The Mental Taper: The Biggest Mistake Athletes Make with Dr. Scott Frey and Dr. Martin Buchheit

In this episode, Dr. Martin Buchheit is joined by Dr. Scott Frey, a neuroscientist and founder of Cerebral Performance, to explore how brain science can improve athletic performance. The conversation focuses on central fatigue and why cognitive load can meaningfully reduce physical output, decision making quality, and error recovery in sport.

Scott explains why athletes often taper the body but rarely taper the brain, and shares practical ways to reduce mental load in the lead up to competition. They also discuss how cognitive testing, mood and motivation ratings, and HRV can be combined to monitor central fatigue, plus how cognitive training can be integrated into gym work or interval sessions to build fatigue resistance when it matters most.

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Today’s speakers:

Dr Martin Buchheit https://martin-buchheit.net/

Dr. Scott Frey https://cerebralperformance.com/