From Running Marathons to World’s Strongest Man (w/Mitchell Hooper)

Today I’m talking to Canadian strongman phenom Mitchell Hooper. After just a few short years of elite strongman competition, Hooper burst into the conversation by qualifying for the World’s Strongest Man Final in his first year at that competition — a meteoric rise in the sport. Now, he has his sights set on more, including world record deadlifts. Mitchell joints the podcast to talk about his broader professional and wellness goes, and he also explains how we made the progression from marathon runner to world’s strongest man contender in under 5 years.

Before we get into that, I want to give a quick shoutout to today’s episode sponsor, Athletic Greens. I first tried Athletic Greens back in 2012. It was already a massively popular daily supplement, and since then, they’ve undergone dozens of formulation tweaks, each an improvement on the last. It’s the rare all-in-one greens supplement that’s NSF-certified — a must for competitive athletes — and also tastes delicious (I’m probably a bit biased because I love the subtle notes of pineapple and vanilla). Interested in trying it? Visit athleticgreens.com/barbend to get a free gift with your purchase.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Mitchell Hooper (@mitchellhooper)

In this episode of The BarBend Podcast, David Thomas Tao and Mitchell Hooper discuss: 

• Mitchell’s crazy two weeks following the 2022 World’s Strongest Man (1:50)
• What took Mitchell to Australia, and what inspired him to become a clinical exercise physiologist (3:00)
• Mitchell’s athletic background, including marathon running (4:10)
• His super-accurate powers of prediction (6:50)
• "My concerns came to fruition" (11:50)
• Mitchell’s clinical practice, and the type of people he’s most passionate about working with (16:00)
• Why Mitchell doesn’t have outcome-based goals in the sport of strongman — and what his primary goal really is (23:09)

Relevant links and further reading

• Follow Mitchell Hooper on Instagram and visit his website
• Follow David Thomas Tao on Instagram and Twitter

Featured image courtesy World’s Strongest Man