Tag: Mental Health
Mitchell Hooper Speaks Out About His Struggle With Mental Health And Suicidal Thoughts
Mitchell Hooper is coming off one of the greatest rookie years in the history of Strongman. So, many people wonder what exactly it is that makes him such an incredible athlete. Well, the 2023 World’s Strongest Man recently sat down with another champion, the 7x Mr. Olympia in the 212 class, Flex Lewis. The pair conducted a two hour podcast on Lewis’ YouTube channel where they touched on numerous topics, including mental health struggles, the benefits of winning big competitions, the sacrifice needed to become the best, and more.
Mitchell Hooper Talks About Reaching The Top
Mitchell Hooper opened up by explaining what his thought process was going into the 2023 World’s Strongest Man. Despite winning the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic shortly before, Mitchell still did not think his chances of winning the title were large.
This comes due to the fact that the events at the 2023 WSM were not the ones that Hooper excels in usually. However, he still managed to put in an effort and win the competition.
“It was, if you know the events and you know what I’m good at, it was a more than perfect performance… In my estimation, I probably have three or four more chances at the most to win, and the odds that all of those go perfectly are very low. So, I thought I had about a 25% chance.”
Related: ‘I Was in Serious Danger’: Mitchell Hooper Breaks Down 2023 World’s Strongest Man Win
Mitchell Hooper was then asked how he managed to achieve the greatest thing in Strongman after just one year in the sport. He revealed that experience has benefited himself the most, as he now knows how to approach different events and develop a tactic for the competition.
“I don’t know if I’m that much stronger than I was 12 months ago, but I’m just a much smarter athlete. Obviously, the strength creeps up over time, but it’s just execution. I think that’s the important thing, your performance can vary a little bit physically, but psychologically your coils have vast differences in performance.”
Mitchell Hooper also believes that he is extremely gifted in the genetic department, since he has been able to succeed in multiple sports. Even in Strongman, he has not sacrificed his health, family life, business, or similar stuff, but still came out on top. However, Hooper believes that he has to give back to the sport due to this.
“I haven’t sacrificed as much as a lot of other guys. I haven’t given up areas of my life that other guys have given up. I have my health, I have business outside of Strongman, I’ve got a good relationship with my family, and I still spend time with them every week… It’s a responsibility to give back…”
How It Feels To Be a Champion
However, even after getting some money from Strongman, while also gaining fame, Mitchell Hooper is still most proud of being the greatest in the world at one particular sport.
“I am actually one. Number one. Just winning is not important to me, just to reiterate, but just the knowledge that you’re at the pinnacle of the world in anything is ridiculous.”
Mitchell Hooper’s Mental Health
Despite being in a comfortable place currently, Mitchell Hooper reveals that he experienced very difficult hardships during his career. This comes regarding his mental health, as Hooper opened up on the podcast, touching on a topic that he has not even talked about with his family.
“Going into Arnolds, it was probably one of the most difficult times of my life. I’d speak to my coach a couple times a week, and if you watch him going up to me after, you can see that I’m fighting back tears. And it’s not tears of joy, it’s tears because there were times I didn’t think I was gonna make it here.”
Mitchell Hooper then reflects on the past year in Strongman, revealing that he did not feel as good mentally as his success would make it seem. However, many people look from the outside and comment on his character and life without really knowing anything.
“You’re getting assessed by people on your character who don’t know you… Mental health-wise I probably haven’t had the year that a lot of people would expect… I am a victim of my own success.”
Mitchell Hooper revealed that his mental health problems have almost pushed him overboard before, as he was thinking about the worst outcome possible.
“The hardest bit of all of this is that I know that my family listens to this, and this is stuff that I’ve never spoken about before. But, I’ve sat by myself in the bathroom, looking up train schedules like when I could go to the train track,” Hooper states, further explaining “Like looking up a train schedule of when I could go lie on the tracks.”
This was not the only time when Mitchell Hooper was prepared to take his life, as he prepared everything once more, but luckily talked himself out of it at the last second.
