Sometimes, bestowing a majestic-sounding title on the wrong person can be dangerous. (For example: “president.”) And it’s easy to see how christening someone the “Fittest Man on Earth” might quickly give rise to an ego as large as the presumptive titleholder’s biceps. This, however, is not the case for Mat Fraser, the 28-year-old Vermonter who won the CrossFit Games in 2016 and 2017 and will aim to make it a three-peat when the 2018 Games begin in Madison on August 1.

At 5’7” and 190 pounds, Fraser can nail a 485-pound back squat and breeze through 50 pull-ups in one fell swoop, and his successes have earned him endorsement deals with high-profile brands like Nike, Rogue, TheraGun, and Compex. We recently caught up with him during a brief break in training to learn how a champion CrossFitter eats, sleeps, and trains—and how he looks out for his mental health in between everything else.

GQ: What do the stakes feel like as you go for your third title in a row? Is the ante at another level?

Mat Fraser: It's kind of the same, actually. I look at it this way: I've already dealt with the absolute worst-case scenario. [Ed. note: Fraser came in second in both 2014 and 2015.] I've gone there and lost, and then gone there and lost again. After that, there's not too much more that can go wrong. I've figured out a lot of the kinks on my end. Now, it’s about showing up on game day.

When it isn’t game day, what does a day look like for you?

I'm usually up between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning. My fiancée has breakfast ready for me, so I’m having coffee and food within two minutes of being awake—your classic three-part breakfast of bacon, eggs, and oatmeal. I’m at the gym by 9:30, and that session goes until about 1:00.

What happens when you’re there?

It's random every day—conditioning, weightlifting, metabolic conditioning. A lot of it depends on what I did the day before. If I did a lot of conditioning yesterday, I’ll do some more strength work today.

After that session, I head home. Lunch is ready for me when I get there—usually a sandwich. I hang out for about two hours and then go do more training for about three hours: strength, conditioning, cardio, and technique work. I kind of try to fit everything into one day.

I'm definitely in a unique situation where this is the only thing I do. I don't have a 9-to-5, and I’m not in school. When it's your priority, your day really opens up. Usually I finish at 5:00 or 6:00. Dinner’s waiting for me at home. I scarf that down, and then turn on the TV. That’s when I sit on the floor, stretch, roll out, and pay attention to whatever's hurting from that day of training. That’s about an hour and a half. Lights out is 9:30 or 10:00, and then I do it all over again.

That’s 10 hours of sleep per night?

Yeah. If I have an off night and get six hours, I am not functioning the next day.

Watch:

Your Three-Minute Home CrossFit Workout