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5.15 Climber on His Surprising Nutrition Plan // Jonathan Siegrist
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About Jonathan Siegrist
Jonathan Siegrist, a professional sport climber, has been active in discussing climbing technique, training philosophy, and the culture of the sport. In a July 2025 podcast, he emphasized the importance of eliminating hesitation and visualizing movement from the ground to the top of a route, stating that "every try is a redpoint try." He also discussed his role as Arcteryx climb team captain, advocating for athletes and guiding brand strategy. Siegrist noted that as he has gotten older, he has prioritized body work, better sleep, and nutrition, and has cut back on alcohol to aid recovery. He described using voice memos to record beta and details for projects, and said that he prefers focused 6–8 week season trips to France rather than living there long-term, citing differences in gym and therapy standards. In a December 2023 podcast, Siegrist addressed the grading of a route he had climbed, stating that he disagreed with the 15b grade and that "personally it's not there." He described grading as "more of an inner dialogue" and said he strives for honesty. In another December 2023 appearance, he discussed his nutrition, noting an "insatiable sweet tooth" and describing a typical diet of eggs, tortillas, fruits, vegetables, and protein smoothies. He also expressed the view that "we all should cut back on our meat intake for environmental reasons." In a separate December 2023 discussion, Siegrist debated rebolting old routes for safety, stating that he personally disagrees with bolting everything conveniently and that some routes are worth preserving their character. He also provided instructional tips on clipping technique and stick clip use in earlier appearances from 2016 and 2018.
Transcript (18 segments)
I
Interviewer0:00
Let's shift to nutrition. Where have you struggled in your nutrition?
J
Jonathan Siegrist0:02
Oh man. My principal struggle with nutrition for sure is that I have an insatiable sweet tooth. Since I left college, I've been not really... I don't drink too much because my fiancee Shayna basically doesn't drink at all. There are times when I go months without really having a drink, and that's not something I'm trying to do, it's just something that doesn't... I eat pretty healthy for the most part, but I just can't not have sweets. I remember reading this interview with Ramon Julian. He's unquestionably one of the best climbers who ever lived, and he has one of the most impressive resumes of almost anyone, and he's an inch or two shorter than I am, so I'm always inspired by him. But I remember hearing an interview with him where he said he hadn't had chocolate for like 10 years or something because of his diet, and he felt that was a really important part of his performance. I just remember thinking, there's no carrot that you could hang in front of me that would possibly let me get to that point, to not have sweets for 10 years. I just don't think I could do it.
I
Interviewer1:25
What is it? What's your go-to? What's your kryptonite sweet?
J
Jonathan Siegrist1:29
Okay, so my go-to is quite simple actually. I get a bag of chocolate chips that's really meant for baking, but I just like to eat the chocolate chips, and then I have a jar of peanut butter, and I basically just make my own little Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in my mouth.
I
Interviewer1:50
I feel what you're saying here. My Achilles is 1000% sweet, specifically donuts. But I'll hit the semi-sweet chocolate chips out of the bag no problem, dude, all day long. So how do you strike that balance in your own life with eating really well most of the time but maybe indulging whenever you feel like it? Do you have a reward program? How do you handle that?
J
Jonathan Siegrist2:20
Man, this is why I say this has been a struggle, because it's the only thing in my life from a food or substance perspective. Nobody who's a professional athlete should be eating an entire cake every night, except for maybe powerlifters because they need to eat 14,000 calories. So part of it is that, but another part is I actually notice that when I go too heavy on the sweets, the inflammation is worse. I for sure notice that if I'm training and I have a few nights where there's some extra birthday cake and I go heavy on that, I will notice my joints creaking a little bit more than normal. So there are health reasons why I would want to try to resist a little bit. I've never been one to say you should not have dessert, because I think dessert's amazing. But what I'm trying to say is there are literally days when I'm like, okay, my joints feel a little creaky, I'm going into heavy project mode, I'm going to try and resist the sweets for a week and just see how that goes. And I'll be saying that, and then at some point during the day I'll find myself just having a handful of chocolate chips, and it feels out of control. It's like someone possessed my body and made me go do this. I didn't even make the conscious decision to eat it, it's just there, so I just took it and had some. So the way forward for me is not total abstinence. The way forward is just to have a little every day and enjoy it and try to balance it as much as I can. I'm just going to have some sweets, dude, and it's going to be okay. It's not going to kill me, and there are plenty of other sacrifices in my life that I make to climb well. You can't make all of them, because at the end of the day, you're going to climb really poorly if you're just an unhappy person.
I
Interviewer4:23
Hell yeah. What if the key to 9B+ was just eating more chocolate chips?
J
Jonathan Siegrist4:31
I would be climbing 9C on sight, dude.
I
Interviewer4:36
That was good. That's sick. We got a quick shout out for today's sponsor, which is FizzyVantage Nutrition, who by the way sponsored Jonathan Siegrist and 50 other incredible climbers from Alex Megos to Paige Claassen and Natalia Grossman and Daniel Woods. Basically, they're helping the best climbers in the world level up their training and performance by way of nutrition. I love their collagen, I love their protein. Everything they make is science-backed and proven to enhance performance. Check it all out on their website and use code STRUGGLE for 15% off at checkout. I love this stuff. Let's get back to JStar. So, Shayna, your fiancee, she's a nutritionist, is that right?
J
Jonathan Siegrist5:16
She is, yeah. She's a certified nutrition therapist.
I
Interviewer5:23
So what are the pros and cons of having probably the most cutting-edge information and guidance right there for you?
J
Jonathan Siegrist5:34
Overall, it's absolutely a major pro, especially because she's an unbelievable cook. I get to benefit from that very often.
I
Interviewer5:45
I've seen it. She posts very mouth-watering food.
J
Jonathan Siegrist5:48
Yeah, dinner food porn. I'm very lucky. Although when I go on a trip to Spain alone, then I end up eating just like cabbage and potato pretty much the whole time. It's really awesome, and she's really helped me in so many ways because I have been a vegetarian since I was 18. I just turned 37, so almost 20 years. There are times, including right now, when I do eat a small amount of fish, so I'd say about five years of those 20 I've also been a pescatarian. But the overarching theme is that I don't really eat very many, if any, meat products. And Shayna is totally vegan, so that's why all this is relevant. She has definitely helped me get the proper amount of nutrients and protein without eating many animal products. That's been really cool. It's also cool to run questions by her if I'm worried about or curious about something like, 'Oh, I think I could use some extra this in my diet, how should I go about it?' So it's definitely hugely beneficial, especially for athletes trying to cut back on their meat intake, which I think we all should environmentally. It's awesome to have guidance.
I
Interviewer7:18
Yeah, for sure. I've been vegetarian myself for 15 years, my entire family is, my kids are vegetarian. The good news is, in this modern day, there are so many options. It doesn't have to be a grilled cheese for every meal. There are great vegan and vegetarian proteins out there. Do you do a lot of shakes or supplements? How do you look at protein, collagen, or anything else? Do you have a routine you like?
J
Jonathan Siegrist7:52
Definitely, yeah. I started as an athlete with FizzyVantage maybe three years ago. They make unquestionably the best vegan protein powder on the market. That becomes something, especially during training blocks, that I have every day as a smoothie or just put it in water or oat milk. I have pretty standard meals for the most part. In the morning, especially if I'm with Shayna on a climbing trip, I'll have some vegetables mixed in with eggs and then some tortillas to make little breakfast burritos. During the middle of the day, if I'm cragging, I'll normally take a jelly, some fruit, or some bars. It kind of changes every day. At the end of the cragging day or training day, I always have a protein smoothie. That's how I get the protein in. Then normally for dinner, I'll have some vegetables, some rice, some noodles, and then some protein. That could be from my choice fish, which is canned sardines, but if I'm not going to eat fish, then I would have tofu or tempeh. Honestly, most of my days go something like that. Give or take, if I'm in France, I'm going to be eating bread every meal, or if I'm in Italy, I'll mix in some pasta. But more or less, I just try to eat a bunch of fresh fruits, vegetables, carbs, and then mix in some protein from eggs, the protein powder, canned fish, or whatever.
I
Interviewer9:46
And a handful of chocolate chips.
J
Jonathan Siegrist9:48
Exactly, yeah. And then it's only assumed that after each of the three normal meals, you have a dessert, and then right before bed.