Shows
Mental Training LabFrom Posture to Performance: Achieving Ease, Efficiency, and Embodied Movement with Mary BondHow can subtle changes in your physical awareness dramatically improve your performance and well-being? Today on the Mental Training Lab, I’m thrilled to welcome Mary Bond—renowned author, Structural Integration practitioner, and expert in physical intelligence—to discuss the power of posture and embodied movement. Forget the stiff, uncomfortable posture teachings of the past. Mary helps us reframe posture not as rigid alignment but as dynamic, playful, and deeply connected to our internal sensations and external environment.In our insightful conversation, Mary reveals how you can leverage simple sensory practices to reconnect with your body, enhance your p...2025-05-0648 min
Grow the GoodMind-Body Mastery: Building Resilience, Flow, and Confidence with Pete KadushinHow do you truly unlock your potential—not just in sport, but in life?In this episode of Grow the Good, I’m joined by Pete Kadushin, performance psychologist, educator, and Manager of Learning and Development for the Chicago Blackhawks. Pete brings over 15 years of experience working with elite performers in professional sports, collegiate athletics, and the military.We talk about why building a mindful relationship with your body is crucial for resilience, flow, and sustained high performance. Pete shares powerful insights on nervous system regulation, the sweet spot between challenge and relaxation, and how to t...2025-05-011h 00
Mental Training LabUnlocking Your Signature Strengths: Sustainable Excellence with Alex Auerbach, CEO of Momentum LabsEver wonder how elite performers consistently achieve peak results without burning out? Today I'm diving in with Alex Auerbach, performance psychologist and CEO of Momentum Labs, to unpack his powerful three-stage framework: understanding yourself, becoming your best, and producing maximum results. Alex brings his expertise from working alongside world-class athletes in the NBA, NFL, MLB, Olympians, elite military units, and Fortune 5 companies to share practical insights on how to optimize your strengths, embrace discomfort, and use recovery as an investment in long-term success.We discuss why relentless effort isn’t enough—why self-awareness, intentional recovery, and identifying your...2025-04-221h 01
Mental Training LabBuilding Team Cultures That Nurture People and Potential with Dr. Kensa GunterToday we’re working through the dynamics of team culture with Dr. Kensa Gunter. Does the culture shape the team, or do the people define the culture? Join us as we explore how these elements interact like a living, breathing organism, constantly evolving and influencing one another.With Dr. Gunter’s experience as a licensed psychologist and a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), we’ll dive into how creating a supportive, inclusive environment is not just beneficial but essential for nurturing psychological safety and fostering peak performance. Tune in and discover how you can cultiv...2025-04-081h 01
Mental Training LabBeyond Resilience: Transforming Challenges into Growth with Dr. Adam Wright and Dr. Nick Holton of the Antifragile AcademyUnlike resilience, antifragility is about growing stronger from challenges and proactively seeking them out. To learn more about this tool, I went straight to the experts: co-founders of Antifragile Academy Adam Wright and Nick Holton. They share practical strategies for fostering psychological and behavioral flexibility, the importance of supportive environments, and how these principles can be applied to achieve not just survival, but thriving success.Tune in to learn how to turn life’s stressors into fuel for personal and professional growth, and learn actionable steps to cultivate an antifragile mindset in your own life. For anyone lo...2025-03-2559 min
Mental Training LabThe Long Game: Scott Stallings on Resilience, Recovery, and the Boston MarathonToday we’re stepping onto the course with PGA Tour pro Scott Stallings, a master of resilience who's turned his recent injuries into opportunities for personal growth. In this episode, Scott takes us through his intense rehab journey following a labrum and bicep tendon tear, and his ambitious goal of running the Boston Marathon. He also shares how his role as a coach for the University of Tennessee golf team has kept him deeply connected and engaged with the sport.Scott also unpacked how he’s continued to adapt to evolving golf technology and shares training regimes that...2025-03-1158 min
