Today on the podcast:
Mat Fraser is the 5X Fittest Man on Earth: the most successful and dominant CrossFit athlete in history, a 5-time CrossFit Games Champion (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020) and the only 6 time individual podium finisher. Prior to his CrossFit career, Fraser was also the 2009 Junior National Champion Weightlifter and son of Olympic athletes.
Mat’s journey to success is characterized by adversity, including fighting his way back to fitness after breaking his back in a training accident aged 19. Mat now shares his fitness secrets and insights across social media to a following of 2.4 million avid fans and Instagram followers.
He is also the author of the book and national best seller Hard Work Pays Off (HWPO) Train. Eat. Sleep. Repeat which we discuss in today’s episode.
This is an incredibly inspirational podcast and one I will listen back to regularly when I need a dose of motivation. This is up there with one of my favourite ever episodes; so I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed recording it.
Episode Outline
- 06:19 How and why he ended up in Crossfit
- 11:16 Turning your weaknesses into your biggest strengths
- 14:39 The f*ck you mentality and using “bad motivators” the ones you “shouldn’t’” have to fuel you (but how it only gets you so far before it becomes destructive)
- 19:45 Reframing “failure” as opportunities for growth
- 23:09 His relationship with failure and using it as feedback to improve
- 33:53 “To endure really means one thing to me – sacrificing a moment of pain for a lifetime of freedom” – why you need to choose your suffering
- 37:51 The reason you need to have a “big why”
- 39:44 The launch of the app and the future of HWPO
Key Points
- It’s good to have an ideal or overall picture of where you want your physique and other fitness attributes to be. But as with anything, it all begins by breaking every single piece down into tiny daily achievable goals. Your game plan should take your current stats into account, and then asking, “Where do I want to be next week? Next month? Next year? Five years from now?” Your game plan will allow you to break that vision down into a daily, obtainable checklist to get yourself to where you want to be.
- If you fail at something for the first time, don’t be too hard on yourself. After all, why would you be good at it? It’s your first time doing it. But if you fail at it again because you never applied the lessons that came out of the first experience, it’s now on you. That’s when you become responsible for that failure.
- As Muhammad Ali once said: “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” Don’t sacrifice progress for a little sense of relief, otherwise that little sense of relief will turn into regret later on. It almost doesn’t even matter whether you achieve the goal you’re trying to make at that moment. You will forever carry the pride of having endured discomfort in pursuit of growth. And that, in itself, is a mark of growth.
Powerful Quotes by Mat
- In short bursts, resentment is a phenomenal training tool. Nothing will light a fire under your ass like someone telling you, you can’t. But it’s a very, very hot, burning fuel and if you try to run on it for too long, you’ll burn out.
- The path to your end goal is rarely going to be a smooth, straight line.
- It’s not the end result that I’m concerned about. It’s the process on the way up.
- Push the pace. Don’t go for that instant gratification of putting the barbell down or slowing down your pace to get that little bit of sense of relief, because after the workout’s done, that little sense of relief is going to turn into regret.
Guest Info
