Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro/DOD Mat Fraser at a speaking event on the USS John C. Stennis in December 2018.
Mat Fraser is a retired CrossFit athlete who won five competitive titles, the most all-time. He is the most decorated and dominant athlete in CrossFit history. Fraser was an Olympic-level weightlifter before turning pro in CrossFit. Fraser won the CrossFit Games titles in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 before announcing in February 2021 he would be retiring from competition.
Fraser, the five-time “Fittest Man on Earth,” wrote in his retirement announcement, “I’m ready to make decisions based on how they affect my family, friends, health, and happiness, not only my performance. So thank you for allowing me this opportunity, and a special thanks to everyone who’s helped me as a sponsor, training partner, coach, or friend. I’ll always be involved in CrossFit. I just won’t be doing it from the competition floor any longer.”
Here are the answers to 25 questions about CrossFit legend Mat Fraser:
1. How Old Is Mat Fraser?
Mat Fraser is 31 years old. Fraser was born on January 25, 1990. Fraser has been involved in athletic competitions since he was young. According to BoxRox.com, Fraser was 13 when he won his first national title in weightlifting, and was a school age champion in 2003, 2005 and 2007. He was the junior national champion in 2009. According to BoxRox, Fraser was training to be an Olympic weightlifter when he broke his back in high school. That derailed his weightlifting career and he later turned his focus to CrossFit.
2. Where Was Mat Fraser Born?
Mathew “Mat” Fraser was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, spent his early childhood in Sharbot Lake, Ontario, Canada, before moving with his family to Colchester, Vermont, in the United States when he was elementary school age, according to the CrossFit Games website. As a weightlifter and CrossFit athlete, Fraser competed as an American, not as a Canadian.
3. Who Are Mat Fraser’s Parents?
Mat Fraser’s parents are both Canadian Olympic figure skaters. His mother is Candace Jones and his father is Don Fraser, according to the CrossFit website. They competed as a pair at the 1976 Winter Olympics. After retiring from figure skating, Candace Jones became a doctor and Don Fraser worked in real estate and was a stay-at-home dad, according to Men’s Health.
4. Is Mat Fraser Married?
Mat Fraser is in a relationship with Sammy Moniz. She has been referred to both as his wife and as his fiance. The couple have been dating for several years and are often seen on social media together. In his retirement message, Fraser revealed they would be starting a YouTube channel together. Fraser wrote in Morning Chalk Up in February 2021, “The only time I’m in the public eye is when I’m showing up to work. I’m laser focused on my goal. I’m there to achieve the one thing I’ve spent hundreds, even thousands, of hours pursuing. That never bothered me — it was a small price to pay for being the greatest — but I’m excited to show you the Mat that everyone close to me has always seen.”
Fraser added, “I’m still figuring out exactly how I’ll be a part of this community. I don’t plan on opening my own affiliate, but I’m about to start construction on a home gym, which you’ll see plenty of on the YouTube channel Sammy and I are launching soon. Other than that, I look forward to experiencing the season as a fan, just like the rest of you.”
5. Who Is Mat Fraser’s Wife Sammy Moniz?
Sammy Moniz, is a personal chef and an Instagram influencer who runs the page “Feeding the Frasers,” where she posts photos, videos and writes about the food she and Mat Fraser eat. Moniz wrote on the Instagram page, “Just a girl who likes to cook hitched to a boy who likes to eat. Food for the 5x CrossFit Games Champ, Mat Fraser💛”
Moniz, 31, is also athletic. She told Wit Fitness, “Before switching to Feeding the Frasers full-time I worked with Loud & Live as Director of Athlete Relations. I was an Athlete Manager for the 18 professional CrossFit Athletes on our roster. I got to work alongside Matt O’Keefe and learned a lot about the management industry, knowledge and skills I am now able to use to help grow my own business.”
Samantha Moniz, who was born in Massachusetts on August, 4, 1989, graduated from Western New England College in 2011 with a degree in creative writing.
6. How Much Does Mat Fraser Make & What’s His Net Worth?
Mat Fraser has an estimated net worth of $2.5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. According to BoxLifeMagazine, Fraser’s victory at the 2019 CrossFit Games earned him $300,000.
In his retirement message, Fraser wrote about how CrossFit became a career in 2012 after his first event. “At the Throwdown, I finished with a first place win and $500 in my pocket,” he wrote in Morning Chalk Up. “As a broke college kid, I thought I’d struck gold and immediately wanted to find more opportunities to earn extra pocket money. I’d search this website where all the local events posted their competition dates and prize purse. I started traveling throughout New England competing for $1,000 here and $5,000 there. It wasn’t a bad gig for a full time student, but I didn’t start CrossFit with the intention of making it my career.”
Fraser added, “CrossFit is how I’ve met my best friends, business partners, and even my wife. CrossFit is how I found the artist who tattooed my chest, how I was able to travel across the world, and how I bought the home we’ll soon move into in Vermont.”
