HWPO is a REAL LIFE Horror Movie

[@Mim1971]

Bang on. I've watched a lot of Will's vids over the last couple years and this one just made me feel bad for him and embarrassed for CrossFit. It was like Mat set out to humiliate Will just to prove a point, instead of being an ambassador of the sport. So many lost opportunities to show scales and progressions to even a very fit individual. How many people watched that video and thought, why the hell would I ever do something like that? It looks like torture, and if Will can't do it, then how can I? I too read the comments on the video and couldn't believe the positivity. Will looked so over it when he got in the sauna - no parting words of admiration for Mat, no jokes, no feel-good ending. Just done. It felt weird.

[@hillerfit]

Best comment. Very insightful

[@PamZeer]

You're absolutely right , in comparison the collab between Cameron Hanes and Rich Froning is exactly what you're supposed to do when you welcome somebody new in CrossFit.

[@sarahcomardelle]

I noticed that at the end too. It was like Will was just done. He probably left 5 minutes later.

[@Fergushow]

Mat is and always has been about Mat. Not saying that as a criticism. It clearly worked for him to be hyper-focused on himself, ie, “for me”. And I go back to the days when Arman Hammer was the only guy that could get a decent interview with him because Mat was living in the basement training 8-hours a day, having Sammy cook and O’Keefe handle the business.

[@kenwalters5165]

Yes what a missed opportunity by one o f the best ever in CF to use to help grow and promote CF

[@gerhardstols396]

You should meet up with Will and show him what CrossFit is really about.

[@hillerfit]

I need 1 million subs first lol so subscribe!

[@williamjames3995]

@@hillerfitthis would be wholesome af

[@4pawreiki]

@@hillerfitat least send him a link to this video

[@rebeccarowley8630]

Please do!

[@theodorecoleanderson7850]

Yes please bug the shit out of Will for a second chance to highlight what CrossFit can do for people@@hillerfit

[@vcebe13]

I’ve always said it Matt has never given a shit about CrossFit and he cares even less about the community. He has proved it over and over again. Imagine how great this would have been with any of the top men that are actually in the sport including the actual current fittest man.

[@Krumholt]

Roman!

[@Krumholt]

Also it a job. He was the boss, he made his money and he is out, good for him. Does it matter if he really didn't care about the community? no yall assume he is one of yall. He clearly is build different, he had a goal and worked for it and didn't let things get in his way

[@evanraasch2203]

Can you back that up with anything?

[@77DuRock]

To be a great coach you cannot be selfish. To be a great athlete you have to be selfish. This is a great example 👌🏽

[@szubal]

Just because you were a champion doesn't make you a great teacher.

[@spencergsmith]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: great athletes don't necessarily make great coaches. This is especially true as the CrossFit Games moves further and further away from the true methodology of CrossFit.

[@hillerfit]

I mean. Aside from the rushing to do things will little to offer. The volume is something he could have at least made everyone aware of

[@triwithlaura3138]

​@@hillerfitwhen people dope and genetically respond better to peds, they're not aware how bad the volume hurts others. Same issue over at PRVN. Completely incapable of relating to others experiences because they're the best and haven't had those struggles

[@spencergsmith]

@@hillerfit my bad, my original comment was supposed to say "great athletes DON'T necessarily make great coaches" 🤦‍♂ edited now

[@kahlis]

Wayne Grezky was terrible as a coach.

[@Krumholt]

facts@@kahlis

[@mayaramirez9244]

Mat was totally acting like the "douchey" crossfitter that all bodybuilders and powerlifters think crossfitters are

[@Quadslikero]

Remember when games athletes were affiliate owners? Remember when athletes were on the seminar staff? Those were the days. This takes me back to when he was on Rogan and he was trashing on affiliates that didn’t teach the fundamentals correctly. How the tables have turned..

[@hillerfit]

Oh I remember. Some still are

[@christineyoung78]

Mat just seems to be showing off what he can do. He may only be good for people that already know it all or maybe not if you can’t teach basics.

[@diegocesar9699]

you forgot the back days in Crossfit, is pretty much like this! Puke days , right ? Those days , when you planning or programming training , you are de-affiliated , because "it needs to be varied, or some excuse like that"

[@oldgrizz8720]

Proof that the best athlete is not always the best teacher or coach. Performing and teaching are two different skills. One can be good at both but it is not guaranteed. Please let Alexis know that I was already subscribed but I did hit the like button in stead.

[@benholt2057]

It appeared that Fraser was completely uninterested in the collab.

[@TheOriginalSteveMiller]

It is abundantly clear Mat would trade his CF games championships to be 6 feet tall.

[@hillerfit]

Dude hahahahaah this is insane

[@climbhigh27]

LMAO!!

[@zachfink480]

Would love to see this same video but instead he goes to Mayhem with Rich.

[@abstractgeniuscomments]

...and then, he finds Jesus....

[@Quadslikero]

if you watched the video on mayhems channel when Cam Hanes went to mayhem he very much scaled the workout for him. That's the difference. Problem is Will gets thousands of views on his videos and this is going to taint the CrossFit brand again because someone is going to think that is what happens when you go to an affiliate.

[@jamess8696]

😂@@abstractgeniuscomments

[@MrLlama999]

Or with Tia and Shane Orr

[@ericlinck9648]

Moral of the video: Just because you were a great athlete, that does not automatically make you a great coach.

[@bw8035]

I can't answer that question but he almost coached Mal Obrien to a championship but she quit

[@thomasgarrett7378]

To be fair - I think a bit of this is that Will wanted to be humbled a bit for the gag

[@terpgomer]

So glad my intro to CrossFit was nothing like what happened in this video. I joined as a 60 year old coming off the couch, coming back to working out. I get it that the new guy looked athletic so there might have been some assumptions made about his skill level that NO ONE would have made about me, but if I had seen that happen in my gym, I would be out in a heartbeat.

[@LeviTimko]

Not sure I've seen Will call anybody an Asshole before.... That speaks volumes.

[@seanm3933]

I'm pretty sure Will didn't want to do watered down versions of Mat's workout (even though he still did). Will puts himself out there on most of his videos. I give him credit for actually trying it out. I guarantee he and Mat talked it out before the video and this went exactly to their plan. However, it would have been nice to point out to everyone that normally a new person would not do this much work in their first go (or probably ever). Did you catch when Mat said he would normally do 500m in those row intervals? that is insane. And when Mat announced the last work out, it was like yeah no way Will is going to survive this. But man, they should have had Will actually learn how to do a wallball instead of just getting smacked in the face. But you are 100% right about the main point, that was the most atrocious coaching I've ever seen. It's everything you shouldn't do as a coach.

[@pbfishing5153]

From the Rogan interview on it was very clear that Mat has always seen CrossFit in a “what can it do for me” type way. No giving back, all taking. He’s clearly obsessed with money as well, partnering with anyone/anything that he thinks will get more people to sign up for his fitness program.

[@zbawiony]

Yup, he was a professional athlete.

[@pbfishing5153]

@@zbawionythe sport game him everything he has (yes he worked hard for it) and the best he could do was go on the biggest podcast in the world and trash it. That’s got nothing to do with being a pro athlete.

[@sezzyu]

I am not really saying against the Rogan bit but I don’t think he partners with anyone or anything just to get money? He was with Nike his whole competitive career. Same with Rogue, he has been a Rogue athlete for years. GoWod have been with him for years as well- in fact he was their first athlete if I am not mistaken. Podium is a brand he co-owns and operates, Beam is another one but they have been there for ages. If anything I actually think he is less volatile and more loyal than the vast majority of the athletes in the space. Maybe I am missing something you know? Not being argumentative, just trying to understand where you are coming from with that second argument.

[@jamesmichael7448]

@@pbfishing5153TBF, CrossFit as a whole there is not much to talk good about. Minus the affiliate/avg box aspect most of us know and love. But Mat and most professionals I think are not really part of that side of CF anymore.

[@12dailydosesofstuff]

@@pbfishing5153he was the best in the world for 5 years and won a total of 1.25 mil for his efforts. Crossfit didn't give him anything. he's still gotta work the rest of his life. We were lucky to watch him, not the other way around.

[@stephencarlevato1948]

He’s too competitive to help someone else. He’d rather have him fail to laugh at him than actually take the time to teach him.

[@samsmith8643]

Watched this video straight after I watched today's Mayhem Monday video. Seriously night and day difference between the 20-odd people training as a group at Mayhem and the sterile showroom feel of HWPO

[@TheCaveDastro]

Has Fraser taken the Level 1? Or is he too good for that?

[@spencergsmith]

Haven't you heard? He's won the Games 5 times, he doesn't need the L1 🙄

[@hillerfit]

@@spencergsmith You are a Level 5 at that point I believe.

[@hillerfit]

RIch was an instructor *Shrugs*

[@TheCaveDastro]

@@hillerfit yep… send Will to Mayhem, this video looks completely different

[@Quadslikero]

@TheCaveDastro don’t you remember when he was on Rogan, and he said he only got his level 1 to impress a girl?

[@chriscarter8218]

Also, for someone like Will that has NEVER done Wall Balls, why TF does Fraser have him doing it with the 20lb Med Ball?!

[@Krumholt]

because its 20 pounds bro, the guy is a body builder.

[@danimal.94]

Bro its 20pounds. Why not focusing on Handstand lol

[@chriscarter8218]

@danielgherbi2304 Tell me you didn't watch either video without watching either video. Hiller covered the handstand and showcased how Mat might not be the best coach. I went further to show that you also don't use the heaviest med ball to teach someone a movement they've never done before. I hope you're not a coach in any gym if that's your mentality.

[@reneek1]

Someone like Noah would’ve been great to collaborate with on this.

[@AmandaStack]

I think Will did a collab with Noah several years ago. I'll see if I can find it. EDIT: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2jWiWpuoKdkr8U This is how it's done.

