BARRIE鈥擮n a sunny spring morning, Mitchell Hooper sets down his energy drink inside a sleek, airy gym an hour north of Toronto. He’s not the only one working out but, at six-foot-three and 324 pounds, he’s easily the most noticeable.听
Flanked by his coach, the legendary English strongman Laurence Shahlaei, and two university-aged creatives he has providing content for his Snapchat and YouTube channels, he looks sternly at the task before him.
Then he deadlifts 90 pounds worth of worn, circular weights. Then 210, then 530, then 730. His face reddens to the shade of a ripe tomato, his focus sharpens and his eyes bulge. Seconds later, he sends the weights crashing down to the black mat below.
His shirt is emblazoned with four simple words that serve as his motto: 鈥淟ift heavy, be kind.鈥 It may not be the most outwardly tough esthetic, but it鈥檚 true to his personality, he says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 perceived as a bit soft because it is a bit soft because I鈥檓 a bit soft,鈥 Hooper told the Star. 鈥淎nd I still kick your ass in competitions, so maybe we don鈥檛 need to worry about being so hardcore.鈥
Hooper鈥檚 strength as a competitor is his ability to stay consistent across every event, according to one insider. His coach says that his ability to recover sets him apart from the other strongman athletes.
Joel Krahn/Special to the StarHooper, 29, is training for the World鈥檚 Strongest Man competition, a gruelling multi-event strength test that has featured, among other trials, a 19,000-kilogram bus pull, a kettlebell toss and a Hercules-like shield carry. Competitors train for months to lift massive stones 脿 la Sisyphus, fling a keg as high as seven听metres in the air听and deadlift the equivalent of a grand piano.听
In 2023, he became the first Canadian to win the competition in what was seen as somewhat of a changing of the guard in the world of strength sports.
Mitchell Hooper works out with his trainer at Athletic Kulture in Barrie.
Joel Krahn/Special to the StarTwo weeks out听from this year鈥檚 World鈥檚 Strongest Man in Sacramento, Calif., Hooper is labouring away at a slew of workouts, with a special focus on his hand strength.听
In last听year’s competition, he finished second, which he attributes to torn calluses that left him with a half-dozen open wounds听on each hand and a diminished ability to grip handles and bars.听
240kg (529lbs) 馃憡 鈥 鈥
“I had to battle and battle and battle,” Hooper said.听“I was able to still perform relatively well, but it hindered me a lot to the point where, if my hands didn’t tear but I still had the same performance as afterwards 鈥 which were quite substandard for me 鈥 I still would’ve won the competition.”听
Hooper says听it鈥檚 a privilege not to have too many glaring holes in his game. The four-day competition includes a hodgepodge of strength and stamina events, but he feels confident that his game is consistent and strong.听
鈥淚n terms of physical quality and capability, I鈥檓 better than I鈥檝e ever been,鈥 he said, leaning back in an office chair in a small room off the gym floor.
A native of the quaint Barrie suburb of Midhurst, Ont., Hooper played hockey and golf growing up before studying human kinetics while playing football at the University of Guelph. He moved to Australia to get a master鈥檚 degree in exercise physiology at the University of Sydney and discovered strongman along the way.
He made his way into the international competitive community after Estonian deadlift specialist听Rauno Heinla听dropped out of the 2022 World’s Strongest Man competition, making way for his surprising eighth-place finish in the 30-athlete pool.
The next year, he won the whole thing, beating out three-time champion Tom Stoltman and decorated veteran Brian Shaw, among other heavyweights.听
Since then, he has won every major competition, including the Rogue Invitational, the Arnold Strongman Classic and the Shaw Classic, establishing himself as one of the premier athletes in an oft-forgotten corner of the sporting world.听 听
Mitchell Hooper became the first Canadian to win the World’s Strongest Man competition in 2023.
Joel Krahn/Special to the Star“It’s as much about precision and technique as it is about aggression,” Hooper reflects, alluding to his disarmingly mild temperament. “I’ve never been in a fight in my life. It’s not who I am, it’s not what I do. I quit football because I hated getting my head bashed and hitting other people. I’m not tough, I’m just this big because I don’t want to have to be tough.”听
He acknowledges that there is some disparity between the rough-and-tumble culture of his world and his gracious demeanour, especially as he embraces being a father to a young daughter, with another child on the way.
Hooper says the dichotomy is between those who want strongman to be a circus and those who want it to be a sport.
鈥淚 want it to be a sport, where as many people as possible can get involved,鈥 he said, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 given me so many good things in my life.鈥
His outlook on that question is manifested in his proactive social media presence. His sometimes comedic, sometimes informative YouTube channel has attracted some 190 million views and more than 400,000 subscribers since it launched in 2022. He has 300,000 followers on Instagram, another 40,000 on Facebook and nearly 50,000 on TikTok.
In one video, nicknamed Little T, just for kicks. In another, he .
His comment section 鈥 often a snarky听thorn in the side听of creators seeking to develop an online community 鈥 is supportive, dryly witty and full of earnest fans and fellow aspiring strongmen.
In many direct-to-camera videos, he is frank, human and doesn鈥檛 shy away from the challenges of maintaining a sterling physique, which builds his brand and that of the sport.
鈥淚 think a lot of people are able to relate to him with those values,鈥 said 脡loi Fournier, the co-founder of the website Strongman Archives, which catalogues competition statistics and competitor profiles.
As a competitor, Hooper鈥檚 strength is his ability to recover quicker than any other athlete, his coach observed, even after multiple international wins and numerous accolades.
鈥淚鈥檝e coached hundreds of athletes, and there鈥檚 only him and one other guy that I can push quite as hard,鈥 said Shahlaei, who had a decorated career in Europe. 鈥淗is ability to put in a hard session and then come back the next day and do it again and again and again is quite incredible. You don鈥檛 see too many athletes that can do that.鈥
Mitchell deadlifts while wearing a shirt听emblazoned with four simple words that serve as his motto: 鈥淟ift heavy, be kind.鈥澨
Joel Krahn/Special to the StarSo does Hooper听stand a chance of winning a second World鈥檚 Strongest Man title?
Fournier says he is the favourite due to his versatility and consistency, especially given the recent roll he鈥檚 been on.
鈥淗is main strength, I鈥檇 say, is his lack of weaknesses,鈥 Fournier said. 鈥淪ince World鈥檚 Strongest Man last year, he鈥檚 won every single competition he鈥檚 entered: seven competitions, seven titles. Obviously, nothing is easy in strongman, but he made it look easy, and I think that certainly makes him the odds-on favourite for World鈥檚 Strongest Man this year.鈥
Hooper seems even more sure.
鈥淚f I don鈥檛 get hurt, it鈥檚 going to be next to impossible for anyone to beat me,鈥 he said.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation