Mitchell Hooper Discusses Dangers and Advantages of CrossFit, Attracts Parallel to Strongman

Hooper was in nice place to make a comparability.

Written by Robert Zeglinski Final up to date on August 8, 2023

Within the present strongman pantheon, a star in all probability doesn’t shine any brighter than Mitchell Hooper. The Canadian athlete is the reigning World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion and has firmly established his total dominance atop the game of strongman. As a flexible athlete, Hooper is clearly additionally prepared to flex his health data. He posted this at some point after the conclusion of the 2023 CrossFit Games.

On August 7, 2023, Hooper posted a video to his YouTube channel the place he carried out a mixture of strongman and CrossFit workouts. It seems to be a round-up of clips from earlier movies which have appeared on Hooper’s channel. Within the course of, the athlete mentioned the distinction between the 2 totally different athletic disciplines. The video is overlayed with Hooper strolling in an undisclosed neighborhood, narrating his included exercises whereas sharing his ideas. The narrated dialog takes place all through the clip.

Over the course of his varied exercise clips, Hooper seemingly leaves no stone unturned. Highlights included him performing variations of high-rep log presses, clean & jerks, muscle-ups on a pull-up bar, bounce rope, running on a treadmill, and basic back squats.

In the long run, Hooper used a well-known argument in opposition to strongman’s results on one’s well being because it pertains to CrossFit. Hooper notably highlighted the distinctive assessments of elite competitors.

“The large problem with CrossFit is that you just take what the professionals do, and it’s kind of the identical argument as, ‘Strongman’s not good on your well being,’ which, in fact it’s not … since you’re pushing your physique previous what it’s able to and, in the long run, generally that causes you to interrupt down. And CrossFit’s the identical manner.

If you take a look at how CrossFit Video games are deliberate, usually instances while you’re coping with one of the best on the planet, you’re going to program issues in a manner that make it notably difficult on the physique. Let’s say you do a squat right into a deadlift right into a clear. That’s massively difficult on the posterior chain and your again goes to explode. However that’s the objective. If you’re at a contest and also you’re on the skilled degree, that’s what you need to be doing.”

On the native, non-professional degree, Hooper condensed his argument in a fashion extra accessible for much less skilled athletes and leisure lifters who don’t plan to shine on the Games. How athletes use CrossFit to get match can fluctuate drastically from individual to individual, with everybody having totally different objectives and wishes.

“The most important problem [at the local level] is that each CrossFit field is kind of as much as the one who runs it. Do you need to comply with that fashion of programming? Do you need to comply with it extra holistic? And in the long run, CrossFit has a complete bunch of elementary motion patterns that they imagine are elementary expertise, that they imagine embody health.

I believe the one time you get right into a problem, and why folks usually hate on CrossFit and name it ‘silly,’ is while you do one thing like a high-rep clear & jerk with somebody who’s not proficient at doing the clear & jerk within the first place … that turns into actually harmful as a result of your energy degree and ability degree have such a discrepancy.”

It’s that discrepancy that Hooper says creates a battle for CrossFitters of all expertise ranges. Per Hooper, it’s right here {that a} coach ought to develop into a big precedence.

“So, that’s what occurs with CrossFit. Even when you’re not notably robust, that zero ability goes to need to be balanced out with some kind of energy. So that you’re routinely stronger than your ability lets you be. And that’s the place a very good and actually good coach goes that can assist you get there.”