[@LuisPerez-dv6bc]

The one he did with Noah for 22.3 was great.

[@AmandaStack]

@@LuisPerez-dv6bcthat’s the one! It is great! I think they were both Gym Shark athletes then.

[@tuckertech]

@@AmandaStackjust watched this and it was awesome. Like night and day.

[@crazycatlady.]

@@AmandaStackthank you!!

[@enthusiastalpine9448]

Yeah I usually agree with most of our videos but this seems like a little bit of stretch / over analyzation... Will's videos are always humorous for his viewers and this was exactly that. It ain't a L1 class nor is it supposed to be. I'd also bet that Will approached Mat wanting to be put through the ringer and not get coached on technique the entire time as that would not be entertaining for his audience. You intro'd with the suggestion to take this in and think about if you didn't know anything about Mat other than he was a 5x champ. Well, for the general viewer who doesn't do CrossFit, I'd wager they would think Mat is extremely friendly, owns and operates an incredibly professional training space, and is a monster athlete even after retirement. This video is like the most inside baseball you can get, and that's saying something. Also, Hiller, nobody is getting bored with Mat's response about being the fittest in the world, the explanation lasted 20 seconds out of a 20 minute video, the same could be said about this very video review. Similarly though, I'd find it hilarious/awesome to watch you, JY, Sevan, Pedro & Tyler rage and get blasted with Mat in a video like this. Watching people get gassed & puke is like 90% of the fun. Much love!

[@jorob813]

Agreed. I don’t know why more people aren’t pointing this out. It’s in the title of the video. “I survived the fittest man on earths routine”. Not, “Typical day for a beginner at CrossFit.”

[@karensilva8917]

this comment >>>>

[@hlkirton]

So this is really interesting. My husband is really into motorsports and competes in rallycross. But he also understands vehicle mechanics rather well, as well. So when the car feels a certain way, and he doesn't want it to, he changes the aspects of the vehicle that he can to get it to do more of what he wants and less of what he doesn't. You have top drivers and riders in motorsports who have zero idea of how their vehicle works, but they understand and can explain what is happening in a way that the mechanics on their team can tweak those aspects and get the car to respond to their drivers' input so the car behaves the way the driver likes the car to drive. I think Mat Fraser is more like those athletes and less like my husband.... Mat understands how something feels, how to move his "vehicle" to achieve desired results, and can explain that feeling to someone, but has ZERO idea of how to instruct others to move their bodies in order to have the same technique. He's a great athlete, but a terrible coach.

[@gregbenoit4361]

I agree would have been a great opportunity to show progressions. That would definitely help people change their idea of crossfit.

[@kylegreenley8950]

This was so hard to watch… like Matt was brutal in this from a coaching aspect.. I can’t imagine what people think of CrossFit because of this.

[@nylonstringninja]

This is just brutal. If this was all totally real this makes Mat look horrible. I would never ever allow somebody's first experience in a CrossFit gym be trying and embarrassingly failing movements without working through progressions. Trying to get him to just go into a handstand and then laughing? WTF is that! What a missed opportunity. And I have news for Mat and Tia and all these other people who were born able to lift a little bit more and run further than the rest of us: all that don't count for shit in business. Be humble or be humbled.

[@paulhodges5403]

You put into words exactly what I was thinking while watching Wills video, it almost mirrored my first experience in a crossit gym.

[@Jonm89]

I specifically remember, listening to a podcast with him where he talked about teaching Olympic lifting classes back when he was first getting his start and how people would get pissed at him because the whole class they just used a PVC pipe. But he told them that if they wanted to lift, that’s all they were going to be doing. It’s wild to now see him teaching this guy how to Olympic lift in the most horrendous way I’ve ever seen. If I walked into a CrossFit gym for a drop-in, and I saw a coach teaching to Olympic lift, and the way that he was, I would immediately walk right back out.

[@12dailydosesofstuff]

you only see what made the editing cut. nobody wants to watch a guy training someone no matter what it is. I'm pretty sure he was trained properly and we didn't see any of it.

[@DevHazy]

This

[@galnelennart]

I actually want to give Fraser a thumbs up on the answer to the question if he is the fittest on earth, bang on explanation according to CrossFit. We don’t want to be specialists.

[@jackstaunton1457]

Best video I've seen of yours dude!! Right on 100% the whole time!! Classic ending too with the Rocky pose!! 😂

[@JDurden3780]

Who remembers when Mat told the story about not being able to load a bar forever when learning lifts?

[@tharron8]

People commenting saying Mat didn’t showcase what CrossFit is about are absolute idiots. Does anyone think Will said take me through a beginner CrossFit class and teach me the fundamentals of movements. No he wanted to make a high viewed video of getting destroyed by following games programming

[@asalu0000]

100% will gets destroyed working with tons of top athletes, why is this different!? It was a fun video

[@Krumholt]

BOOM!!!!! YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS IT, ITS ABOUT THE VIEWS. SAME WITH SOME OF HILLARS DUMB VIDEOS AND COMMENTS AND INSERTS. ITS FOR THE VIEWS AND THE $

[@Krumholt]

BECAUSE HILLAR MAKES it seem like its the 1st.@@asalu0000

[@tweetchris46]

8hrs a day, that’s spent dusting all the equipment and cleaning the floor.

