- Morning Chalk Up
- Posts
- đ§ The Mindset Behind His Dominance â Inside Mat Fraser's Mind
đ§ The Mindset Behind His Dominance â Inside Mat Fraser's Mind
Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In todayâs edition:
đ CrossFitâs Athlete Council met 12 times this year, and their latest notes reveal details about season changes, new safety measures, and whatâs coming next.
đ¨ Working your ass off but not growing? Jason Fernandez says itâs not your effort â itâs a strategy gap.
đ§ Inside Mat Fraserâs head â the five-time champ opens up about fear, pressure, and the mental framework that drove him to the top of the sport.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
I always imagined that if everything goes right for my competitors and everything goes wrong for me, like how am I going to handle it?â
CROSSFIT GAMES
What the Latest CrossFit Athlete Council Notes Tell Us About the 2026 Season
Credit: Scott Freymond
The CrossFit Athlete Council regularly meets with CrossFit HQ, and their meeting notes are shared periodically afterward to inform athletes, coaches, affiliate owners, and the public about discussions, updates, and announcements.
In the last two meetings between the Athlete Council and CrossFit staff, the 2026 season was outlined, and council members shared their input on behalf of their athlete and affiliate communities.
More information, including the current members of the CrossFit Athlete Council, can be found here, and meeting notes from their meetings over the last eleven months are available here.
Key Takeaways:
The CrossFit Athlete Council has held 12 meetings since January and promotes transparency by publicly sharing meeting notes, including attendees and discussion topics.
A âMedical Eligibility Screening Requirementâ will be introduced for the 2026 season.
According to Heather Lawrence, CrossFitâs Senior Director of Sport Operations, âStrict geo-fencing will not be allowed. Teams and individuals may compete in Semifinals outside their region.â
In 2026, affiliate owners will be able to purchase Open registrations in bulk for their members.
SPEED READS
đĽđď¸ Black Friday Home-Gym Equipment Deals: Garage Gym Reviews dropped a massive roundup of the yearâs best Black Friday fitness sales â and itâs basically a cheat code for upgrading your setup. If youâre eyeing some sweet new equipment, this guide shows you the biggest discounts and tells you exactly where to strike before inventory disappears.
đď¸đ Test Your Fitness, Not Just Your Workouts: CrossFitâs five-day physical test is a full-body audit: absolute strength, relative strength, stamina, gymnastics, and mixed-modal grit. Itâs less âPR party,â more âtruth serumâ for your training.
đ°đŞ The $6.8âTrillion Wellness Boom: The global wellness economy just hit a record $6.8 trillion and is projected to surge to $9.8 trillion by 2029, according to the Global Wellness Institute. This isnât just spa days and smoothies anymore â think wearable tech, mental health, boutique fitness, and wellness real estate.
đď¸â Fix Your Lifting Technique: In this video, fan favorite Rebecca Fuselier helps you dial in your bar path using your lats, build a front rack you can actually breathe in, and understand how hip contact should really feel so that your lifts glide instead of collide.
đđŞ Gen Z Is Rewriting the Gym Playbook: A new EGYM report shows Gen Z and Millennials are now the engine of the fitness industry â and theyâre ditching treadmills for strength training. Smart machines, wearables, and data-driven lifting sessions are their non-negotiables, and gyms that donât keep up are getting left behind.
ICYMI: â¤ď¸âđĽ In 2013, Tammi Saunders, a newly divorced chain-smoker, walked into a CrossFit class and began a 12-year journey that rebuilt her entire life.
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Strategy Gap vs Execution Gap: Why Your Affiliate Isn't Growing
Credit: @besthouroftheirday / Instagram
Most affiliate owners can tell you their member count, their monthly revenue, even their latest equipment purchase.
Ask them what business they're in? Crickets.
Ask them what game they're playing? Blank stares.
You're performing at a high level. You lead excellent classes. You post regularly on social media. You offer strong programming. Your members appreciate you.
So why aren't you growing?
PROFILE
Behind the Grind with Mat Fraser: Fear, Identity, and the Mindset That Built HWPO
Credit: HWPO Training
At the HYROX event in Las Vegas, NV, last February, five-time CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser participated in his first race with partner Matt OâKeefe.
He enjoyed it more than he expected, sharing in a YouTube episode that he had a great time racing with his friend and loved seeing athletes of all levels compete together, tackling the same course and challenges.
Skip to September, and HWPO Training partnered with HYROX as the title sponsor for the Boston, MA, race.
As HWPO Training broadens its reach, expands its community, and explores new sports and training techniques, Fraser stays at the helm, guiding the ship.
He was recently featured on Behind the Grind, a podcast that explores the psychology of high performers beyond just highlight reels.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
đHappy birthday to Ari Hurst.
Congratulations to Ben of CrossFit Rapture in Brightwaters, NY, on this 147-kilo/325-pound clean PR.
Watch Tobias Becker knock out this 140-kilo/308-kilo thruster at CrossFit Torian in Australia.
âˇď¸Congratulations to Hugo Hugemarq on this marathon SkiErg world record. He skiied 42,195 meters two hours and 33 minutes, and 56 seconds, and held an average pace of 1:49.4.
đď¸ââď¸Well done to Alison Scudds on this 90-kilo/200-pound overhead squat. Slay!!!