The Workouts That Made Mat Fraser's Legacy

July 22nd, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • 🎥 Mat Fraser’s raw reactions to epic wins and brutal losses from his legendary career.

  • 🐟 What rookie Lydia Fish eats to fuel for a full day of Games training.

  • 🙏 The gym is her medicine — Danielle Fiorito digs deep while waiting for a kidney transplant.

  • 🚨 Episode two of the Not For Time podcast premieres today at 9:00 a.m. ET!

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

When I’m walking out for my last workout, and I’m in first place, I want to hear the entire stadium… I’m like, ‘It’s over… I’m winning guys.’”

Mat Fraser on hearing his walkout song, Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” just before the final event of the 2019 Games.
PROFILE

Relive Mat Fraser’s Most Iconic Workouts — The Moments That Made a Champion

Credit: CrossFit Games

Earlier this year, Mat Fraser, with the help of videographer and creator Carlos Bown, revisited some of his greatest and lowest moments from his CrossFit Games career.

  • In that video, Fraser watched footage from those events for the first time and shared his perspective and mindset during those moments. 

On the first-ever “Legacy Day” on Thursday, June 24, HWPO Training will host its “biggest sale ever,” featuring discounts on programming, apparel deals, and new products. Free community workouts inspired by Fraser's career will also be shared. 

HWPO Training shared what “Legacy Day” means.

  • “On July 24, 2016, Mat Fraser began his legacy by winning his first CrossFit Games. A legacy built on heart, discipline, and HARD WORK. Following (Fraser’s) 5x CrossFit Games titles, HWPO Training was born – the next chapter in his legacy that inspires, motivates, and supports individuals around the globe every single day.”

To kick things off before the big event, HWPO Training released a new video where Fraser reflects on some of his most iconic workouts.

  • Read on as we break down our three favorites.

A MESSAGE FROM VELITES

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SPEED READS

🚨🎙️ New Not For Time Episode Today: Catch the new episode at 9 a.m. ET on the Morning Chalk Up YouTube channel — featuring Survivor winner and CrossFit coach Natalie Anderson with hosts Sean Woodland and John Wooley.

📺🏃‍♂️ Heart Trouble, No Quit: After weeks of tests and uncertainty, Bayley Martin finally got answers — and a diagnosis he never saw coming. Now he's navigating recovery, restrictions, and a possible return in time for Rogue.

🔥👟 Built to Move, Backed by Legacy: Mat Fraser’s HWPO Training partnered with While On Earth to create the new Legacy Move trainer. The shoe drops July 24, but check it out now.

🧗🥵 The Pegboard Returns: Dave Castro posted a picture of a pegboard on Instagram, teasing the third individual event at the 2025 CrossFit Games. Initially introduced in 2015, the last time the pegboard appeared in a Games event was in 2021 (Event 11).

📺💪 Unfinished Business: From visa issues to injuries, Mayhem athlete Roman Khrennikov’s Games career has been a rollercoaster. This season, he’s looking to take care of some unfinished business in Albany.

🇨🇳🏋️ Barbell Royalty: What happens when a world champion Olympic lifter goes to a CrossFit event? He lifts. Watch Li Dayin put on a clinic here.

ICYMI: Strength, skill, and strategy — check out nine of the Games’ most unforgettable feats of force.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Deep Dive – A Full Day of Eating and Games Training with Rookie Lydia Fish

Credit: @ctpcam / Instagram

When it comes to elite-level CrossFit, every rep, every meal, and every moment counts.

No one understands this better than Lydia Fish, the powerhouse athlete who recently dominated her way to victory at the Last Chance Qualifier, earning the final coveted spot at the 2025 CrossFit Games.

With three intense training sessions packed into one day and only a few weeks remaining before she steps onto the biggest stage in the sport, Lydia’s focus has tightened on the essentials: fuel, performance, and recovery.

We spent an entire day with Lydia to get an inside look at exactly what she eats to train like a Games athlete.

  • From her first breakfast to her last recovery shake, here's a breakdown of every meal, macro, and moment of intensity.

TRIVIA

🥇 Which man in the 2025 CrossFit Games field has the most career event wins?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Last week we asked: 🚣😩 In 2018's infamous "Marathon Row" event at the CrossFit Games, the men's winning time was:

  • Over 3 hours.

  • Sub-2:40.

  • Sub-2:30.

  • Sub-2:45. ✅

  • There was a full marathon row at the Games!? 🤯

The correct answer was sub-2:45, which 31.25% of you selected. Lukas Esslinger took the event win with a time of 2:43.50.

COMMUNITY

Grit Over Everything – CrossFitter Danielle Fiorito’s Fight for a Kidney and a Future

Photo courtesy of Danielle Fiorito

Imagine being a college student, excited to celebrate Labor Day, but instead of pool parties and cocktails, you're hit with a 104-degree fever and full-body aches.

This marked the start of Danielle Fiorito’s health nightmare in 2018, when the North Carolina-based CrossFitter was a junior at Wingate University.

Fiorito had been dealing with symptoms for weeks, with no doctor giving an exact cause; some suggested mono, others the flu or a UTI, but on that September day, she received a frightening diagnosis.

  • “We don't know why you're having fevers, but you're about to need a blood transfusion and a kidney transplant. Your kidneys are failing,” Fiorito recounted the message she received from her doctor in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up.

The CrossFit community and her gym, CrossFit Charlotte, have provided crucial physical and emotional support for Fiorito. Continue reading to find out how you can help.

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