[@Intransijess61]

We need a Will Tennyson/Hiller collab

[@phtevephillips6394]

Usually gung-ho for your vids & perspective. Today seems like a bit of a tirade fueled by assumptions and an obliviousness to mops and cleaning supplies. If you invite a few hundo thousand people into your space, it’s only natural to clean your room and put your toys away. It was still a bit cheeky, but I think that guys video was “I survived workout…” and not “I learned from…” Swing and a miss for me, but still eager for the next one. Thanks!

[@tharron8]

Finally someone says it holy. Seeing all these comments from people saying he’s not an ambassador for the sport or he didn’t showcase CrossFit are so clueless. Will obviously wanted to show him trying the hardest programming and just trying what he can. That gets views not teaching him for 10 minutes how to clean with a pvc pipe

[@karensilva8917]

agreeeee 1000%!!! I think some of these videos are stretches tho I love hillers videos normally lol

[@a1ace1991]

Cool, do you think Matt was as welcoming or did the best job he could helping Will make the video trying to survive the world's fittest man's workouts for a day? Did Matt explain any of the workouts. When Will couldn't do the handstands Matt gave him a different movement but didn't explain how to do it. We are saying he should of explained how to do it like he did for the cleans (which he also did a bad job explaining).

[@phtevephillips6394]

Hard to say...maybe he did explain everything? I can only speculate what happened that day - but I do not think views, my comments, your comments, AH's video, etc. would exist if Will (or his team) edited this video to be an informative tutorial on how to move properly. CrossFit already charges $1000 for that :D If Donald Trump shot a remote with the WWE, we would watch to see him get body slammed, not to see him learn how to wrestle for 18 minutes.

[@morganlueck2008]

Thank you…at least someone on here is willing to speak the truth! The fact is that it was Will’s video, not Matt’s, so we have no idea how much he cut out or what he was even going for in his video. Not to mention that he titled the video “I SURVIVED the fittest man on earth’s daily routine.” Clearly he wasn’t trying to learn CrossFit or be coached. It appears he was trying to see if he could survive Matt’s daily routine. And let’s be quite honest…even the above average CrossFitter wouldn’t survive his daily routine. The video says absolutely nothing about how he actually coaches. And it’s really dumb to assume no one works out there. Why would he allow someone to come in and do a video when he’s coaching his athletes or when they are going to work in there? The man respects his athletes, takes his coaching seriously, and takes care of his equipment and facilities. This entire critique is presumptuous at best and baseless!

[@thebouncingbarbell]

It now makes complete sense! Ai writes all of the HWPO programming, HWPO doesn't have any staff, so yeah it's Ai.

[@corrsports]

Maybe Mat might wanna think back to what his first CF box/training experience was like. Eye-opening video, that was rough to watch.

[@raejoy87]

He literally never did CrossFit, he signed up & won a local competition then decided he wanted to keep winning

[@halestrengthtraining]

Mat proved that just because you have it all as an athlete, doesn’t mean your coaching equates to that level. It takes years to become a solid coach, and years on top of that to become a coach that can really transform lives & athletes.

[@bobselmayer6913]

I lost any respect I had for Mat when he did Rogan. What a great opportunity that was to promote all the good that it can and does do. I don’t think he even has his level 1 nor is HWPO affiliated. This is one one the reasons when you measure the true GOAT of CrossFit, it is Rich all day long. Great video Andrew.

[@Absoluteunich]

These two genuinely seemed to not like each other, so I checked out the other Tennyson videos where he collabed with people in the powerlifting space. Those people were talkative and engaging for the most part, but what sticks out after watching your video is the gyms in the other videos were filled with people and pretty vibrant. This made HWPO look like a mausoleum.

[@kevingibson9913]

Will is a very strong and fit person, not the newbie walking into the gym the first time. The point of Will making this video was to train like Mat Fraser for a day, not take an intro class. This was not a “coaching video”. Also, the HWPO gym is for him and his team to run their company and train their athletes, it’s not an open gym. Dumb video Hiller…❌🦇

[@justinhauser4376]

After the Rogan interview I realized how little Mat cared about being an ambassador of the sport. He is branding as HWPO as this isnt for everyone and that is what he wants. I wish it wasnt that way, but ALL OF THIS is obviously by design for some reason.

[@GRITyourmindright]

That place looked sad... No wonder Mal broke...

[@mcruz4571]

It's not a public gym, it's a person's private gym...Chris Bumstead's gym is the same, the athlete maybe a couple of friends, the coach and that's it...not everyone likes to have a party while training.😂

[@alrom125]

That’s an interesting take there Cotton 😂😂

[@PeterGray-zp1op]

First time I've ever subscribed to a KZbin channel. Alexis only had to ask once.😂 Love the content Andrew. This one mirrors exactly what I was thinking as I watched Wills video over the weekend. Looks like the place never gets used!