“I had a rope, I drove into the woods and I was sitting there and thinking ‘am I going to do this or am I not’. Also learning about tying it correctly, and knowing how to do it all, and looking at the trees thinking which one should I choose. Eventually I said if I’m not there (the basketball game) it will raise concern.”
Mitchell Hooper states that the moment when he decided to not take his life and go to the basketball game was one of the most powerful feelings he has ever had. Furthermore, he compared his situation with people who attempted to take their life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, but changed their thoughts after surviving.
“You’ll never be sure that it is not what you want to do, as in the moment when you decide that you don’t do it. It is almost a classic thing. Every person who survived off of the Golden Gate Bridge has said ‘As soon as my feet left the bridge, I didn’t want to do it’”
However, Mitchell Hooper found that accomplishing stuff, whether that is in sport, business, or just helping people, helps him sort out his mind.
“The more fulfilled I am, the less likely it is to happen. And fulfillment is not happiness.”
Watch the full podcast here:
Related: A Look into World’s Strongest Man Mitchell Hooper’s Day
Mitchell Hooper is currently on a win streak, having won all three competitions in which he took part this year. However, he is focusing on other aspects of life apart from Strongman as well, as he has been doing some bodybuilding workouts, collaborating with CrossFit athletes, and taking on some fun challenges in the gym.
Published: 3 July, 2023 | 2:05 PM EDT
Mental Health – How a Bodybuilder Can Improve it?
One of the most common questions bodybuilders think about is the necessary factor that helps them stand out from the rest and make their place in big competitions like IFBB. Most of the answers you will get on the internet revolve around taking care of your diet, exercising, and buying nutritional supplements to boost your performance in powerlifting bodybuilding for success. But the single most influential component that will take you places no matter which competition you are preparing remains one – your mindset and mental health.
Without having the optimum cognitive function and a sense of mental wellbeing, you cannot stay motivated and strategic for building up those big muscles you need to win any competition. This is especially true for big contests like IFBB in which you are already facing lots of stress and trying to figure out a way how you can beat the stress and leave nothing to go unnoticed while you train for the big game.
If you want to really know how to become a huge muscle guy, you need to focus on the roots first. This is how you will be able to get to the level you aspire to be. Your roots, in a literal sense, start from your attitude. Let’s find out some ways you can amplify your mental health with the best tactics around:
1. Practice Discipline
Practicing discipline helps you train your mind to come in the form it needs to perform at its best. When you are disciplining yourself, you are getting into the training mode. Make a note of whatever diet, supplements, and steroids you are consuming and track your intake by the end of the day. Instead of getting carried away by a lazy routine, schedule your day, and make your mind to practice working on fixed timing.
If you have an endurance training session at 6 in the morning, get up at least an hour ago and prepare yourself for it. It might seem a thing of the military for you, but discipline in itself is a great form of self-care. Not only are you training your mind to beat the competition this way, but also you are giving your mind a huge favor in getting goal-oriented and healthy.
2. Fix your Sleeping Hours
For bodybuilders, every second can be a deciding factor for your progress. This holds true, especially in big competitions where you have to compete with a lot many around you, and a minute of more sweat than the other competitor might be the differentiating factor in your success. So, make sure while you stay careful about making every minute matter, you pay enough attention to your training and resting hours. In this regard, taking care of your sleeping cycle remains a prominent factor.
Make sure if you get 7 hours of uninterrupted REM sleep, you stick to these hours. Anything less or more might disturb your whole training regime, especially when the competition you are training for is big and you got nothing to lose. This will also help boost your mental performance as your brain will stay alert, and your circadian rhythms would not interfere in your routine.
Must Read:: The Importance of Sleep for Bodybuilders
3. Take Brain-Friendly Foods
You can take a diet rich in omega fatty acids, natural serotonin-producing foods, and antioxidants for improving your mental health. Taking antioxidants can also benefit your mind in terms of reducing chances of inflammation, which often appear as “brain fog” and does not let you think clearly like you ought to think. To maximize your brain’s potential, you need to take foods such as fish, green and leafy vegetables, liver and liver oil, walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, and other types of seeds, and consume healthy proteins cooked through steam or hot oven.
