For those in search of inspiration to achieve their in goals in face of mountains of odds, this world is full of examples who gained their objectives when everybody was refuting the possibility. The same happened in case of Mar Fraser who won against all odds.
Mathew Edward Fraser is a Canadian-American professional athlete. He started with weightlifting and made his way in the CrossFit games. Regarded as one of the most successful athletes in the sport of CrossFit, Mat became the first one ever to win five titles of the sporting contest consecutively. Born to humble parents in Ontario, Canada on 25 January 1990, Mat’s family moved to Vermont, US where he attended school. His talent is sports was visible from the beginning. He learned things at very early age like swimming, water- skiing et cetera. After trying football in middle school, he settled on weightlifting. Helped by a coach in lifting weights, Mat embarked upon the journey which became his base at the age of 12. After graduation he pursued weightlifting full time and started training Olympic weightlifting on scholarship.
Mat Fraser Injury
Mat was training for Junior World Weightlifting Championship, when he injured his back and damaged it further when he started training without any proper check- up. He completed the championship despite his injury and pain. It was discovered that he had broken his L5 vertebra at two points, when he returned home. Despite initial treatments, it didn’t heal properly. The obvious solution was spinal fusion surgery, but he refused on the grounds that it would end his athletic career. Instead, he embarked on a long and painful process of installing plates and screws on his lower spine. His resolve finally enabled him to resume training after some time.
Later he went to Northern Michigan University, where he studied math and physics. He gave up weightlifting and attended University of Vermont to study mechanical engineering.
Mat Fraser CrossFit
After leaving athletics for a while, Mat started training in CrossFit gym when he was 22. In 2013, he competed in CrossFit events but only to earn some side money while studying. Although he wanted to be an engineer, he started focusing on CrossFit and by the time he got his degrees, he was well established in CrossFit world. In 2016, he decided to commit himself to sports full time. After struggling in events, he performed well in 2016 games. In 2017, he finished first place in more than one games. He won the 2018 contest too with impressive grades. In 2020, the pandemic hit CrossFit changed their pattern but Fraser won with greatly extended record margin. From being the runner up in 2014 and 2015, Mat Fraser became CrossFit Games Champion for 5 consecutive years till 2020. This was the last he competed in CrossFit.
Hard Work Pays Off Mat Fraser
This is a training program Mat Fraser released in April 2021, in association with Hybrid Performance Method. He also launched a supplement company, Podium Nutrition, which released its products in July 2021.
Mat Fraser Diet
CrossFit has constantly varied movements and wide diversity of programs. In the beginning, Mat didn’t follow any strict diet. He used to eat an entire pint of ice cream and donuts by half dozen. But in 2015, he committed to no soda or junk food and very little pre- packaged food. He didn’t specifically follow any CrossFit diet. He has his own diet which revolves around the fact that he eats at his will at any time and just makes sure that he eats well.
When he was training for competition, he used to consume four to five calorie rich meals which mainly included meat, vegetables and sticky white rice. Along with that he used to take protein shakes, snicker bars and fruits mostly during workout sessions. He used to take less before competition events to avoid competing on full stomach with increased carbs in diet and decreased protein.
At the peak of his training, he used to take 6-7000 calories per day. While off training, he sometimes ate only one or two meals a day.
Mat Fraser is 88 kg in weight. His height is 5 feet 6 inches. The 31 years old athlete is known worldwide for his record- breaking performance in CrossFit and Olympic Weightlifting.
Mat Fraser Quotes
- Millions look towards Mat Fraser for inspiration. His own example has inspired many. Some of his best quotes are
- You don’t train to picture yourself second place on the podium. Second place sucks.
- Hard work pays off.
- Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.
- Grip it and rip it.
- I can focus on what I want to focus on now.
- I consciously seek out every day ‘what am I bad at?’ and ‘how can I pound this weakness until it’s a strength?
- 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.
- For a long time, I hated that [silver] medal, It kept me up at night. It was a source of disappointment. Now I wouldn’t trade that medal for anything.
- I’ve figured out a lot of the kinks on my end. Now, it’s about showing up on game day.
Mat Fraser Retirement
On 2nd February 2021, Fraser announced his retirement from competitive CrossFit from his Instagram account. He said in an interview that he had decided on retiring after 2019 games but some friends persuaded him to stay for another year.
Mat Fraser Net- Worth
Mat Fraser is one of the most successful CrossFit athletes of all time. He is also the first person in history to win five CrossFit games. His net- worth stands at $2.5 million as of 2021.
Image by: fitnessvolt.com