Mental Training LabThe Trap of Self-Judgment: Perfectionism Meets Performance with Dr. Marina HarrisPerfectionism is a double-edged sword. It drives us, and can also derail us. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Marina Harris, a former Division I gymnast turned psychologist and performance consultant, who’s mastered the art of turning high-pressure expectations into healthy, high performance.Marina brings a unique perspective from the front lines at Bloom Psychology Group, where she works with anxious and perfectionistic high achievers striving to balance their mental well-being with their ambitions. Today, she’ll share transformative insights on how closely mental health and performance are intertwined, and why a flexible, compassionate appr...2025-02-2556 min
Mental Training LabFind Your LaboratoryEver wonder how groundbreaking discoveries like penicillin, Post-it Notes, microwaves, and Teflon came to be? Believe it or not, they all started as accidents. But it wasn’t just luck—it was the mindset behind the scenes that transformed these unexpected outcomes into revolutionary innovations. Today, I’m going to equip you with tools to make this mindset a consistent habit.We’re diving deep into how cultivating a spirit of curiosity and embracing incremental gains can lead to massive improvements in both your personal and professional life. I’ll discuss the importance of feedback loops, self-reflection, and the ne...2025-02-1113 min
Mental Training LabStorytelling, Visualization, and the Secret Sauce of Sustainable Leadership with Al Lattell (Part 1)Al Lattell is a trailblazer in athletic leadership at Georgetown Athletics who is breaking the mold by pushing beyond basic leadership drills into something way bigger—building a culture that cultivates leaders for the long haul. He joined me on the show to share how he’s helping craft team cultures that set athletes up for success on and off the field.We’ll cover everything from the power of visualization to why continuous learning and honest reflection are game-changers in leadership. So, whether you’re coaching a team, leading in the boardroom, or just hun...2025-01-281h 00
Mental Training LabLeveraging Little MomentsToday, we’re zeroing in on the power of transitions—those seemingly small moments when we switch gears from work to home or task to task. Ever wondered how a simple routine could drastically enhance your day-to-day presence and focus? We’re diving deep into how mindful transitions can transform your daily effectiveness and reduce stress.I share a clever trick my godfather used to separate his work and home life during the pandemic, and a breakthrough moment with a sprinter struggling to find his focus. Plus, I'll unpack a straightforward three-step process to master your transitions: Identi...2025-01-1412 min
Mental Training LabShift Happens: Jeff Siegel on Mastering Life’s Big MomentsIt’s true - moments like ringing in the New Year serve as mental accounting periods that prompt us to reassess our goals and behaviors. But without taking time to slow down and process, we can lose a huge growth opportunity. I sat down with Jeff Siegel to explore the 'Fresh Start Effect,' where transitions can motivate new behaviors, and critique the consumerism and unrealistic expectations surrounding New Year's resolutions.Jeff and I emphasize the value of taking purposeful pauses to reflect, being brutally honest with ourselves, and seeking support from our community. Tune in to di...2025-01-0229 min
PerformersBONUS Episode: Performers meets Mental Training LabThis week, we’re bringing you something a little different! Dr. Duncan Simpson and Dr. Greg Young share a special conversation from their guest appearance on The Mental Training Lab with host Dr. Pete Kadushin. Together, they reflect on the extraordinary athletes, coaches, and performers covered on Performers so far, distilling the key lessons and themes that have resonated most.