7. Where Did Mat Fraser Go to College?
Mat Fraser went to college at the University of Vermont, where he studied mechanical engineering, engineering management, math and business, according to Box Life Magazine. He also spent time studying at the Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 2016.
8. Where Does Mat Fraser Live?
Mat Fraser lives in Cookeville, Tennessee, according to CNN. The small town has become a hotbed for CrossFit, CNN reported in 2019. He told CNN, “I just want company in the gym. So whether I’m in Vermont or in Cookeville, that’s what I’m getting. It’s just in Cookeville they’re a little fitter.” Fraser trained alongside his training partner, Tia-Clair Toomey, who is a woman’s champion in CrossFit, and who he said is like his sister. But in his retirement announcement, Fraser revealed he and Moniz have bought a house together in Vermont.
9. How Tall Is Mat Fraser & What Does He Weigh?
Mat Fraser is 5’7″ tall and he weighs 195 pounds. According to Box Life Magazine, fellow CrossFit athlete Chris Spealler, who is 5’5″, said taller and bigger athletes are starting to have an advantage in the competition. The magazine wrote, “Spealler has said that for smaller athletes, building a Games-level strength base can take a lifetime. In fact, he believes that the days of the smaller athlete qualifying for the Games might be numbered.”
10. How Much Can Mat Fraser Clean?
Mat Fraser can hit 375 pounds in the clean and jerk, according to the CrossFit Games website. In 2020, Fraser jerked 415 pounds during training for the CrossFit Games, according to a video posted by ArmenHammerTV.
11. How Fast Can Mat Fraser Run a Mile?
Mat Fraser can run a 6-minute mile, according to BoxRox.com. Coach Chris Hinshaw told the website, “I had this great moment last june, Mat Fraser was doing a workout of mine, it was 3 rounds of 3 x 600m for a total of 5400m. He was running a 6-minute mile pace. Three hours later he hit a 170kg (375 lb) PR in his Clean and Jerk. That to me was super exciting.”
Hinshaw added, “The key is moderation. You can’t train a Crossfit athlete like a triathlete and my athletes don’t put in a lot of volume, but what they are doing is targeting muscle groups that are neglected. That’s where I focus my time.”
12. How Much Can Mat Fraser Lift?
Mat Fraser can lift 485 pounds in the back squat, 375 pounds in the clean and jerk, 315 pounds in the snatch and he can deadlift 500 pounds, according to the CrossFit Games website.
13. Is Mat Fraser Vegan?
Mat Fraser is not vegan. Mat Fraser is also not on the paleo diet. Fraser told Barbend.com in February 2021, “You know what food’s good for you and what food’s bad for you. I hardly ever eat at restaurants or anything like that. Basically, if food comes in a package, I’m not eating too much of it. It’s mainly just meat, vegetables a ton of rice, and probably a good amount of fruit too.”
14. What Is Mat Fraser’s Instagram Handle?
Mat Fraser can be found on Instagram here, @mathewfras. Fraser, who has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram, writes in his bio, “16-17-18-19-20 Crossfit Games Champ|UVM Mechanical Engineering |@Nike|@RogueFitness|@compexusa|@gowod_mobilityfirst|@steadymd|@beam.” Other links to his pages can be found here.
15. Are Mat Fraser & Rich Froning Friends?
Mat Fraser and fellow CrossFit athlete Rich Froning have worked out together before, but a rift caused them to not be friends, according to Fitness Volt. Fraser said Froning stopped talking to him in 2017 when he moved to Tennessee. “I asked around about what happened, or like, you know I was really concerned about it at first, um. But uh, I still have never gotten an answer,” Fraser told FitnessVolt. Fraser said some “weird s***” happened, telling FitnessVolt, “And I was kind of like, you know, I tried to talk to him, try to give him an out of like, hey man, like we’re still cool, right? No confrontation, wouldn’t tell me what he was thinking, doing, never gave me a reasoning for like why I got kicked out of everything.”
But the beef appeared to have been squashed in January 2021. Froning posted a photo on Instagram showing him and Fraser shaking hands and he wrote, “We’re good, leave us alone.” Froning admitted there had been some “weird air,” between the two, and said in a January video, “I guess in the beginning I kind of shut him out, and I don’t know if it snowballed from there, and it was almost like he was chasing ghosts. There was a lot of just, I guess a lack of communication in the beginning. It just sucks like I said, to have what sounds like my character and stuff like that lied about, which is unfortunate.”
16. Who Is Mat Fraser’s Coach?
Mat Fraser has had different coaches during his CrossFit career. One of his coaches was Chris Hinshaw. And he also began working with his training partner Tia-Clair Toomey’s husband, Shane Orr, when he moved to Tennessee, according to BoxRox.com.
17. Who Sponsors Mat Fraser?
Mat Fraser has multiple sponsors. According to his Instagram profile, Fraser is sponsored by Nike, Rogue Fitness, ComPex USA, GOWOD Mobility First, SteadyMD and Beam.
