Mitchell Hooper took a trip to Planet Fitness to hit a Strongman workout.
Mitchell Hooper has taken on many challenges in the fitness world. This time, he wanted to address gym stereotypes and prove that you can still get a good workout in a Planet Fitness.
“Every commercial gym has its bad stereotypes and today, I’ve come to the gym with the worst reputation of them all. The most judgmental, judgement-free zone. We’re going to find out, can I train here?”
It was quite a year for Hooper in 2023. He began with a victory at the Arnold Strongman Classic. Hooper followed it up with a win during the Rogue Invitational and highlighted the season by being crowned World’s Strongest Man.
READ MORE: Mitchell Hooper’s 5 Tips To Avoid Plateaus
Hooper continues to be one of the strongest men in the world and wanted to hit a new gym for a workout.
Mitchell Hooper’s Planet Fitness Workout
- Smith Machine Strict Press
- Machine Chest Press
- Cable Flyes
- Lateral Raise
- Cable Triceps Pressdown
- Face Pulls
- Single-Arm Tricep Extension
Smith Machine Strict Press
The workout began with Strict Press. Mitchell Hooper usually performs this exercise with a barbell but Planet Fitness does not have a free-weight bar to use. Instead, he opted for the Smith Machine and hit three sets, working his way up to 125kg (275lbs).
“I’ve been doing this seated with a free barbell. I’m just gong to do it seated with the smith machine. One of the limitations of Planet Fitness is they don’t have free-weight barbells. This gym will not be perfect but it is definitely possible to get strong with certain modifications.”
Machine Chest Press
Hooper moved onto the chest press machine. The initial question for Hooper was would there be enough weight? He found modifications in tempo to still get a good pump.
“I think the natural difficulty here is going to be, do we have the load required?
Just a small modification in tempo, in even a lighter machine, is going to give me just the amount of stimulus that I’m looking for.”
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Cable Flyes
Cable flyes was the next workout and this is one that is typically part of Hooper’s workout. He uses this movement to train to lift Atlas Stones. This was a three-set exercise of 12-15 reps.
“When I’m doing this, I’m thinking about squeezing an Atlas Stone. If you have Atlas Stones on your program and you did the same exact humber of sets and reps with a cable fly, that’s going to get you a long way in being able to do it.”
Lateral Raises
Mitchell Hooper hit a drop set when performing lateral rises. This was once again three sets of 12-15 reps.
“When I do drop sets, I’m always thinking I want to be the end of the second set to be the most difficult. If you burn once, you’re not going to be able to get through.”
Face Pulls
Finally, the exercise ended with face pulls and single-arm tricep extensions.
“I hope you see that you can make small modifications to a normal program and get it done even with limited circumstances.”
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