What’s Inside:
Reflections on the journeys of elite performers
Key takeaways from their stories and mindsets
Personal insights from Duncan and Greg on the power of mental training
Sit...2024-12-2953 min
Mental Training LabListening CloselyHow often do we genuinely hear what our bodies are trying to tell us, unless we're hungry or in pain? In this solo edition of the lab, you'll learn how tuning into your body with the same openness and curiosity you’d offer a close friend can elevate every area of your life—from enhancing performance and improving recovery to enriching overall well-being.I introduce a transformative practice called pendulation—a method that teaches us to oscillate our awareness between discomfort and neutral or pleasant sensations, cultivating presence and a deeper understanding of our body’s signals. It’s not...2024-12-1718 min
Mental Training LabLessons from Legends: Stories of Performance with Dr. Duncan Simpson and Dr. Greg YoungFrom gold medals to career crashes, the icons have done it all. How can tapping into their experiences accelerate your journey? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Duncan Simpson and Dr. Greg Young from the Performers Podcast, a show that brilliantly mashes up sport autobiographies with performance psychology to pull out actionable insights that are as inspiring as they are instructive.We unpack the lessons they’ve learned from the likes of Kobe Bryant to Mark Messier, and explore five key themes that have emerged from their study of the greats: resilience, goal...2024-12-0352 min
Mental Training LabMastery is OverratedWe often hear that specialization is key, but what if there’s more growth in the gray areas than we realize? In this solo episode, I’ll explore the transformative power of stepping outside our comfort zones, with examples from cross-training for runners to actors taking improv classes. We’ll see how expanding our horizons can lead to unexpected breakthroughs in our primary fields of interest.I dive back into the intriguing perspective shared by Dr. Brett Malone, a former astrophysicist turned biotech consultant, who believes that diversifying our training can dramatically enhance our problem-solving abilities and help a...2024-11-1908 min
Mental Training LabEmbracing the Chaos to Unlock Performance with Dr. Adam NaylorWhat’s the key to unlocking athletic potential? It’s not a paint-by-numbers approach to mental skills training! In this episode, sports psychologist Dr. Adam Naylor discusses the often overlooked foundations of sustainable high-performance mindsets. He shares the importance of flexibility, the critical role of a strong working alliance between coach and client, and how embracing the full spectrum of human experience—including stress and acceptance—can profoundly enhance performance.You’ll learn why teaching mental skills isn’t always enough and how adopting a more holistic perspective can lead to significant breakthroughs in high-performance arenas. Whether you’re a coa...2024-11-051h 31
Mental Training LabMake Loud MistakesLeveraging your mistakes to maximize your growth is one of the core skills that elite performers have to master. In this solo episode, I dive into a transformative concept that has reshaped my approach to mistakes in sports and life. By embracing our errors loudly and clearly, we shift our perspective and begin to view these moments as invaluable data points that guide our path to improvement. I'll break down the four pillars of this mindset: awareness, practice, reflection, and, crucially, safety. Along the way, you'll hear about a long jumper struggling to translate practice success into m...2024-10-2209 min
Mental Training LabLessons in Mindfulness and Balance from Pro Trail Runner Hillary AllenAfter a near-fatal fall that could have ended her career, trail running legend Hillary Allen not only returned to the sport she loves but also expanded her athletic pursuits into gravel biking with Scuderia Pinarello. Today, she joins us to explore the depths of resilience and recovery, and what it really looks like to bounce back.With her master’s degree in neuroscience and physiology, Hillary offers a unique blend of personal experience and scientific insight into mental toughness and the psychology of endurance sports. You’ll learn how embracing challenges can transform adversity into life’s greate...2024-10-081h 00
Mental Training LabWelcome to the Mental Training LabMaster your mental game with the Mental Training Lab, hosted by Pete Kadushin. With 15 years of coaching experience and a PhD in performance psychology, Pete digs deep each episode to provide practical tools and expert insights so you can perform your best when it matters most. Enhance your focus, harness stress, and overcome challenges whether you’re an athlete, leader, or high-performer. Subscribe to learn how to elevate your game in work, play, and life.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Learn mo...2024-09-2601 min
The Sport Psychology OfMeditation | Dr. Pete KadushinWhat exercise takes the prize for being most frequently suggested to reduce stress, and so abstract most people don’t understand how it impacts the brain?
Welcome to the sport psychology of - today, we’re talking about the sport psychology of meditation.
