their brain off. And they're like, yeah, I'm rooting.

Kris Hampton  32:59

Yeah. And I think that's the first step for a lot of people. 

Blake Cash  33:01

Yeah, yeah

Kris Hampton  33:02

You know, because, because that's what a drill like practice heel hooking, that's what  that's what that seems like. I'm just gonna go stick my heel on this hold and do it. And eventually, something's gonna click.

Blake Cash  33:11

Yeah yeah

Kris Hampton  33:12

You know something will happen, and I'll be a good heel hooker. 

Kris Hampton  33:14

 And I don't think that's the way it works. And Tyler pointed out that that's what he was doing at first. And maybe just through the, you know, the sheer volume of keep hammering away at these drills, he's started to really connect with some of them and, and feel like, feel like they're making a huge difference. And it's climbing, you know, more, so maybe even then the, than the, you know, get, get more endurance, get more strength sort of exercises that we do as well. And, and, of course, those things are important. And, you know, we have all sorts of options on how to get those things, depending on your equipment. But, again, I think the bread and butter is in these movement drills.

Blake Cash  33:14

Haha yeah.

Blake Cash  33:58

I agree.

Kris Hampton  33:59

 Yeah, I think we're making better climbers, which is, which I think is better than making stronger climbers, frankly. 

Blake Cash  34:05

Yeah, I agree. 

Kris Hampton  34:06

Yeah. And we're not we're not trying to be super secretive here, you know, all of our movement drills. I mean, at least the ones we've made videos for what usually happens after they've been proven effective. Now, those can all be found on our YouTube page, which is Power Company Climbing, you should go subscribe. And, you know, of course, that doesn't include how to program or progress the drills or, you know, why you would include these drills into the plan, which is was different for every person, honestly. And that's the, you know, that's part of what you get with these Proven Plans, is, you know, you get our expertise and, and programming these drills. And, like I said, making better climbers. And speaking of which, I got an email from one of Blake's clients Andrew Andress, who is a climber in South Africa that Blake mentions in this next segment. And after he finished his first round and the Proven Plans, he wrote, "Hey Kris and Blake, just wanted to write a quick note and say thanks for all the training. It is super valuable, well worth the price of the program. But I'm really talking about value added to Lindsay's and my climbing experience as a whole. We're both feeling so much stronger and more confident and really enjoy going into each session with a plan that we know produces results. And, you know", he went on to write, speaking of learning, "another Power Company Climbing customer, Tyler Algeo was just in Kenya, and he came up to the gym for two nights. That was awesome. Having someone here who speaks the language, he really took some quality time with Lindsey and I working on our limit techniques and approaches, as well as helping us understand the level two rooting. So even more kudos on training clients who are willing and happy to help. Even though he's not a coach, he was able to pass on some things he learned from training with Kris, that were just awesome, really great work, we're happy customers." And, you know, that's, that's all I need to hear to know that these things are both effective and valuable. And having Blake work with these clients and pass on the things that that I deem extremely valuable, the, you know, both the idea of learning and awareness, as well as just feeling stronger, and the community aspect of what we're trying to build here. You know, that means a lot to me, you know, and of course, I want my, my coaches to continue learning as well and learning from their clients. So I asked Blake, you know, if there was anything he was surprised by, in this journey of, you know, becoming a communicator, you know, the way that he has.

Blake Cash  36:49

I'm finding myself, and I think you've mentioned it before, too, as excited about the success of the people that I'm working with, as I am my own. 

Kris Hampton  37:00

Yep. 

Blake Cash  37:01

Which I think is really cool, you know, and I think these people, I think when you train people, and you work with people, you get a it's a pretty personal thing, you know, those  kind of relationships you build with those people, you know, even people you've never met before. You know, just like, I was training a couple, they live in Kenya, you know, and talking to them every, every week. And you know, they just emailed me back, and they're psyched to start again. And, you know, just kind of hearing about their successes. And yeah, how they're so much stronger than they were before they started the plan, I think is really exciting to me, you know, because like, yeah, it's nice to be validated, like, oh, man, this stuff works. It really does work. And you know, and over every time I hear from someone, I'm like, of course it works. But I'm like, Oh, yeah, it does work. 

Kris Hampton  37:54

Haha yeah. 

Blake Cash  37:55

You just kind of keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, like, oh, man, it doesn't...no, no, it does. Every person's like, man, it works.

Kris Hampton  38:02

Yeah, it actually works. That's good. And I'm, you know, I'm hearing from your clients as well, because I reach out to everybody now, and then, you know, see what's going on and see if they need anything. And, you know, I'm aware that I was the face of this thing when it started, and that a lot of people end up on board because of me. 

Blake Cash  38:21

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  38:22

But I don't think that, you know, I'm the last stop. So, I think that having you and Nate on board is huge. And, and I've talked to a lot of your clients, and they, you know, across the board, all of them are like, it's been really great working with Blake. He's, you know, he answers my messages and, you know, gives me great insights into what I need to be doing. And so they're all having a great experience. 

Blake Cash  38:50

That's good to hear.

Kris Hampton  38:50

 And I think that, you know, I could put out, frankly, I could put out a million different training plans, you know, for, I could dial it down to, you know, all sorts of little things that need to change for different types of people. And I could sell all those and never have a, you know, personal experience with anybody. 

Blake Cash  39:13

Yeah,

Kris Hampton  39:13

But but that's not what this is about, you know, that that would suck. And we're trying to build this. The number one idea that you and Nate and I have talked about, is building a community around this thing. 

Blake Cash  39:29

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  39:30

Because like you said, it's, uh, you know, there's these personal relationships are so important. And, and I think that's what I'm seeing right now is your strength is that you're, you're really good at communicating with these people. Even if it's in short, little communications, they're getting a lot out of it. So, you know, I I value that a ton. And I'm glad that you're at the helm of this Proven Plan thing. So...

Blake Cash  39:59

Yeah, it's good. I mean, you know, I want to make sure that everyone has as much information as they need about what they're doing. You know, I mean, even if it's just like little cues to focus on everything from that the life coach thing we were talking about, you know, I think it's a, it's fun to talk to people and get to know them and make sure that everyone's all the bases are covered.

Kris Hampton  40:26

Yeah, yeah. Cool. All right, man. I think we've got everything we got covered enough. Okay, I hope that gives you a better idea of what our Proven Plans are about, we've had tons of questions from people on, you know what the differences are. And if you want to learn a little more, or just explore the options over there, you can go to powercompanyclimbing.com. And click on the Proven Plan banner at the top of the page. And that'll, that'll take you to a page that explains quite a bit of what's going on over there and shows you some of your options and links you to all the others. And, you know, most of you who sign up, we'll be working with Blake, some of you will also work with Nate or myself. And if you happen to want to do the Kettlebells For Climbers Proven Plan, which is going to be brand new today, then you'll be working with Paul Corsaro, who is our strength and conditioning coach over here and an amazing strength and conditioning coach. So you know, we've got options for all sorts of all sorts of people looking for all sorts of things and really every level of climber up to a certain point where you know, you obviously need a custom plan, but please definitely go look into it. And one more time. If you haven't given us a review yet over on iTunes, we're looking for 100 by the end of 2017. We're over halfway there. So please go do that now. And if you want to become a patron we're going to have patron only episodes coming soon you can do that at patreon.com/powercompanypodcast. And of course share us on your social medias, you know share us on the Facebooks, the Instagrams, the Pinterest. You can share it on your Twitters, but you won't find us twittering because we don't tweet. We scream like eagles.