On Daily Routines, we profile successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, executives and athletes to explore their routines, schedules, habits and day in the life.
For the majority of the past decade, the CrossFit Games’ male division has been dominated by primarily two names — Mat Fraser and Rich Froning Jr. However, with Fraser’s retirement in 2021 and Froning’s recent focus on team events with CrossFit Mayhem, there has been a new name that’s emerged in the past couple of years.
Enter Justin Medeiros. Born in Lodi, California, the current Fittest Man on Earth spent his high school years wrestling and playing football after some encouragement from his parents. “I was not very athletic. My parents thought that would be a good sport to humble me up,” he said about wrestling. “It’s an individual sport so it’s all on yourself. It teaches you a lot of respect and sportsmanship.”
It was in seventh grade that he discovered CrossFit. He initially started the sport as a way to keep himself occupied between wrestling and football seasons, but he quickly fell in love with it and decided to make CrossFit his focus. Within just a few years of his start, Medeiros participated in his first CrossFit competition in the teen division where he finished 19th and failed to qualify for the Games.
In 2019, Medeiros managed to qualify for the 2020 CrossFit Games after winning the Filthy 150 Sanctional, and ended up finishing third behind Fraser and Samuel Kwant. He was also named Rookie of the Year. When he came back in 2021, the 22-year old was a man on a mission. After securing a lead in event 7, Medeiros held on for the rest of the Games to become the youngest man to be crowned the Fittest Man on Earth. Medeiros managed to repeat his performance the following when he successfully defended his title at the 2022 CrossFit Games.
A part of being the Fittest Man on Earth is just the execution of events. You can be as fit as you want, but if you can’t go out there and execute a plan, then you’re not going to be able to optimize your fitness.
6 Reasons Why Justin Medeiros Is So Good | BOXROX
Justin Medeiros’ training routine & diet
At the peak of his Games training schedule, the CrossFit champion can easily put in anywhere between seven to eight hours of work each day. The series of workouts throughout the week can include track sessions, hill sprints, Olympic weightlifting sessions and metabolic conditioning (metcon) workouts. The overall purpose is to prepare his body for the gruelling stress of the several-day CrossFit Games.
“During the Open, when the season was just gearing up, I was doing two training sessions — both 90 minutes to two hours long,” he told Inside Hook. “But by the time the Games arrived, I was up to two three-hour sessions, plus a long run, bike, or swim at the end of the day. I went from training three hours a day to seven or eight.”
As the Games got nearer, Medeiros and his coach would begin tapering off his workout intensity so that there was no risk of burning out and overtraining. “The last three days I wasn’t even touching the weights; at the very most I was hitting a light jog and doing some stretching,” he explained. “By then, the hay should be in the barn.”
To fuel his long, intense training sessions, Medeiros makes sure he’s packing in the food — he regularly consumes up to 5,000 calories a day. “My goal is to eat as much as I can every day,” he said in an interview with Insider. “I’m eating to fuel myself, not to look the best or be the lightest weight.”
On a day-to-day basis, the CrossFitter is typically eating high-carb foods like oatmeal and fruit, as well as blending peanut butter smoothies to hit his goal of 250 grams of protein a day. A typical competition day breakfast for Medeiros might be four eggs, a couple pieces of bacon, a bagel with jelly, washed down with some oatmeal and brown sugar. As a way to make sure he’s fuelling properly during the Games, Medeiros packs a massive bag of food for each competition filled with everything he needs.
On top of drinking Podium protein shakes after every workout, I carry a Yeti backpack with me that’s filled with food. Probably enough to feed me for ten days. When you’re competing at the Games, with all of those adrenaline pumps, it’s not easy to have an appetite. But since you need as many calories as possible it’s important to have any possible craving covered. I’m packing every thing I can think of: fruit snacks, baby food, meat and rice dishes, sweet potatoes, Smucker’s Uncrustables.
How Justin Medeiros Became the Fittest Man on Earth | Inside Hook
For his last meal for the day, Medeiros eats a bowl of cereal — a luxury he can afford now that he’s no longer weight managing like back in his wrestling days. “In the end, I’m trying to get as many carbs in as possible, and because I love cereal it’s that extra dose at the end of the day,” he explained.
In addition to his nutrition, Medeiros is also big on prioritising recovery in his daily routine. From his perspective, the key success factor in CrossFit is able to recover from workouts quickly and optimally. In an interview with Men’s Health, the CrossFit champion described his evening routine, which includes a focus on self-care and recovery.
The night-time routine is huge for me. About an hour before bed, I try to wind down and make that routine as consistent as possible. I have an app called GOWOD, and you can pick a routine that’s 9, 15, or 20 minutes. That helps you stretch the muscles that are tight. Right when I finish that, I take cbdMD, which has melatonin and a few other things to help you calm down and relax. I’m also a hot sleeper, so I use a mattress that I can adjust to keep cool. Combining those three things every night has been huge for me because sleep is the biggest thing that helps me.
CrossFit Games Champ Justin Medeiros Shared His Best Workout and Diet Advice | Men’s Health
Before you go…
Check out more daily routines from Barack Obama, Arianna Huffington, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michelle Obama, Sheryl Sandberg, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and plenty others.
