Climbing Sports Nutrition

Comprehensive sports nutrition, supplements, and diet guidance for sport and boulder rock climbers

Your progressive climbing performance, strength and conditioning development, and sport longevity are built from the quality of the hours you can train and practice your sport. This is fundamentally about your physical and mental resilience, rate and depth of recovery, and your responsive flexibility to move with the inevitable challenges of life.

useful. coaching draws on cognitive-behavioural theory, recognising that our physiology, thoughts, emotions, and behaviour form an interconnected system. Positive change not only comes from addressing each element, but also the patterns and processes that shape how we relate and respond within this system.

It is about helping you develop both physical resilience, and psychological flexibility.

Coaching packages

Coaching is available internationally, for any level of climber, and provides unlimited video calls and direct messaging.

6-week + unlimited support

Great start

Coaching with unlimited calls and text support.

£350Complete your profile

3-month + unlimited support

Most popular

Coaching with unlimited calls and text support. Save £100 by paying upfront.

£650Complete your profile

6-month + unlimited support

Best value

Coaching with unlimited calls and text support. Save £150 by paying upfront.

£1200Complete your profile

Coaching includes

  • Unlimited video calls, we meet as much as you want!
  • Twist messaging for daily correspondence and collaboration
  • Google sheet for nutrition programming, tracking, and journalling
  • Over 25,000 words of online coaching documentation
  • Cronometer Gold Subscription, the most accurate nutrition tracking app
  • Sequence Training Subscription, climbing and training scheduling platform (available if wanted)
  • Discord community membership
  • Access to additional membership articles and resources
  • Free seats to upcoming online events, workshops, and AMAs

Coaching extensions

After any package above, coaching can be extended monthly on subscription, with the ability to change support level before each renewal.

  • Monthly + unlimited support: £200/mo
    Coaching with unlimited calls and text support.
  • Monthly + 1-hour call + text support: £150/mo
    Coaching with 1-hour call, and text support.
  • Monthly + text support: £100/mo
    Coaching with text support only.

If you have any questions about packages, or if coaching is right for you, contact@useful.coach

Key areas of focus

  • Education on the importance of energy and nutrient availability, eating as more than just "fuel", and the nuance of food choice and health
  • Defining your unique nutrient and energy needs for sustained performance, recovery, healthspan, and acute injury recovery
  • Defining your unique optimised body-composition and body-fat level, estimated timeline of change, and comprehensive energy management strategies
  • Education on the nuanced connect and disconnect between body-weight, energy intake, food choice, and training
  • Programming of meals, supplementation, and nutrient timing to support your weekly training and event schedule, and their physical and mental load
  • Programming of nutrition and body-composition for upcoming projects, events, competitions, and sports performance goals
  • Education about your nervous system, fatigue and stress management, and the application of strategies for improving performance, sleep quality, and rate of recovery
  • Exploration of cognitive and somatic exercises: mindfulness, visualisation, and hypnotherapy

Why work with Tom Herbert?

Tom Herbert has supported over 400 sport and boulder rock climbers and multi-sport athletes across 24 countries climbing from V4 to V17. Hobbyists, adventurers, international competitors, and some of the most accomplished rock climbers in the world.

He has worked with a number of professional IFSC ranked competition climbers and paraclimbers representing the UK, USA, Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia national teams. Outside the competition circuit, he continues to support climbers pushing the highest limits of their sport.

His coaching has supported athletes working with: Camp4 Human Performance, Good Spray Climbing, Jesse Firestone, Kaizen Climbing Coaching, Lattice Training, Natasha Barnes, Power Company Climbing, Precision Climbing, ROAP coaching, and many more independent coaching providers.

An outlier amongst his peers, contrasting the standard consultation model, Tom’s conversation-led “long-form coaching” provides unlimited video calls rather than limited check-ins. This allows clients the freedom to book calls whenever they want, the time for ongoing open conversation, and the space for deeper discussion. Well over 3000 hours of conversation so far!

Tom has supported climbers with disordered eating backgrounds, however, coaching is not suitable for those with existing eating disorders. This requires a specialist, and is outside his current scope of practice.

Tom has a particular interest in supporting neurodiverse individuals, or anyone who finds themselves going through life feeling like they are not “typical”.

Please note, Tom Herbert is not a clinical psychologist, therapist, or counsellor, but is currently completing qualifications in Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH), and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). Informally he continues to read on Process-based Behavior Therapy (PBBT®), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Clean Language / Clean Coaching, and various other coaching, and therapeutic approaches.

Notable clients…