HWPO: Hard Work Pays Off by Mat Fraser is not what I was expecting. I pretty much bought this sight unseen when he announced it on his Instagram a few months ago. For whatever reason, I was under the assumption that it was going to be an autobiography, even though even in his caption he literally says it’s not just a story of his life. User error.
Throughout the book, he drops a few gems here in there. Rating it as just a book not taking into account Mat’s story and what he has done as an athlete, it’s not great. The ideas are all scattered, and the story kept getting broken up by pages of recipes, workouts, and journal prompts. It felt very scattered and that they were added to pad in his book.
Like I mentioned, there are a few gems that he drops. This quote really resonated with me:
To be a true competitor, you have to accept that you’ll always be working most on the thing you like least.
Mat Fraser
Yes he is talking about being a crossfit competitor, but I interpreted in a general sense. In life there are always things that we need to work on to improve. Sometimes it means really grinding on the things you are lacking so that you can be better overall. He dives in on this concept saying that he would spend hours training in swimming or the rower because he knew that these may be things that are included in the games.
What’s the discomfort that you fear most? Is it the long, slow grind of a 35-minute chipper? Is it the fire breathing of an all-out sprint? Is it during barbell cycling? Sprint intervals? Bodyweight squats that you know could be faster but burn like hell? Identify the type of workout or movement that you most dread and explain why.
Mat Fraser
Again, he’s talking about CrossFit specifically, but I looked at it as a way for me to see what scares me. Talk about how I feel about X. I think as a journal prompt, it helped me get down to my deep dark fears and learn to address them in a healthy manner.
Overall, I would rate the book a 2/5. I really REALLY hoped for a autobiography to really dive deep into his mindset. He showed flashes of it here and there, but it wasn’t enough. The recipes, journal prompts and workouts were ok, I wish they were broken out into sections so they wouldn’t be in the middle of the story.
I am big on supporting people that impact me, so spending <$15 to get the ebook isn’t a regret of mine. I just wish we could have learned more about Mat.
