Bodybuilding is not only about posting workout videos on Instagram for fans or standing on the stage holding the winning title; it also requires more than that. Recently, the World's Strongest Man also admitted that.

According to Generation Iron, the strongest man, Mitchell Hooper, recently appeared on a podcast with Jay Cutler, the 4-time Mr. Olympia, where he revealed that bodybuilding is the hardest thing he has ever tried.

During their interaction, Cutler began discussing the intense diet and dietary discipline that bodybuilding requires and asked Hooper about the hardest sport he had tried. In response, Hooper said,

“Bodybuilding…. Physique…  It’s every single thing you put into your mouth is how you feel energetically every day. Every time you step in front of a mirror, you’re analyzing yourself on where we could go.

You can’t get away from it… It takes you back to being an animal… It’s like, you know, when a lion hasn’t caught a gazelle in a month. That is all that you can think about. Your entire existence, your entire purpose is to find food.”

According to him, unlike the world's strongest man competition, where participants are judged on performance, bodybuilding is a continuous process that requires constant attention to body composition, recovery, and visible progress.

He also admitted that he once became obsessed with physical improvements and nutrition, which hampered his other daily activities.

Between 2016 and 2018, in his early 20s, Hooper was active in bodybuilding and men's physique.

Apart from bodybuilding and prior to joining strongman competitions, Hooper also competed in marathon running and powerlifting.

Currently, he is a legendary strongman who has earned the World's Strongman title 2 times, in 2023 and 2026.

Apart from that, Hooper also earned the title of the Arnold Strongman Classic 4 times from 2023 to 2026.

And the secret of his strength lies in his diet.

Mitchell Hooper’s diet

According to GQ, Hooper follows an intense diet that includes:

Breakfast

• 4 slices of sourdough bread
• 4 boiled eggs
• Some salt
• Grass-fed butter
• Protein shake with 100 g of oats, 1 scoop whey protein, 109 g pineapple, and 250 ml orange juice.

Pre-workout meal

• 350 g cooked rice
• 6 rice cakes
• 150 g pineapple
• 8 oz beef
• Salt to taste
• Shake with 50 g of carb powder, 50 g of dates, and half a tbsp of salt.

During training

• 10 g creatine
• 1 scoop of EAAs
• 5 g taurine
• 50 g of carb powder.

Post-workout shake

• Whey isolated
• 75 g oats
• 10 g creatine
• 15 g frozen berries
• 100 g honey
• 150 g banana.

Dinner

• 8 oz cooked lean protein
• 20 g grass-fed butter
• Sourdough bread slices
• 350 g rice or 100 g pasta.

Before bed

• 2 scoops whey isolate
• 100 g granola
• 299 g plain yogurt.

So, Hooper’s diet highlights that intense strength comes from highly performance-focused nutrition designed to enhance energy, recovery, and training.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil