How to Build Strength Safely: Lessons from Strongman Mitchell Hooper

"The thing that really changes your performance on a day is psychological, not physiological." That line from strongman Mitchell Hooper stuck with me long after the recording ended. Mitch deadlifted 475 kilos, and he is also an exercise physiologist who has spent years working out what actually matters when you want to get stronger. In this episode of the me&my health up podcast he joined me and my co-host Raoul to talk about building strength and lean muscle, whether you are a competitive athlete or simply getting back into the gym.

From 40% body fat to a bodybuilding stage, and then to strongman

Mitch's path into strength sport was far from a straight line. He played American football, then decided he was carrying too much weight, at around 140 kilos and 40% body fat. Over roughly ten months he dropped to about 95 kilos and stepped onto a bodybuilding stage. After that came marathon running, and eventually strongman, where he now sits at around 140 kilos of mostly lean muscle.

What I found most useful was his honesty about the bodybuilding chapter. He described it as probably the least healthy time of his life, with a big impact on his hormones and appetite. Once the competition was over he wanted to eat everything, including vegetables and fruit he had never enjoyed before. It is the same rebound I see whenever someone follows a very restrictive plan: the body (and willpower) can only be pushed so far before it pushes back.

Get clear on your why before you start

Mitch's first piece of advice has nothing to do with sets and reps. He said that if you are trying to lose weight because it is hard to keep up with your kids, the motivation tends to last. If you are doing it purely for vanity, it rarely does, because you may never feel you look good enough in the mirror.

His own driver was a desire to prove he could work as hard and be as disciplined as people who started with less than he did. The nice thing about a value like that is that it travels. If strongman ended tomorrow, he could apply the same value to another challenge. Before you choose a program, it is worth asking what you are actually doing this for.

The 2 to 5% rule for progress

For people returning to the gym, Mitch's practical starting point was simple. If you do not have individual guidance, begin on the machines, because they guide the plane of movement and lower the injury risk. Do a couple of sets on each machine at an effort of about 6 or 7 out of 10.

Then track everything. In his view this is the most important thing anyone can do, athlete or not. To progress safely, aim to increase the load by roughly 2 to 5% from one week to the next. You can also add sets or reps, but load is the easiest number to follow. If you can jump 10% in a week, week one probably was not hard enough. If you forget what you lifted last time and jump too far, your injury risk goes up.

The reason is worth knowing. Muscle has a good blood supply, so it adapts quickly. Tendons, ligaments and joints have far less, so they adapt more slowly. Your muscles can start to feel ready for more before your connective tissue is. Slow, tracked progress gives everything time to catch up. If this idea appeals, my earlier post on why going slow works better for exercise covers a similar principle from a different angle.

How many reps? Mitch says it matters less than you think

This surprised a few people. Mitch said that for the general population the number of reps does not matter much. You could do 3, 5, 10 or 15. If you like finishing a session out of breath and exhausted, you will probably gravitate to higher reps, and he suggested somewhere between 10 and 20 reps is a sensible general range. Heavier loads, such as sets of five, are fine too, but without someone checking your technique he would be cautious, because the heavier the weight, the more a technique fault can cost you.

He also noted that the research suggests exercise on its own does not burn as many calories as many people hope, so he would not lean on calorie burn as your reason to train. Strength training earns its place for other reasons.

Keep the warm-up and cool-down simple

Another myth-buster. Mitch's view is that from a physiological point of view you mainly need a few progressively heavier sets of the lift you are about to do. If you plan to squat 100 kilos, you might do the empty bar, then 50, then 80, then 100. He considers that just as effective as a five-minute treadmill warm-up followed by a long foam rolling routine.

For the cool-down, he does not lie on the floor and flop around. He simply puts his heaviest, most demanding lift first and works down to lighter exercises, so the session winds down naturally.

What about stretching and recovery?

On stretching, Mitch asked a good question: why do you want to be more flexible? Some people have tightness that genuinely bothers them. For most people, he said, flexibility is not something to worry about, and stretching does not strongly predict injury risk. His tip was that if you do want to lengthen the hamstrings, stretch them under load with an exercise like a Romanian deadlift. Interestingly, he pointed out that gymnasts, who are extremely flexible, still get injured, because stability matters as well as mobility.

For recovery, his focus is blood flow to the tissues that have worked hard. In his opinion, ice does the opposite of what you want, and light movement does the job. On a recovery day he goes for a walk with his dog. He also made a point that stuck with me: if you hit a hard session and then sit all day, your soft tissues miss out on the gentle contraction and relaxation that helps deliver nutrients. He suggested foam rolling probably helps mostly because the effort warms you up, and that a walk could do the same thing. That is his personal opinion, and it is a good prompt to ask what really helps you recover.

Sleep, food and routine

Mitch put sleep and food at the top of the recovery list, with light movement close behind. He is realistic about sleep. He rises early for work and likes to have dinner with his fiancée, so his sleep is not always ideal, and he mentioned he had recently started using a CPAP machine. On food, he eats roughly 6,000 calories a day, built around a large shake in the morning, structured lunches and dinner with his partner. For most people that number is far too high, but the principle is useful: a routine you can repeat beats a perfect plan you cannot.

His routine grew out of necessity, one piece at a time, when he was studying, working and training across Sydney on a motorbike with no time for drive-throughs. That is how most lasting habits form: they solve a real problem in your week.

Strength is also a mind game

Mitch is calm before a lift, not hyped. He argued that pushing yourself into a very high arousal state is a mistake in any event that lasts more than a few minutes, because you swing up and down and wear yourself out. He paces, listens to music, visualises, then stands on the platform and waits for a few heartbeats before he lifts. He also said enjoying the process matters to him, and he told a lovely story about a young child playing in the chalk tray just before his 475-kilo deadlift, which he found funny rather than disruptive.

His wider point is that he does not stress over small details like lucky socks or perfect pre-event meals. Being relaxed about the little things, he believes, gives back more than obsessing over them would.

Where to find Mitch's 12-week program

Mitch mentioned a 12-week strength program, the one he used to prepare for his 475-kilo deadlift. He described it as an Excel-based plan you can customise, and said it assumes you are comfortable with RPE, a simple 0 to 10 effort rating, where a 10 means you could not have done one more rep. You can find it through his Instagram, under Mitchell Hooper. He was also clear that it was designed for people in strength sports and was not meant as a program for getting healthy.

Takeaways to try this week

Write down your reason for training before you pick a program. Track every session. Aim for small weekly increases in load. Keep warm-ups as simple as a few lighter sets. Move gently on recovery days. And find a way to enjoy the process, because you are far more likely to keep going.

This article is general information only and is not medical advice. If you have an injury, a health condition or you are new to strength training, speak with a doctor or qualified exercise professional before changing your program.

If you would like help building a routine that fits your life, me&my wellness offers a free 15-minute clarity call. And for more conversations like this one, follow the me&my health up podcast.