World’s Strongest Man puts himself through tough pull day session.
As if attempting to match Ronnie Coleman’s best lifts wasn’t difficult enough, Mitchell Hooper also tried to maintain pace with one other all-time great’s signature workout. Although the reigning World’s Strongest Man typically doesn’t deal with getting a pump during his training, he had no alternative but to embrace that satisfying feeling Arnold Schwarzenegger strived for during his legendary gym sessions.
In a video posted on his YouTube page on Nov. 13, 2023, Hooper tried the seven-time Mr. Olympia winner’s iconic back and biceps workout. Unnecessary to say, the high-volume type of training gave the Canadian strongman a fair deeper appreciation for Schwarzenegger’s accomplishments.
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At all times up for a challenge, Hooper tested his upper-body strength and stamina via a series of back and biceps exercises that left his muscles thoroughly taxed. Paying homage to arguably the preferred bodybuilder ever to live, it didn’t take long for the talented strongman to know the differences between how athletes from each sport profit from their specific training modalities.
Hooper kicked off the session with 4 back exercises before ending up with several curl variations. The workout begins about 40 seconds into the video.
Wide-Grip Pull-Up
Tipping the scales at about 6-foot-3, 320 kilos, Hooper recruited his lats to lift his sizable frame to the highest of the assisted pull-up machine. Going with a large grip led to enhanced lat engagement and allowed the Ontario native to raised utilize his rhomboids and trapezius muscles.
After completing his second set, Hooper took a take a look at a few of Schwarzenegger’s best lifts, which included a 498-pound (226-kilogram) bench press and a 709.9-pound (322-kilogram) deadlift. Despite not being overly impressed by those numbers, Hooper acknowledged that bodybuilders have a definite advantage in a single key area.
“Upper body strength is disproportionally good in bodybuilders because their muscle mass is so high up there,” he explained. “I don’t know what that’s. Perhaps strongmen should do rather a lot more upper body accessory work than we do because bodybuilders are so strong comparatively.
Following that temporary rest period, Hooper wrapped up the primary portion of the workout by completing three more sets of wide-grip pull-ups.
T-Bar Row
Next, Hooper went with a variation of considered one of Schwarzenegger’s favorite exercises: the T-bar row. Starting with three 45-pound (20.4-kilogram) plates, the large man explosively pulled and squeezed each rep, noting that his upper-body strength isn’t on the identical level as his lower body.
“Like 80 percent of the whole lot we do is quad, hamstring, glute,” Hooper said about strongmen. “Leg drive, should you’ve got that, you’re going to do thoroughly.”
Subsequent sets of T-bar rows included heavier loads, which forced the Canadian athlete to make use of his core and legs to take care of stability throughout the movement.
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
Hooper then went over to the dumbbell section to perform single-arm rows. A classic back exercise that’s great for constructing thickness, he made quick work of 130-pound (59-kilogram) dumbbells for his first two sets. Nonetheless, simply because it looked easy doesn’t mean Hooper enjoyed this a part of the workout.
“I feel this could be my least favorite exercise,” he explained. “The problem is rather a lot in your core, not rather a lot within the actual pulling. So it’s like a core workout with an arbitrary dumbbell movement.”
Still, Hooper pushed (or on this case, pulled) on to complete two more sets with the identical weight, ensuring to take care of a neutral spine as he accomplished the heavy dumbbell rows.
Close-Grip Lat Pulldown
The ultimate back exercise of the workout put Hooper’s lats to the final word test. Having already accepted the truth that he could be “sore as hell” the subsequent day, he mustered up the energy to finish 4 sets of close-grip lat pulldowns. Hooper leaned back barely through the movement, pulling the handle right down to just above chest level.
Once he finished on the cable machine, he moved on to the second half of his session.
[Related: The Best Arm Workouts for Beginners, With Dumbbells, and More]
Biceps Circuit
With about 20 minutes left to coach, Hooper wrapped his biceps in blood restriction cuffs, which have been shown to assist increase hypertrophy. (1) Although he performed fewer working sets than Schwarzenegger’s protocol, Hooper still achieved a wonderful muscle-building stimulus.
Aiming to hit his biceps from multiple angles, the reigning WSM accomplished 4 rounds of a four-part circuit that included the next exercises:
- Standing Barbell Curl — Used a 70-pound (31.8-kilogram) curl bar
- Barbell Preacher Curl — Used the identical 70-pound (31.8-kilogram) curl bar
- Alternating Dumbbell Curl — Used 50-pound (22.7-kilogram) dumbbells
- Concentration Curl — Used 45-pound (20.4-kilogram) dumbbells
By the point he cranked out his final rep, an exasperated and vascular version of Hooper seemed blissful with the pump he achieved through the expedited biceps session.
Schwarzenegger-Style Back and Biceps Workout
Here’s an entire breakdown of the Arnold Schwarzenegger-inspired back and biceps workout Hooper performed.
- Wide-Grip Pull-Up — 5 x 8-12
- T-Bar Row — 5 x 8-12
- Single-Arm Dumbbell Row — 4 x 8-12
- Close-Grip Lat Pulldown — 4 x 8-12
- Standing Barbell Curl — 4 x 8-12
- Barbell Preacher Curl — 4 x 8-12
- Alternating Dumbbell Curl — 4 x 8-12
- Concentration Curl — 4 x 8-12
When you shouldn’t expect to see Mitchell Hooper enter a bodybuilding show anytime soon, the actual fact he’s willing to try different kinds of training and share his honest feedback shows why he’s considered one of the more well-respected and popular strength athletes today. Already a world-class strongman, anything he does to enhance in other areas will only make him a more fierce competitor moving forward.
Featured Image: Mitchell Hooper / YouTube
References
- Wortman RJ, Brown SM, Savage-Elliott I, Finley ZJ, Mulcahey MK. Blood Flow Restriction Training for Athletes: A Systematic Review. Am J Sports Med. 2021 Jun;49(7):1938-1944. doi: 10.1177/0363546520964454. Epub 2020 Nov 16. PMID: 33196300.