18. What Does Mat Fraser Eat?
Mat Fraser has said his diet varies. His wife, Sammy Moniz, handles his cooking. Sammy Moniz told Wit Fitness, “It can be difficult for Mat to consume enough food. He participated in some testing a few years back and the results showed he should be eating 9,300 calories a day. That’s A LOT of food. There’s not enough time in the day to consume all that food between the multiple training sessions a day. If I had to guess, I’d say on average Mat hits around 7,000 calories. I make a lot of healthy food but I also recognise he’s not totalling 7,000 with fruits and veggies alone. Mat loves sandwiches and burritos, cereal, sports drinks and fruit gummies. When he’s in peak training, those foods and calories are essential. When Mat’s in an off-season there is less emphasis on eating out of necessity. He’s able to simply eat when he’s hungry.”
19. What Does Mat Fraser’s Tattoo Say?
Mat Fraser has multiple tattoos. The one on his upper arm is the serenity prayer. He told BoxRox.com, “It’s the serenity prayer. It reminds me to control what I can and accept that I can’t control everything.” The serenity prayer is popular in the recovery community. Fraser has been sober since he was 17, when he said he realized he was an alcoholic and he began attending Alcoholics Anonymous, Fraser told Men’s Health.
The serenity prayer is, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference”
20. What Shoes Does Mat Fraser Wear?
Mat Fraser wears Nike Metacon 6 men’s training shoes, according to Man of Many. The shows were designed for Fraser. According to Man of Many:
For Fraser, it’s the mental side of the game that is the most important, so the shoes that bear his name have to play right into that. That look starts with a blacked-out upper, which represents the space that Fraser goes into in order to compete without distraction. It’s in that dark space that Fraser is able to fully concentrate on his performance and how his body is functioning. His intense focus is represented by the red strip that slashes across the lateral side and that adorns the base.
For that cool, calm demeanour—the “ice in his veins”—Fraser uses the iridescent blue bolt pattern to remind himself to stay calm under pressure. Finally, the sockliner features the Serenity Prayer—“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference”—to keep him tuned into what he can do. The sockliner also has Fraser’s mantra, “Hard Work Pays Off” printed on it. The heel boasts four circular symbols that pay tribute to Fraser’s four consecutive wins of the CrossFit Games.
For the rest of the shoe, Nike brought in what they’ve been working on to improve the Metcon for the sixth instalment. That includes a lightweight mesh that makes the shoe 18 per cent more breathable to keep your feet cool. The heel is low, flat, and wide for improved stability, and a removable Hyperlift insert allows you to adjust the height under your heel. The rubber tread covers the outsole for better traction and grip, and a firmer foam under the heel gives a secure feeling while the softer foam under the forefoot helps cushion high-impact moves
Fraser wrote in his retirement message about how things changed during his career, “In 2012, the owner of Champlain Valley CrossFit signed me up for the in-house Winter Throwdown competition. I couldn’t afford the entry fee for the event, and he offered to pay my way but told me if I won, I had to buy a pair of CrossFit shoes. I was training in Nike Air Max 90s at the time.”
21. What Is Mat Fraser’s Motto?
Mat Fraser’s motto is “Hard Work Pays Off,” and he also uses the acronym, “HWPO.”
22. What Protein Does Mat Fraser Use?
Mat Fraser told BarBend.com, his “supplement routine is pretty uncomplicated: no multivitamins, no collagen, no fish oil.” He uses whey protein, BCAAs, pre workout and CBD.
23. Does Mat Fraser Use Beta Alanine
Mat Fraser is a “big fan” of beta alanine, according to BarBend.com. He told the website, “I love that, it feels like it opens up my lungs and it just feels like it helps.”
24. Where Does Mat Fraser Workout?
Mat Fraser worked out at multiple gyms and his home gym while living in Cookeville, Tennessee, including CrossFit Mayhem. While in Vermont, Fraser trains at his parents’ home gym and at Champlain Valley CrossFit.
25. Why Did Mat Fraser Retire?
Mat Fraser revealed his reasons for retiring in a February 2021 article in Morning Chalk Up. Fraser wrote, “Ever since the end of the 2015 season, when I decided to stop f***** around and commit myself fully this sport, CrossFit has been my world. And for that same reason, this is also an easy decision. Except for a few weeks in August, when I allow myself a break, my focus has been relentless. I’ve passed up vacations, bachelor parties, and more dates with Sammy than I can count, all so I wouldn’t miss a single training session or a full night of sleep.”
Fraser told Men’s Health, “I actually decided I was going to retire after the 2019 CrossFit Games. A few people around me were like ‘Hey, when does training start back up?’ and I told them ‘Oh no, I’m done!’ Some good friends told me that I would regret doing it then, they basically coerced me into the idea that one more year was the right decision.”
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