Magnus Midtbo Talks Diets, Climbing and Training
From being a champion competition climber to becoming one of the biggest names in the sport, Midtbo knows the ins and outs of the climbing world
In May 2013, Magnus Midtbo became the fourth climber ever to onsight a 5.14c with his send of Cosi Fan Tutte in Spain. Over the years, he’s gone on to climb hard routes like Thor’s Hammer 5.15a (above photo) and Ali Hulk Extension 5.15b.
He retired from competition climbing in May 2017, saying, “I still get motivated just by climbing, I think some people need a specific goal, but I’ve never felt like I needed one. It sounds really cheesy I know, I just love climbing I love being in nature, I love the feeling of feeling free, but it is like that you know. I don’t know, I like the lifestyle, I like travelling, I like trying hard, and most of all, I like the feeling of feeling really fit, really strong, the feeling of being able to climb anything.”
Of all the climbers on YouTube, Midtbo has the most followers with 1.8 million and his videos have been watched millions of times. Not all of the videos are about climbing, several are just about fitness and challenges. In a biography on Midtbo by Thor Gotaas called Magnus, he covers a lot about his personal life that we don’t often hear about, from dieting and muscle mass to motivations.
In a new video that was just released today, Midtbo and fitness guru Jon Call talk for an hour about the world of climbing, fitness, health, extreme diets, climbing culture and more. See a list of talking points below to skip ahead.
Interview with Magnus
Chapters:
00:00 What Most Climbers Won’t Do
01:14 “Living Under A Rock Or On A Rock Wall?”
02:39 Tricking & Rock Climbing Commonalities
03:20 Fork In The Road: Strength Training
04:32 Typical Rock Climber Build
05:12 To Be Best Climber In The World=Look Like The Best Climbers In The World?
07:16 “I Had Too Much Muscle”
08:38 Coffee & Snus Diet
10:16 Discovering Your Match Weight
13:04 “I Was Willing To Die For Rock Climbing”
14:39 “What You Think About At Night, That’s What you’re Going To Progress In”
15:58 “I Think That’s Very Alien To A Lot Of People”
18:46 The Goal IS The Training Session
19:24 “Harder To Film A Workout Than Just To Do It”
20:36 PlayStation 2: “I had to Throw it Out Of My House”
21:43 “Sometimes You have To Film Stuff To Have Proof of It”
22:15 Logging Qualitative Vs Quantitative Training Info
25:41 YouTube: Traveling & Trying New Sports
27:56 Thoughts On Pro Athlete Retirement
31:12 “How Does the Tricking Community View You?”
32:39 What Would You Do To Be A Better Rock Climber?
34:32 Stamina & Cardio
35:15 Overtraining
36:58 “YouTube Videos Can Actually Be Good Training”
37:40 “I Didn’t Know I’d Like That That Much”
38:56 What People Don’t See
41:53 “I’ve Answered Emails Before & People Don’t Believe It’s Me”
43:10 Teams, Business & Outsourcing
46:48 “When Is Enough Enough?”
49:16 “What Are Some Of The Things You’ve Been Enjoying Lately?”
50:42 What Magnus Watches On Youtube
52:57 “It Consumes You In The Best Way”
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