[@MuJoNeSs]

Pro athletes are WAY different than real coaches when it comes to teaching. This video is proof of it. You can do things like muscle ups, pull ups or deadlifts, but to TEACH them is a completely different story. It's "easy to teach" when you're surounded by athletes and people who understand Crossfit. But to go and show the basics to a non athlete, sometimes with no prior experience in any sport is a total different beast. Fraser even laughs at him... Like he's "supposed to know" your craft. My God. Zero sensibility. I am a Lv 1 Crossfit coach, from Brazil. With 9 years of experience teaching people with all kinds of fitness levels. This video shows so much what I preach. Athletes aren't necessarily coaches! Loved the video, will show/talk about it, to my friends and colleagues. Thanks.

[@JamiePatton13]

My first CrossFit experience was just like this and I hated it. I felt disrespected and left behind because I wasn’t already keeping up with the class. It took a couple years until I tried another gym out and the difference was night and day.

[@Codysooz]

That sucks, sorry you were treated like that. My gym treats newcomers and beginners very well, and push form over speed. Hopefully you find a box that cares more about their members.

[@lakota_stu]

I found that whole video awkward to watch, good to see your breakdown of it 🦇

[@coryleonard010]

Details matter, and fundamentals DEFINATELY matter, and Mat(at least according to what Will's video shows), did not provide any of either. Also, that facility looks more like a museum than a gym. Everything is very clean and looks like it shouldn't be touched.

[@DevHazy]

Spelling is a fundamental

[@Greg_Glassman]

Been waiting for this one

[@chrisdawson9312]

Have you seen Will's video with Noah Ohlsen when he does 22.3? I'd love to see you make a video similar to this one. I understand that Mat didnt represent Crossfit well in this video, however i have to think a part of it came from Mat's probably direct and analytical brain (he is a trained engineer afterall) when he recieved an email from Will saying "take me through your typical training when you were a Games competitor." I guarantee you Mat wasn't thinking with nuance and approaching it as a coach introducing Crossfit to Will. He likely just did exactly what Will asked for, and that likely was just a personality trait of Mat. And as for Will, his views are determined by how much the video hooks his audience. His audience is likely looking for what Mat did as the five times fittest person on Earth, not what is Crossfit?

[@ralphalvarez5465]

Watch some of Mat's interviews at the CrossFit Games 2016 through 2021. His arrogance and attitude towards other CrossFit athletes gets progressively worse. He and Tia are the perfect workout partners because they seem like loners.

[@chrisdawson9312]

@@ralphalvarez5465 Some people are just wired like that. Mat’s personality is very similar to Michael Jordan where his only thought is “I’m gonna beat you.” And I say that knowing full well that it’s not healthy to think like that. Zack Telander has a great video I think titled toxic champion mindset or something.

[@audreyfrazier5974]

Yup. Some people are indeed wired to be assholes. Matt signed his asshole card when he left CrossFit and tried to partner up with Stef Cohen. That was a big ol’ fail, wasn’t it? It was clear then that he had just came to the Games to get the money. He wasn’t a crossfitter. He wanted nothing to do with the community when it was over. His program didn’t sell. Chief & Sammy probably talked him into coming back…. Fuck him, yo. 🎉

[@Quadslikero]

@@ralphalvarez5465 I thought CrossFit cured loneliness?

[@kahlis]

That kind of thinking is autistic not engineer.

[@zbawiony]

Will should laugh when Fraser cannot grab anything from the top shelves of...anything.

[@sarahcomardelle]

Two points here: 1 - Mitchell Hooper says that if you want to get better at something don't go ask the person that is naturally good at it. Instead go ask the person that had to work at it to become good. Mat Fraser needs to add more coaches to his team. He won't be the best person to teach. Which leads me to point 2. Rich Froning admits he's not the best to coach. But what he has done well is create a community where people generally like to hang out. And maybe a third half a point. I love Will's videos and this one was underwhelming. He tends to go hard when he's doing a mashup like this and it's a bit self-deprecating which I think he was trying to do in this video as well. But I usually walk away learning at least one thing I can bring to my own training. I didn't learn anything other than Sammy brings the personality and energy to that relationship. Maybe she should have joined them in that video.

[@alannorman4097]

You are right I have asked talented people 'How do you do that?' and they do not have a clue. They just can.

[@mattpeters6224]

I have had the (pleasure?) of meeting and interacting with Mat at the Games in 2022. He never struck me as an ambassador of the sport. If he would have had the opportunity to make more money in something else I believe he would have jumped on it and put CrossFit on the back burner. Something wrong with this? Hell no. He never claimed to be Mr. CrossFit. He was very nice and Sammye was awesome.

[@3r123]

2 video suggestions: 1. Fraser Natty or Not 2. Mayhem's gym compared to HWPO's gym compared to PRVN's new gym

[@dvanwagn1263]

Take this guy to Mayhem to spend a day with Rich. 100% certain he has a much different experience

[@abstractgeniuscomments]

...comparared to the PRGRMs gym...

