Mat Fraser recently sat down with Rich Froning, Elly Kabboord-Kearcher and Jimmy Hensel for the fifth episode of Froning and Friends. In the episode, Mat talked about his life since moving to Cookeville, as well as his beginnings in CrossFit. Mathew Fraser earned the title of Fittest Man on Earth at the 2016 and 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games.

In the show, we got to learn a little bit about Mat’s roots — including his parents. His parents were skating partners, and they seemed to have gone on quite an adventure together. They each endured their own injuries, from his dad’s broken rib to his mom’s broken hip. Nothing got in their way, though. His parents went pro and did their fair share of competing. When they retired from skating, Mat’s dad became a coach while his mother went to medical school and became a doctor.

Of course, his recent move to Cookeville came up. Moving has been a positive experience for Mat. He’s made friends with his neighbors, and one of them even does CrossFit.

Mat’s Beginnings in CrossFit

Rather than starting out with CrossFit, Mat started out in Olympic weightlifting. CrossFit was something he stumbled upon by mistake. As a weightlifter, his parents were very supportive. His dad brought him to the gym to train and watch his son in action.

Although his parents were encouraging, Mat shares they told him to make sure he had an education. They wanted him to have something to fall back on in case his career ended earlier than planned, especially considering injury is always a possibility. “I took my college education seriously,” Mat reveals. He took up a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Vermont.

Asked how he became an engineer, Mat said, “At the end of high school, I realized I was good at math but I can’t read.” When someone mentioned engineering to him, he decided to go for it. As an engineer, he expected to be working 9-5 but ended up getting opportunities to travel and do fun things as a CrossFit athlete.

“Incredible Gratitude”

For Mat’s first CrossFit competition, his old gym owner signed him up. “I didn’t have $50,” he shares. The gym owner did it with one condition. Mat had to use the competition prize money to buy real CrossFit shoes. The entire time, he was trying to do lifts and train in Air Max 90s. For his first competition, he won a cash prize of $500.

When Mat started CrossFit, he said it created a life for him that he never even dreamed about. From not having money to register for a competition, he’s now traveling the world, experiencing amazing things and seeing great places.

Elly noted, “You seem to have incredible gratitude for what the sport has allowed you to do,” and Mat agreed. When asked about the future, however, he does not see himself owning a gym or even coaching. When his time comes to pull back from his competitive life, he wants to be ready to do it. And certainly, Fraser wants to avoid forcing himself to compete because he doesn’t know his next step.

When it comes to what he’ll do next, Mat only said, “If you asked me five years ago, I would have never dreamed of this… In five years? I have no idea.” As for now, his main motivation it that he loves training. “It’s a great job and it makes money.”

For the rest of the show, Mat talked about his favorite moment from the past Games where he saw himself improving and dominating new workouts. Fraser has come a long way; and we’re guessing that with his recent move to Cookeville, there are even bigger things to come.

Main image: CrossFit Mayhem/YouTube