Brain on FOOD > > HERE
You need to be careful about the type of food you are consuming in your daily routine and consider the sources. For example, taking too much processed food is not only going to affect your physical performance but also make cognitive factors such as decision-making abilities weaker than usual. Make sure you stick to nature and only include foods that add to your mental and physical health.
Staying hydrated is also a key element to staying mentally sharp and active as you train and get ready for the big day. If you do not consume sufficient water, you will feel that you lack the general will power, confidence, and the energy it requires to work on the body you want. Also, the depletion of electrolytes will make it even harder for you to stay in the right state of mind and exercise. Drinking enough water to balance out the sweat is of significant importance when it comes to taking care of mental health.
Read this Article:: Drink More Water If You Want To Lose Weight And Build Muscle Fast
4. Play Mind Sharpening Games
While you are training and exercising throughout the day to keep your mind alert, it is also essential that you play some mind sharpening games for better performance and training. As you play these games regularly, you will note you have less mental fatigue than usual, and you can get much better results while you are training and building your muscles. In a way, these games are helping you to create more accuracy and agility in the mind that ultimately helps you in improving your cognitive performance by the day.
Mind Delights > > Buy Now
For the right brain, you can do activities that revolve around you being creative:
Writing.
Abstract thinking.
Reading.
Painting.
Playing an instrument, and others.
For the left brain, you can focus on playing mind-sharpening games such as:
Solving crossword puzzles.
Playing scrambles.
Playing brain teasers and trivia quizzes.
Solve logic problems and others.
These activities will keep you in the fresh state of mind that will ultimately help you boost your performance and keep you ready for the big competition ahead. With better mental agility and an increased concentration, you will feel at your best and be able to outrank your competitors in a better way through sparing a few moments of the day to do such activities.
5. Experiment with Different Exercises
Only warmup, workouts, pieces of training, and cool-downs are not enough to keep your performance at best. Though exercises and workouts help to improve your mental health, taking out some time to engage yourself in doing rhythmic exercises that involve rhythmic breathing and a present state of mind will help you increase will power and concentration that you need to get better at the game and outrank other competitors. These exercises involve yoga, meditation, martial arts, judo karate, and other ancient techniques that satisfy both your mind and body to engage well with each other.
You will note that your mind will be better able to find a balance and perform better in training as well as the competition day. Such exercises will help get the better circulation of nutrients and oxygen towards your brain and get you in the right state of mind.
Related Article:: Build Back Muscle Fast: Top 4 Exercises To Do
6. Take Care of Steroid Cycles
Bodybuilders might take steroids that increase the testosterone level in the body, which ultimately helps in improving performance at the competition with better muscles and higher core strength. People show their concern over the use of steroids on their psychological health – but facts have revealed that such effects occur when these steroids are taken in excessive amounts, or the steroid cycles are disturbed. In many cases, bodybuilders who experience such negative consequences are unknowingly taking steroids that are not manufactured in accordance with the law.
To make sure you do not get any adverse effects on your mental health through steroids, you need to take some measures and take great care of your steroid cycles. Moreover, legal steroids should be taken that mostly contain creatinine. A natural steroid that yields faster muscle recovery, and better muscle buildup.
Steroid Cycles > > HERE
To avoid any danger to mental health, it is essential you take steroids in cycling, a relatively safer method to consume steroids as compared to stacking, pyramiding, or plateauing, all of which might lead to substance abuse. Cycling involves taking multiple doses of the legal steroid in a specific amount of time and waiting for the dose to complete its effect. For better maintenance of mental health, it is essential you take care of the method you use for taking the recommended steroids and the total dosage of the product.
Overall
While anyone can follow strict diet routines and do training sessions for getting big muscles for the competition. A more necessary thing to remember is to get prepared from the inside – something not possible without having a great mental state of wellbeing – through better mental health. If you are not strong enough from the inside to bear the intense pressure and stress of the game, your muscles, no matter how big they are built, cannot help you win. Winners in such sports know that the real competition begins at the mind. It is one of the factors that differentiate a pro from an amateur.