Elite performers don’t have “a trainer.” They have a team. A nutritionist, a strength coach, a mindset specialist, and a medical lead. At Coya, we believe you deserve the same architecture.
We want to introduce you to one of the key minds behind our method: Matt Comand.
Matt, what is your professional background?
I’ve worked as a Mental Performance Coach for over 15 years, helping elite athletes, executives, teams, and coaches build high performance mindsets and high performance environments. I work at the intersection of performance psychology, neuroscience, and sustainable behavior change — and have been coaching hockey for just as long as I’ve been coaching people.
Beyond my work at Coya, I run a High Performance consulting agency called Emergent, which I started in 2019.
What’s a popular piece of health advice you completely disagree with?
Motivation is overrated, and we need to stop treating it like a reliable fuel source. It comes and goes. It’s not dependable, and yet we blame its absence constantly, as though a lack of motivation fully explains why we didn’t follow through. Commitment is a different thing entirely. Either you’re committed to something or you’re not — and commitments are held up by behavior, not feelings.’
I encourage clients to ask themselves two questions: What am I committed to in my life? And: What behaviors are required to fulfill that commitment? A third usually follows naturally: What can I say to myself, or do, when that commitment needs to be honored and I just don’t feel like it?
That last question is where the real work lives.
What is one non-negotiable in your personal daily routine?
Three things — and any one of them alone doesn’t tell the full story.
- Sleep. I aim for 7 to 7.5 hours, which means I’m in bed for closer to 8 or 8.5. Winding down with reading and time with my partner before bed isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s what makes the sleep worth having.
- Mindfulness. Most days, I set aside time for deliberate reflection, breathwork, or meditation. Not seven days a week, but five is the goal. Even ten minutes of intentional quiet does something the rest of the day doesn’t.
- Movement. Even on the days when it’s a 15-minute walk or a stretch session, I show up for it. Consistency over intensity, every time.
What is a personal health or performance hurdle you’ve had to overcome recently?
About a month after running my first marathon, I injured my knee. After years of running and playing squash regularly, I had to slow down completely — physio, targeted mobility work, building strength in muscle groups I’d largely ignored.
The humbling part wasn’t the injury itself. It was realizing how much I’d been logging miles without building the foundation underneath them. The shift toward functional strength and mobility has changed how I think about movement entirely.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Two, and I can’t separate them.
Don’t wait. A professor said it in class at Brock years ago. If you’re thinking about sending that email, reaching out to someone, applying for the job — do it. You never know how things end up. Don’t wait to find out.
Do the work. Doesn’t matter what the goal is. Exercise, study, write, practice, train, fail, feel foolish — you have to do the work. There’s no version of growth that skips that part.
When you aren’t working or coaching, how do you unplug?
Coaching hockey is genuinely one of my favourite things. Aside from that, I love camping, hiking, and visiting new cities and national parks when I can. Concerts (Dave Matthews Band, specifically, is a permanent fixture). And of course, time with friends and family, which resets everything else.
Connect with Matt on LinkedIn.
