Mat Fraser

“Waking up naturally to light is way better. It feels way better than waking up to an alarm.”

“I primarily use the Nike Metcon 3 for my training. It is a great all around shoe. When I do pure heavy Olympic lifting, I use the Nike Romalea.”

“All the athletes have a place to put our feet up in between events, and as soon as I get back, while the event's still fresh in my mind, I make a note of what went well, and think it was because I did this all year, or that didn't go well because I forgot to train this specific movement.”

“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?”

“Having this addictive personality can be a benefit if I'm addicted to things that have a positive outcome.”

“My home gym is, I don't want to say absurd, but if every gym in the world was shut down I wouldn't really skip a beat.”

“I never don't go below parallel. Like, I squat until I hit my heels and then I come back up, so it's never a question of, 'Did I go low enough?'”

“From when I get up to when I go to bed, it's the same energy level the whole way through, and I think that opens the window for more consistent training.”

“I have no perception of what it would be like to play basketball against LeBron James. The thought of someone that big who can move the way he does, it's unfathomable. I watch him and appreciate him but, if I faced him, I'd have a whole new appreciation.”

“Being upset about a situation one way or another does no good. I'd rather take it as it comes.”

“My emphasis is more on general health and fitness and making sure I have a good time.”

“At night, all electronics are off between 9:30 and 10 P.M. I read in bed, watch Netflix, or make lists reminding myself of things I need to do. Then I get about nine or 10 hours of sleep.”

“Unless I go through my nighttime routine of telling my body it's time to go to bed, for some reason if I get into bed and close my eyelids, my mind is like all right now we're going to figure out all of your life problems. You know, 'How am I going to figure out how to pay property taxes for the next 50 years.'”

“You shouldn't look at blue light for 90 minutes before bed.”

“I'm not just an alcoholic. I'm a -holic. Anything I do, I'm going to do to the extreme.”

“My day - every day - revolves around training, diet and recovery.”

“I'm not trying to squat 600 pounds. I'm not trying to run a 4-minute mile. I'm trying to run a 5-minute mile and squat 500.”

“I'm always looking for scenarios - of a workout that would be a catastrophic finish for me. Then thinking, 'What steps will I have to take to correct that?'”

“Early in my career it was very difficult for me to do rowing at home. I had a rower at home and there was a rower at the gym, but I would still go to the gym because it was easier to get my mental head space around it.”

“I'm not a big fan of cheat days where you indulge and binge on everything. I never tell myself that it's not OK to do those things.”