[@ralphalvarez5465]

To me the Barn looks like a better place to workout. HWPO looks like a showcase of Rogue equipment. Most people would rather at Dan Bailey's barn or Josh Bridges' old backyard gym.

[@abekreml8485]

He only gained 33 lbs in a month

[@4pawreiki]

Really shows that just because you excel at a sport doesn’t make you a good coach. You bring up so many great points in this video.

[@YonClark]

This is probably your best work.

[@amandacharniga]

He should’ve gone to Mayhem.. your entire video was spot on.

[@jessepaine2]

The best athletes don’t necessarily make the best coaches. Just because you can do something well does not mean you can teach that thing well. This is one reason why Rich surrounds Mayhem with coaches but he rarely coaches, he mentors. Maybe Mat is in the same boat.

[@ManOfEthnicity]

When Mat was fully involved in the HWPO programming it was really good, since delegating it to other people though it's really suffered, for a bit it was clearly just old com-train workouts ( I know because I used to do com-train back in the day) and now it's almost like chatGPT is making everything because in breakdown videos he's surprised by what's programmed for the day.

[@BananaDanceMan]

lol Mat mentored Mal right out of the sport.

[@sarahcomardelle]

@@ManOfEthnicity Which HWPO program are you on?

[@PhilipRodo20]

At our gym we practice with a pvc then a barbell and also teach the medball Squat clean before loading a bar. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@Bossman_aus]

Are you saying Matt’s gym gets as much use as Tia’s home gym?

[@dragonowned]

Ma boy HillerFit bout to blow up with hits like this!!!

[@alextibbits]

if you look at football (the real one with the kicking, soccer, not hand egg) the best coaches are never EVER the best players they are the ones who worked hard to understand the game! The best cross fitters will not be the best coaches

[@ashleyharper584]

Mat certainly didn’t make CrossFit look even remotely doable for the average person. So sad.

[@Chewboom]

I Think crossfit Mayhem showcases what could be done. Loads of athletes training alongside with Rich himself etc. Great community and online at least they have a very positive vibe (havent been there so cant judge). Nice Vid Andrew!

[@JGam]

They did a single movement cut from having the rogue pvc to the bar with 95lbs, no telling how much went on in between there.

[@Rizzerio1]

Being an athlete is having strong intuition of the self's capabilities. Being a coach is having intuition of someone else's capabilities. They don't always match up. Just because you can do something very well, doesn't mean you also know how to teach someone else how to do that thing very well. He piled on years and years of training to learn himself....not years and years of fundamentals to be able to teach someone else. Athletes always have to learn the "this works for me" because after a certain point, fundamentals are just a cookie cutter example of a way to teach everyone something. However, everyone has to eventually learn how to teach themselves the "this works best for my body leverages" in this specific example and that is what Matt has done for years. He's one of the most dominant athletes ever in the sport, so I don't understand why people would also assume that would naturally make him a great teacher. They are 2 very different skill sets to have. Remember, he is the athlete who was always the one being told to better do something, never the one telling someone else how to better do something....it's almost like a form of dyslexia if you had to force the opposite. In my industry, I've always been told I was naturally gifted at the work I do, however, I also feel like I'm terrible at training other people because I do what works best for me since that has always been my mindset. I wouldn't even know where to begin in verbally teaching someone my approach to things. I've long forgotten the fundamentals and replaced them with "this works best for me", and it has made me very productive at my job, however, at the same time, I can't simply clone my mindset that has molded my ways onto someone else because it is very unique to my specific way which was created by years and years of processing the knowledge to then intuitively approach things. Everyone has a starting point unique to them, and everyone has to learn ways to get more efficient/better for their specific needs.

[@gabrielavila2048]

I need to step up my coaching game!!! Sometimes I get caught off guard by a technique question and start froning out lol. Good stuff Andrew!

[@sooptime]

I watch Will, pretty much all vids. That episode was cringe. Fraser had an opportunity and instead of really presenting favourable to non-crossfitters, he came across as just wanting to make Will look as inferior to him as possible and that the meeting was just a pain in the ass with the DGAF attitude. I hope Fraser isn't as much of a dick to clients as he was here with Will.

[@casualsender2316]

Former HWPO guy and now HillerFit convert. The. 40 min EMOM pain is real.

[@poundcake88]

It's clear that Will knows how to work his body. This should not have been a lack of CF experience to shame Will. I'm equally frustrated about this. Will handled it well.

[@stevepasche]

I notcied that Mat seemed like he was in a terrible mood for that video.

[@freebzz]

It was probably one of the more boring Will Tennyson vids in a while. Matt seemed so uninterested with the whole format.

[@dogdadbabycrossfit5251]

This was a good video. He reminds me of me when I first started to coach. You can tell he doesn’t have experience coaching people with no CrossFit experience.

[@stacceyes5911]

I actually tried to watch it, and I could not

[@KRISTAL_T]

So disconnected from the bigger picture of CrossFit. And he always has been. The end was my favorite!

[@Snskch3]

Dude. Mat reallllly dropped the ball. Excellent points made in this video. Mat was just showing off and not selling CrossFit. Terrible coaching. Sterile and just shows pain. Not everyone is is trying to be the fittest on eart, he couldn’t even stand up for the fact that a CrossFit champ is the fittest on earth.

[@lindsayshorak2256]

Holy hell dude, you are getting ripped. When you got up to jump, quadzilla!!! 💪🏽

[@ProjectBlackwell]

I think you're confusing an RDL with deadlift at 8:40. A proper deadlift will require you to pull the slack out of the bar and in turn pull the hips close to the bar.

[@Sourcererdolphin]

I think hwpo is more of a training camp style facility rather than an affiliate gym like Mayhem. The vibe is very different. Feels like a place where Jason Bourne would work out, hidden away. Mat Fraser the person is also very different from Mat Fraser the CrossFit Games persona. We have come to know him from all those documentaries that were very softball, very tailored for him and an inside audience. We were just happy to see him at all. When you pay close attention though it's the same story over and over again. It get repetitive. He's never saying anything new and he's not very inspirational either. What always amazed me is how fast he recovers. He has this aura of greatness around him. His training feels like he's punishing himself in a way, or coping with something. 8 hours to me seems more of a timeframe than actual time put in at capacity but I might be mistaken. Fraser seemed to have changed after he went to Mayhem and Froning didnt really take him in, didn't pass the torch so to speak. There will always be the debate who is the goatier goat. His performances were great, each title stands for itself but he was never really tested by competition. Noah came closest but only because a satchel fell out of Mats ruck. When he reapeared after that fifth title with the training program it felt fresh and kinda niche with the training days rythm, kinda picking up guys who didnt feel at home anywhere else yet. It also felt on the cusp of building a real community. What it has turned into I dont really understand. Calling everyone hard workers is corny af. I don't really see the point in the pro group. Beyond showing them what they can get away with, what does he really have to offer? When he was coaching Mal he genuinely seemed to care and got emotional but that might have been a unique situation that doesnt necessarily translate to being a great coach for a stable of athletes. Outside of the CrossFit bubble he comes off weird, kind of an asshole at times. You can tell he didnt really like the question about the cult thing and the fittest on earth answer seemed like he's not really convinced either. He is downsized significantly. This leads to people thinking he was on the awesome sauce. Maybe he doesnt have direction because what's the point here? He doesnt need the money, he clearly doesnt enjoy coaching, maybe it's a lack of Tia in his life.

[@letransformateur6477]

Interesting analysis

[@markadkins2204]

This is a video!!! Built on entertainment. They’re not gonna cover ever single fundamental detail to Will on a KZbin video. It’s for fun! Watch Will’s other videos.

[@ryantanguay473]

Usually find your videos entertaining and you have some great takes, but this (to me) is a bad take. I think this for a few reasons. First, if you look at Will's channel it would appear he branches out to other fitness areas often. That's what this video is. Its sole purpose was to show HIS audience (of non-CrossFitters, I would assume) what the 5x Games champ DID when he trained (not what he does currently). You made a stink about him being in THAT gym for 8 hours a day, when in reality he was talking about the past when he used to train competitively. I wouldn't be surprised if he spends 8 hours or more at that new facility, given that it's now his career to run that facility for the "professional" athletes who train/work there. Also to note in case you were unaware, the gym is affiliated, but it does not operate like an affiliate and is not open to the public. As far as his "coaching" goes, again the point of this video was to show Will's audience what a day in Mat's training looked like, NOT to coach Will to be a CrossFitter. I thought it was pretty clear watching the video that the whole point was to show his audience how difficult training at that level is/was, not a video to highlight how to do certain movements and coaching Will through the movements. And why would he, if he has any, give away any of those "secrets" or tricks in such a video... When Will goes into these environments, I highly doubt his goal is to come out a better CrossFitter. He just wants to make a video to see what it's like, for views. And answering the question of "do you think the CrossFit Games champ is the fittest on earth?" I thought was a better answer than just "yes", because Mat provided context to the non-CrossFitter who might argue that they are not, cause we "use momentum" in our pull-ups and lift for time instead of quality (the usual powerlifter/bodybuilder answer). There's no context to just a simple "yes". Seems like you hung onto the coaching aspect of the video, which wasn't remotely the POINT of the video. Remember, it was WILL'S video, not Mat's. Will's audience doesn't give two shits about coaching or how to do any of these movements. His sole purpose to making this video was to target HIS audience. I'm no KZbinr but it seems pretty logical to appeal to your 2.3 something million subscribers more so than the 30,000 people who watch CrossFit KZbin. I'm not defending either Will or Mat, and I hardly comment on shit ever, but this just seemed off to me. Keep up your good work otherwise.

