From a marathon runner to the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) and 2024 Strongest Man on Earth, Mitchell Hooper knows how to get big and strong at the elite level. In early January 2024, the Canadian Strongman described his top five exercises for strength and hypertrophy.
“You get strong through neuromuscular adaptations, how your brain communicates to your body,” Hooper explained. “[Muscle growth] is causing muscle damage, metabolic stress, and mechanical tension.” While this is our best explanation for strength and growth adaptations, the mechanisms still aren’t perfectly understood.
Each category includes five exercises that target a specific focus: legs, posterior chain, press, pull, and carry. We highlighted the key techniques.
5 Best Exercises for Strength
Hooper’s criteria for the best strength lifts include total body engagement, heavy loading, and minimal stability. These are great for putting on size:
- Low Bar Back Squat
- Stiff Bar Deadlifts (no partial range of motion)
- Standing Strict Overhead Press
- Pendlay Row
- Farmer’s Walk
- Honorable Mention: Leg Press
For versatility and biomechanics, nothing beats squats for building strong, capable legs. Hooper prefers low-bar back squats, with the barbell placed lower, across the shoulder blades. This causes more of a forward lean, often allowing better stability with heavier loads than with high-bar squats. Powerlifters typically use low-bar squats.
[Related: The Differences Between High-Bar Vs. Low-Bar Squats Explained]
Hooper’s argument for Pendlay rows to build a powerful back is that slow, controlled negatives are less important for strength development. However, they seem to be better for hypertrophy. Eliminating the stretch “Mitigates muscle damage and promotes neuromuscular connection,” Hooper explained.
“This is the most underrated exercise.” Farmer’s carries are considered niche, competition-type exercise; hence, they’re often ignored. But they’re a great full-body workout, emphasizing functional strength and performance. “Farmer’s walks are necessary to improve overall strength,” Hooper asserted.
5 Best Exercises for Hypertrophy
Hooper focused on constant muscle tension for his favored hypertrophy movements.
- Pendulum Squat
- Barbell RDL with Straps
- Close-Grip Incline Chest Press
- Seated Cable Row
- Barbell Shrug
Pendulum squats keep tension on the quads. “We’ll get away from this if we have the ability to shift the technique,” Hooper posits, which is more likely with free-weight squats.
“A muscular stretch is one of the most valuable things to stimulate muscle growth.” Hooper insists that close-grip incline barbell presses involve a greater range of motion and a better stretch than flat presses. Moreover, it distributes the load more evenly between the pushing muscles, “This is the best for [upper] body hypertrophy.”
Pro Tip: During cable seated rows, focus on pulling the elbows as far behind you as possible. Use a shoulder-width or wider grip for a larger range of motion.
Range of motion is relative to when you feel the muscle stop contracting.
—Mitchell Hooper
Hooper considers barbell shrugs a stationary version of farmer’s walks, offering similar benefits.
5 Best Exercises for Strength & Size
These exercises combine elements of the strength and hypertrophy-specific movements:
- High Bar Constant Tension Squat
- Stiff Leg Deadlift
- Incline Swiss Bar Press
- Bent Over Row
- Trap Bar Carry
When building size and strength simultaneously, Hooper emphasized that “There’s less concern about rep ranges.” However, this works best for novices, whereas more advanced trainees likely need to specialize in either for the best gains potential.
Hooper recommends high bar squats as a pure leg builder. Most tend to sit the bar on the traps, which forces a more upright torso involving more quads. “[Don’t] bend over more than you have to,” Hooper instructs. To maintain muscle tension, try not to rest during the set.
For the posterior, stiff leg deadlifts offer a more pronounced stretch and heavy loading. Hooper uses a neutral grip (i.e., palms facing) for push-day size and strength since it helps avoid flaring the elbows too wide.
Hooper prefers the happy medium of standing bent-over rows. Unlike Pendlays, bent-over rows are more strength-oriented than seated cable rows with a full eccentric stretch.
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Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram
