According to Canadian Geographic, Canadian bull moose can grow up to 6’10” tall, weigh as much as 1,500 pounds, and have been known to charge pedestrians and vehicles alike.
Similarly, Mitchell “the Moose” Hooper is 6’3”, has weighed as much as 320 pounds, deadlifts over 1,000 pounds, and has been known to win the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) competition. Frankly, we wouldn’t want to one-versus-one either of them.
But that’s what we’re doing. On June 26, 2024, Hooper posted a video to his YouTube channel ranking popular deadlift accessory exercises on a tier list, based on one of BarBend’s own training articles.
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Hooper, perhaps the strongest nerd ever, wasn’t thrilled with some of our picks. (That’s not a jab; how many 1,000-pound pullers with Masters degrees do you know?)
So we emailed him, like, “Pistols. At dawn.” He accepted our challenge. Here’s what the 2023 WSM winner had to say.
BarBend vs. Mitchell Hooper: Deadlift Accessories
Our original list consisted of 15 exercises we fully believe are useful supplemental movements for increasing your strength on the deadlift. Here are our favorite deadlift accessory exercises, not necessarily in order:
- Deficit Deadlift
- Barbell Good Morning
- Romanian Deadlift with Horizontal Band Resistance
- Bent-Over Row
- Rack Pull
- Kettlebell Swing
- Hip Thrust
- Landmine Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
- Meadows Row
- Barbell Back Squat
- Barbell Romanian Deadlift
- Front-Rack Bulgarian Split Squat
- Band-Assisted Broad Jump
- TRX Body Saw
- Unilateral TRX Row
Hooper also based his rankings of these and other popular deadlift-adjacent moves on his tier list around the following criteria:
- Does it address “most people’s” weaknesses in the deadlift?
- Does it directly translate to deadlift performance?
- Is it practical to perform?
These are all fair asks, and after hearing the two-time Arnold Strongman Classic winner out, we were compelled to adjust our original selections. But we’ll get to that later.
In his video, Hooper dispensed with six of them off the rip — the deficit deadlift, rack pull, two Romanian deadlift variations plus the standard exercise, and the banded broad jump — citing most of them as deadlift variations, not accessories. So we asked him, “What’s the practical difference?”
- Hooper: “A deadlift variation changes [the technique] of the deadlift itself, such as paused or tempo deadlifts. An accessory is anything that builds or strengthens the musculature required to perform a deadlift, like leg curls or back extensions.”
These labels don’t have formal or universally recognized definitions. Such is life in the strength game, but we think Hooper’s characterizations hold water.
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While hearing Hooper out, both on YouTube and during our conversation with him, something nagged at us. Great athletes don’t necessarily make great coaches, and it got us thinking — as an elite athlete and one of the best deadlifters on the planet, is Hooper’s perspective inherently biased or detached from the average gymgoer?
- Hooper: “No. I have the education and experience working with people of all ability levels to back up my claims, which is what you should be looking for when seeking out trustworthy advice.”
It’s hard to argue with him on that. In addition to being a full-time strongman competitor, Hooper is a clinical exercise physiologist who also has CSCS (certified strength & conditioning specialist) accreditation. His educational background and uncommonly meteoric rise to the top of competitive strongman signal that Hooper is laser-focused on being the best deadlifter he can be.
This begs the question, “Is Hooper’s lens too narrow?” We think there’s value in supplemental training being, as we put it to him, “deliberately nonspecific.” Here’s what he had to say:
- Hooper: “I don’t want to imply that any movement is outright ‘bad’ as they all have their purposes and benefits … Being generally strong and robust creates a great foundation for building strength, but that doesn’t qualify an exercise as a good deadlift accessory.”
Case closed? Not quite (and we’ll circle back), but Hooper makes fair points.
Round Two: Fight!
Hooper was less than stoked about a handful of our deadlift accessories, namely moves like the broad jump and TRX exercises. After hearing him out, we agree that they may not merit inclusion on a “best” list.
But we did flag three moves he decried — the rack pull, hip thrust, and kettlebell swing — as accessories worth fighting for.
Rack Pull
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Hooper considers the rack pull a deadlift variation, not an accessory. Fair play. He placed it in the “B” category of his tier list, suggesting that slight deviations in technique compared to deadlifting from the floor diminish its relevance.
