Q2 2026: Coaching opens for other athletes, artists, and dancers

Climbing Nutrition

Sports nutrition, supplements, diet guidance, and mental performance coaching for rock climbers

Aidan Roberts

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.

Sports Nutrition + Cognitive Behavioural Coaching

useful. coaching provides the latest sports nutrition programming tailored for climbing athletes, combined with cognitive-behavioural theory and practice, so that you can truly understand yourself more, and create meaningful and lasting sports performance and body-composition change for life.

It is recognising that your physiology, thoughts, emotions, and behaviour form an interconnected system, and that positive change not only comes from addressing each element, but also the patterns and processes that shape how you relate and respond within this system.

It is about developing both your physical resilience and psychological flexibility.

Your coaching package

Coaching is not a linear program, but rather an evolving process where I guide you in making informed choices and refining your ongoing practice according to your needs and schedule.

  • Affirming coaching for climbers of every level, experience, age, gender identity, and neurotype
  • Programming and support for multi-discipline climbers who also train, lift, or cross-train
  • Support for your dietary needs: vegan, vegetarian, low-FODMAP, low-histamine, gluten-free, LDL management, and for neurodiverse relationships with food
  • Overcome food fears and biased media narratives, learn the reality of how food and energy intake actually impact your health and body-composition
  • Learn why energy and nutrient availability matters, that food is more than just “fuel”, and the nuance of food choice and health
  • Meal structure, nutrient timing, and supplementation to support your training, projecting, and competition schedule
  • Learn how food choices and supplements impact sleep quality, inflammation, injury recovery, learning, focus, and mental health
  • Explore the nuanced connection and disconnection between body-weight, energy intake, food choice, training, menstrual cycle, and day-to-day life
  • Nutrition programming for optimised body-composition and body-fat level, with timeline, diet and energy management strategies that truly work in real-life
  • Learn about your nervous system, fatigue, stress management, and strategies to improve sleep quality, anxiety, performance, and rate of recovery
  • Discussion and application of somatic exercises, breathwork, mindfulness, meditation, visualisation, and hypnotherapy

Any questions, or want to find out if coaching is right for you? Book a free exploratory call.

What’s included

  • 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

Unlimited coaching + flexible pricing

Coaching is available internationally online, and provides unlimited video calls and messaging support.

  • Initial 6 weeks unlimited coaching package: £300
  • Continue on flexible subscription: £100-200 per month

After your initial 6 weeks coaching, continue monthly, with the ability to change your renewal price every month. There is no service difference, and unlimited video calls and messaging support are included whatever you choose to pay. This community pricing model provides you the flexibility, and allows me to provide wide-reaching financial support to others in need.

To get things started, register through the portal below…

Start Here!

Any questions, or if you want to ask if coaching is right for you, email: contact@useful.coach, or book a free exploratory call.

Why work with Tom Herbert?

Tom Herbert has supported over 450 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 his qualification in Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH), and focusing on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). 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…