Pete Kadushin, Ph.D., CMPC, is the mental performance coach for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Pete’s work focuses on two key areas of growth: helping people dial in their ability to learn and refine lessons quickly, and increasing their capacity to apply those lessons under pressure, and he believes that tools like...2024-03-021h 11
THE TRAVIS MACY SHOWEp. 135 Chris B. Warner: 14 x 8,000 Meter Peak Summits Plus Reflections on Recent Climbing Deaths on ShishapangmaColorado mountaineer Chris Warner recently became the second American (in addition to Ed Viesturs) to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000 meter peaks.Chris Warner is one of America’s most accomplished mountaineers, leadership educators, and entrepreneurs. An expert at creating and leading high-performance teams, Chris is one of the rare adventurers on the speaking circuit with corporate and academic expertise, allowing him to educate, as well as motivate. Join Travis and Mace to celebrate with Chris and to, more importantly, honor and reflect on lives lost recently at th...2023-10-161h 18Mental Training LabBodies Speak Body Language: Ashley Cranney on Stress, Performance, and Being Biologically RespectfulIn today’s episode we’re joined by Dr. Ashley Cranney. Ashley is a licensed professional counselor and certified mental performance consultant, employed at West Virginia University as Assistant Professor of Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. She has been consulting with athletes and performers for nearly fifteen years, sharing her passion for performance enhancement with anyone who will listen. One of the many things that makes Ashley so great is that she’s worked with a wide variety of top performers across sport, dance, first responder, and military contexts. Another superpower that Ashley has is her ability to name comple...2023-10-0450 min
THE TRAVIS MACY SHOWEp. 133 Dr. Pete Kadushin: Chicago Blackhawks’ Mental Performance Coach on Peak Performance in Athletics and BeyondPete Kadushin, Ph.D., CMPC is the Mental Performance Coach for the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) and host of The Mental Training Lab Podcast.Join Travis and Pete for a fun and immediately actionable conversation full of mental performance strategies and tools.Pete Kadushin Website | Podcast | Instagram Thanks to our sponsors:The Feed Instagram | WebsiteNeuroReserveUse code TRAVISMACY for 15% off RELEVATE by NeuroReserve: Core Dietary Nutrients for Lifelong Brain Health2023-10-021h 00Mental Training LabBad Advice: Don't Get Too High, Don't Get Too LowToday’s episode is about unpacking a bit of well meaning and ultimately bad advice. It’s advice that puts us in a no-win position where we are spending a ton of energy and attention on forcing our internal experience to fit into a narrow window of conditions. It’s also advice that inadvertently tells us we can’t expand that window to create more grace under fire and a sense of freedom within uncontrollable performance environments. And all of that happens even though it’s being shared with the best intentions in mind. As always, the show will c...2023-09-2020 minMental Training LabWho's on Your TEAM? Dr. Adrian Ferrera on Powerful Questions, Powerful Allies, and Powerful ToolsToday, we’ve got Dr. Adrian Ferrera (@dradrianferrera) in the lab, and I couldn’t be more excited. As you’ll hear soon - Adrian and I go way back, and it was amazing to get to hear so many amazing and applicable tools from an old friend. Adrian spent a lot of time unpacking the power of self-regulation, how awareness acts as the first step of the mental training journey, and how he gets parents and coaches to be his greatest ally as he’s working with teams and athletes. I got ahead of myself...2023-09-061h 13Mental Training LabYour Most Valuable ResourceToday’s episode is going be a short exploration of our most important resource, which is the combination of time and attention. We’ll start with a short thought exercise, talk about the implications of low quality attention, and then wrap up with how you can be training your attention starting today. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Learn more about The Mental Training LabConnect with Pete on Instagram | Lin...2023-08-2311 minMental Training LabIt’s Both Art and Science: Dr. Jesse Michel on Aligned Environments and How the World’s Best Pay AttentionMy guest today is Dr. Jesse Michel. Jesse helps lead the Performance Psychology Program at Deloitte, where his team provides support and services to over 8500 principals, partners, and managing directors across the US. Previously, he spent four years as the mental skills coordinator for the Houston Astros, and another four years before that as the Lead Master Resilience Trainer at the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Training Center. Simply put, he has a diverse background and a sharp skillset, and he poured out a ton of pearls of wisdom in this conversation! In this episode, Jes...2023-08-0959 minMental Training LabIt's All Good Training: Mace and Travis Macy on The World's Toughest Race, Alzheimer's, and Taking Things A Mile at a TimeMace and Travis Macy join me today for a really special episode. Their new book, A Mile at a Time, is a well-written and unapologetic look at one family’s experience with the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Travis and Mace use humor, vulnerability, and channel their willingness to do the hard, important things, to share the highs and lows of their journey. Oh… and in case you didn’t know, both of these gentlemen are powerhouse ultra-endurance athletes! In fact, Mace and Travis, a year after Mace’s diagnosis, tackled Eco-Challenge Fiji - appropriately dubbed the World’s To...2023-07-261h 00