Our Take: Amateur or beginner athletes may struggle to replicate their exact deadlift posture during a rack pull, but that isn’t a relevant concern for any competent puller. And if technical affectations devalue a deadlift accessory, would that logic not apply to, say, the deficit deadlift, which Hooper put near the top of his tier list?
- Hooper: “Athletes of all levels change their technique when rack pulling. It doesn’t give the return on investment people think it does; it just makes you a better rack puller. On the other hand, deficit deadlifts are incredible because they reinforce a strong bottom position, which is the most important variable when trying to improve your deadlift lockout.”
Hip Thrust
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Hooper oscillates back and forth on the hip thrust, but in his video, he slotted it into “B” tier. His logic is that locking out a deadlift involves more moving parts than just the glutes. We took issue with that; the gluteus maximus, after all, is the largest and most powerful hip extensor. Hip thrusts allow you to zone in specifically on training the glutes to extend the hip.
- Hooper: “Hip extension isn’t solely dependent on the glutes. Research shows that the adductor magnus is also a primary contributor, and isolating one muscle at the expense of several others is leaving meat on the bone.”
- Continued: “At lockout, your hip extension strength must be matched by extension of the thoracic spine as well, [which the hip thrust doesn’t address]. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone with an upper back that’s stronger than their hip extensors.”
Editor’s Note: Hooper didn’t offer a specific citation, but we’re happy to support his claim. A 2010 paper on the kinesiology of the hip remarked, “When the hip is flexed, the adductor muscles are mechanically prepared to augment the other extensor muscles.” (1)
Kettlebell Swing
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According to Hooper, the trusty kettlebell swing is an “F-tier” deadlift accessory exercise — as close to the bottom of the barrel as you can get, going by his criteria. His main argument is that most kettlebells are simply too light to be relevant for heavy deadlifts.
We concede on that front, but we think swings are a phenomenal teaching tool to help beginners understand both the hip hinge and the explosive power required to excel in strength sports.
- Hooper: “I agree it is a great teaching tool, but if you don’t know how to deadlift, we shouldn’t be clouding you with different accessories.”
We aren’t sold on this one. Some studies support the idea that variable practice, or practicing “different aspects of the same skill tends to promote longer-term learning.” (2) It must be mentioned that this study wasn’t carried out on the “skill” of strength training.
Split Decision
At BarBend, we pride ourselves on providing best-in-class strength training content to our readers, which means being willing to admit when we’re wrong about something. Did Hooper hold our feet to the fire?
No; unsurprisingly, the Moose continues to live up to his mantra: Lift heavy (check), be kind (check). We wrapped up our exchange by providing our updated and abbreviated list of the best deadlift accessory exercises. Here are each of our picks:
BarBend
- Back Squat
- Hip Thrust
- Good Morning
- Barbell Row
- Kettlebell Swing
Mitchell Hooper
- Barbell Squat
- Leg Press
- Good Morning
- Back Extension
- Snatch-Grip Deadlift
Sidebar: We prompted Hooper to describe something surprising about his own deadlift training; an unlikely advantage. “Ironically, I deadlift better when I’m at a lighter body weight,” he replied. “The starting position feels much more natural, and I think your readers should consider that there are diminishing returns with respect to bulking up to increase deadlift strength.”
We closed out our conversation with Hooper by asking him what he’s got on his calendar for the remainder of 2024. When he isn’t creating fantastic training content on social media or debating news outlets, Hooper is hard at work preparing for the following events:
- Jul. 13: Axle clean & press world record attempt
- Aug. 17, 18: 2024 Strongest Man on Earth
- Sep. 7: Giants Live Birmingham & World Log Lift Championships
- Sep. 28: Giants Live Las Vegas & World Deadlift Championships
- Oct. 19: Giants Live World Tour Finals
- Nov. 8-10: 2024 Rogue Invitational
We wish him the best of luck and hope he doesn’t skip his kettlebell swings.
More Strongman News
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- Eddie Hall’s 11-Year-Old Son Can Already Deadlift 265 Pounds
References
- Neumann D. A. (2010). Kinesiology of the hip: a focus on muscular actions. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 40(2), 82–94.
- Willey, C. R., & Liu, Z. (2018). Long-term motor learning: Effects of varied and specific practice. Vision research, 152, 10–16.
Featured Image: Mitchell Hooper / YouTube