[@debbiepeneder6871]

Also, this isn’t HWPO’s/ Mats’s video. They didn’t do the editing. Who knows what was discussed before the filming started. Could it have been Will saying ‘ put me through what you go through’. Plus I’m sure this was edited for entertainment purposes. No one might be around because they wanted to film while gym was empty. I would like to see what Will thinks of this commentary. ( I have an idea what Mat thinks😁). Yes, this video might have some points but its over analyzed.

[@bananaman2002]

Wtf

[@a1ace1991]

Dude he put will in danger by not coaching him properly. He did coach will, he just did a bad job. Hiller is saying in stead of just saying just press up, show him how he can do it. Show will how to do wall balls with out hurting himself. In the same way he gave will weight goals to squat give him time domains to shoot for do he doesn't feel like throwing up immediately. Encourage him. No other crossfit champion would have done this bad of a job.

[@jamielee2642]

So good!! Roasted! lol, all though it was truly a missed opportunity to show of scaleability.

[@khicks34]

Just because you can do things really well doesn't mean you can coach it. Good thing Mat doesn't run an affiliate.

[@_TheKhanhArtist_]

13:47 - I haven't heard anyone label Mat Fraser as one of the best coaches. Until he coaches a champion, then we can call him one of the best.

[@smilinjoe23]

He said himself that he has no interest in being a coach or open up a gym....but he needs to make a living somehow

[@nubianqueen4506]

Yours points are valid but at the same time it said he survived Matt's daily routine. So if he wanted to know and experience what Matt does, then that is exactly what he got. It would have been smarter and safer to demonstrate the basics and paired it with showing him the elite level movements. The gentleman had no issue showing his back squat capabilities and rowing to a lesser extent within Matt's routine. I think Matt definitely missed an opportunity here to have Sami present and led the HWPO sweat component which has the basics which would be easier to follow and then give him the option of executing elite level skill where he felt comfortable.

[@Ollie-s7x]

The whole point was to see if will could survive a day with Mat Fraser. So Mat did a workout that he would normally do

[@garyesparza0314]

This is a classic case of a bad CrossFit Coach. This is exactly how a poor Box experience is. Assumption of fitness. Assumption of skills. Assumption of knowledge. Just embarrassing.

[@YonClark]

We should all go to that video and spam for will to link up with HILLER and Hiller teach this dude what CrossFit is about

[@EdSongoku]

Have athletes left HWPO? Who?! I'm curious

[@destine1547]

The handstand section was so weird, because I was thinking is he going to teach him the basics of maintaining balance on your hands...

[@CdLobo]

In Matt’s defense the dude probably wanted a sample of what Matt does in a day not an on ramp class. Matt has never prided himself on being a good coach either… he may have an L1 since he owns an affiliate (I’m not even sure) but definitely not an L2.

[@Alessandro_Med1206]

Now thats why everyone think crossfit its horrible, "hahaha" look how this FIT GUY its humillate for another "FIT GUY" just to prove that just 0.5% of people can work out like him

[@danimal.94]

A coach who only coach games athletes has then for sure no clue how to coach a newbie. Its like me, with my L2, trying to coach BKG. This said, Fraser big asshole here

[@ruready4ou2rock]

Great video! Am I mistaken or did Gregg Glassman once say he wishes people would’ve learned strict pull-ups first? Before kipping or butterfly.

[@beansofhorrorshalashaska6987]

He said he wished that kipping pull-ups weren’t so valued like they are now.

[@ruready4ou2rock]

@@beansofhorrorshalashaska6987 gotcha. I like kipping, but I go out of my way to work in strict pull-ups often.

[@siheath3648]

This was so frickin good

[@mikebee6530]

This Forest Whitaker role is wild

[@CoreyLunney]

I think a lot of people forget that being a good athlete does not make you a good coach. Often times, as proof in this video, it has a negative effect. People also forget that Mat is one of unique examples of someone only doing CrossFit for the purpose of competition. He was never a coach, affiliate owner, etc. He viewed competing as a job. Btw, I don’t find anything wrong with any of this, but he has literally zero experience with bringing people from outside the CrossFit world into CrossFit (as an exercise program and not a sport). This is why things like the Joe Rogan podcast and now this video seem to be a negative representation of CrossFit as a whole. Not to further the comparisons, but the reason Rich Froning would be better suited for these CrossFit exposure to everyone outside of our bubble is because he spent time as an affiliate coach and as an affiliate owner long before the CrossFit Mayhem universe blew up to what it is now. I even think he might have been on the L1 staff at one point. Either way, I fully agree with everything in this video. The fact he didnt have Will do something like “Cindy” in place of one of the hardest rowing intervals I’ve seen is insane lol.

[@Andrewjnabs84]

It’s crazy that both HWPO and Mayhem are “meccas” of CrossFit. Yet are in locations not easily accessible. It’s like they want to isolate you And then you have nothing else to do but train.

[@roxastopher]

it's so funny, I watched Will's vid the first time and paid no mind to the fact that the gym was empty. I think I thought about it in passing for a second and thought, "oh maybe they did it outside of normal hours". Now that you've pointed it out, you're right; that IS weird the gym is empty.