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Sometimes, bestowing a majestic-sounding title on the wrong person can be dangerous. (For example: “president.”) And it’s easy to see how christening someone the “Fittest Man on Earth” might quickly give rise to an ego as large as the presumptive titleholder’s biceps. This, however, is not the case for Mat Fraser, the 28-year-old Vermonter who won the CrossFit Games in 2016 and 2017 and will aim to make it a three-peat when the 2018 Games begin in Madison on August 1.
At 5’7” and 190 pounds, Fraser can nail a 485-pound back squat and breeze through 50 pull-ups in one fell swoop, and his successes have earned him endorsement deals with high-profile brands like Nike, Rogue, TheraGun, and Compex. We recently caught up with him during a brief break in training to learn how a champion CrossFitter eats, sleeps, and trains—and how he looks out for his mental health in between everything else.
GQ: What do the stakes feel like as you go for your third title in a row? Is the ante at another level?
Mat Fraser: It's kind of the same, actually. I look at it this way: I've already dealt with the absolute worst-case scenario. [Ed. note: Fraser came in second in both 2014 and 2015.] I've gone there and lost, and then gone there and lost again. After that, there's not too much more that can go wrong. I've figured out a lot of the kinks on my end. Now, it’s about showing up on game day.
When it isn’t game day, what does a day look like for you?
I'm usually up between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning. My fiancée has breakfast ready for me, so I’m having coffee and food within two minutes of being awake—your classic three-part breakfast of bacon, eggs, and oatmeal. I’m at the gym by 9:30, and that session goes until about 1:00.
What happens when you’re there?
It's random every day—conditioning, weightlifting, metabolic conditioning. A lot of it depends on what I did the day before. If I did a lot of conditioning yesterday, I’ll do some more strength work today.
After that session, I head home. Lunch is ready for me when I get there—usually a sandwich. I hang out for about two hours and then go do more training for about three hours: strength, conditioning, cardio, and technique work. I kind of try to fit everything into one day.
I'm definitely in a unique situation where this is the only thing I do. I don't have a 9-to-5, and I’m not in school. When it's your priority, your day really opens up. Usually I finish at 5:00 or 6:00. Dinner’s waiting for me at home. I scarf that down, and then turn on the TV. That’s when I sit on the floor, stretch, roll out, and pay attention to whatever's hurting from that day of training. That’s about an hour and a half. Lights out is 9:30 or 10:00, and then I do it all over again.
That’s 10 hours of sleep per night?
Yeah. If I have an off night and get six hours, I am not functioning the next day.
What else do you do for recovery, besides stretching and rolling?
A TheraGun. Like, if I know I'm going to have a very quad-heavy workout, I'll use that to give my legs a quick once-over, just to get things loosened up. But most of when I use it is after training, at night. And a Compex, which I use for both recovery and strength.
What habits have you adopted over the past year to help you maintain this level of success?
Definitely my nutrition—this past year has been a big jump in the right direction. Every meal is made and waiting for me. I'm not having to finish training and then spend 30 minutes putting a meal together anymore. I'm not taking those trips to the grocery store. Sammy, my fiancée, loves to cook—she spends a lot of time on it and is always doing it for me.
What does a sample dinner look like?
Anything from steak and potatoes to enchiladas to tacos. There's not too much she doesn't do.
I tried to take my diet to a more extreme place, but it wasn't for me. It was taking too much time and energy away from different parts of my life. Now, instead of obsessing, I just try to eat well: No junk food. No soda. Very little that comes in wrappers. It’s mostly meat, vegetables, and fruit. If I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm not hungry, I don't. There's not too much of a science behind it.
When you want to splurge, what's the thing that you go for?
I keep a stack of Hershey's in the house—just plain milk chocolate—so that if I'm having a craving, I can go eat half of one. I'm not bingeing out on, like, a massive one-pound bag of candy.
What are your suggestions for someone who kicks back on their couch to watch the CrossFit Games, only to realize, Damn, I really need to get back to the gym?
Number one, if you're looking to get better at CrossFit, is technique—take the time to learn it. Then, moderation. You can't start doing two-a-days or three-a-days right away. Pump up the volume slowly and conservatively. Lastly, try to have a healthy diet and a good sleep schedule. Those things will pay huge dividends.
Keeping positive influences in your life, too. I try to live in my own little positivity bubble and to keep good people around me who encourage me and build me up, instead of those negative friends that kind of chip away at you. Especially on social media, if someone says something nasty that hits home with you, it can really just eat away at your day. And you begin to wonder: Why am I listening to this person? Why am I letting them rent space in my head?
You can give one piece of advice to yourself back before your first win in 2016. What do you say?
Have fun with it. I feel like I do a good job of enjoying the moment now. But there was definitely a period of time there where I was taking this very, very seriously and not enjoying it for what it is. There's a time limit on what I'm doing, and after that, it'll be back to my regular life. People aren't going to offer to fly me around the world and show me cool places forever.
When that time comes, what’s next?
You know, honestly, I have no idea. Maybe I'll put that mechanical engineering degree to use.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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