“When I was in the full swing of training, I was eating well over 7,000 calories a day. With my frame, at 5’6 and 200 pounds, it’s tough to take in. It’s not pleasant.”
Mat Fraser is a five-time winner of the CrossFit Games, rightly earning him the moniker of “Fittest Man on Earth”.
But perhaps his greatest achievement yet is finishing first at last year’s CrossFit Games, which were delayed, postponed and constantly moved around due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to JOE ahead of the release of Resurgence, a film documenting the struggles of last year’s Games, Fraser explained how he stayed motivated while training during lockdown.
“To say it was easy would be a lie. The hardest part for me was the uncertainty.
“When it’s like, ‘Is this going to be cancelled? Is my training going to be a waste?’ I just figured that it would be a waste not to train if the Games did go ahead.”
He has clear advice for building mental resilience post-pandemic.
“Always tell yourself everything will be fine, that in the moment if you feel hopeless, there will be a silver lining.
“It’s also not what people want to hear, but the best way to get mentally strong is to test your mental strength. When you’re presented with a tough situation and you get through it, you’ll be better than you were before.”
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Eating to win the CrossFit Games
As is the case with any elite sport, you won’t get by on rabbit food when entering the CrossFit Games.
Fraser’s CrossFit diet resembles that of a World’s Strongest Man competitor, though he is half the size of the likes of Eddie Hall and Brian Shaw.
“When I was in the full swing of training, I was eating well over 7,000 calories a day. With my frame, at 5’6 and 200 pounds, it’s tough to take in. It’s not pleasant.”
This is everything Mat Fraser would eat during a day on his 7,000 calorie diet:
- Breakfast: Bunch of eggs, bacon, bagels with a tonne of cream cheese / oatmeal and fruit
- Pre-workout shake followed by post-workout carb shake
- Lunch: A full board of sandwiches and sides
- Lunch 2: Steak or pork chop, white rice, vegetables
- Protein shake and post-workout carb shake
- Evening: Steak or pork chop, white rice, vegetables
He doesn’t subscribe to the concept of a cheat meal or a ‘treat’, with good reason.
“What got a lot of notoriety is how I ate Snickers during training. That came from a scientist.
“I was in a lab hooked up to a machine and he said, ‘You need to be eating sugar’. So I was getting through condensed Gatorade and Snickers all day.”
This might not sound conventionally ‘healthy’, but who is to argue with Fraser’s results?
Mat Fraser’s hardest workout ever
CrossFit is unique in how it combines elements of Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, calisthenics and endurance events into one brutal competition.
In one single day at a previous Games, Mat Fraser and other competitors had to:
- Complete a 10-lap bike race around a 1200 metre course
- Perform 30 muscle-ups in under five minutes
- Hit a one rep max on the squat, deadlift and overhead press
- Row a marathon (yes, all 26 miles) in the quickest possible time
Fraser previously told Joe Rogan about the harsh, physical toll this marathon row took on his body, which he elaborated on when we spoke over Zoom.
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“That was one situation where your body’s just shutting down,” Fraser said.
“You don’t really have a choice but to see it through.”
It still isn’t the hardest workout he’s ever done, though.
“There are a lot of hard workouts to go through… But looking back at last year, there was a hill sprint, they said it was 320 metres but I’d be shocked if it was any less than 500 metres.
“It just gets progressively worse as you go through it, but you don’t feel better after it like you do with other events.”
Resurgence by The Buttery Bros is available to buy now on iTunes/Apple TV globally for £12.99
