The Weakest Man on Earth - by Mitchell Hooper (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the World's Strongest Man comes a powerful story of resilience, vulnerability, and the relentless pursuit of purpose. The Weakest Man on Earth reveals how Mitchell Hooper conquered not only the heaviest weights on earth, but also the invisible battles of self-harm, suicidal ideation, depression, and adversity--proving that true strength isn't about what you can lift, but the strength to put one foot in front of the other on your darkest days.

Each morning The World's Strongest Man wakes up and does the impossible: He stays alive.

During his rookie year in the world's most grueling strength sport, Mitchell Hooper came from nowhere to win gold in four international competitions. He performed feats like dragging a city bus, thrusting tree trunks over his head, hurling giant boulders, and lifting a wrecking ball with his bare hands. He thwarted some of the greatest athletes in the world in front of millions of screaming fans and became known as the strongest man on earth. But behind the scenes Hooper was fighting a private battle he couldn't win.

It's a common trope that the stronger you are, the more immune you are to harm, as if your muscles are a shield of indestructible tissue. But as Hooper experienced, the body and the brain don't work together like that. With stunning candor, Hooper shares how he has silently navigated nearly two decades-long struggles with his mental health and how he's learned to forge ahead in the face of unimaginable pain. As he travels the world, breaking records, performing for crowds, and playing the role of the unbreakable giant, he begins to find the bravery to speak up. In doing so, he taps into a level of strength he never knew existed.

The Weakest Man on Earth is more than a memoir of a meteoric rise in a brutal arena. It's about how we find the power and the courage to get up and keep going each day, against all odds.

About the Author

Mitchell Hooper is a two-time World's Strongest Man champion and has the highest win rate in the modern era of strength sports. He is a father of two, a mental health advocate, and a sought-after public speaker. In addition to boasting the most successful career in the history of strongman, he also holds a master's degree in clinical exercise physiology and a bachelor's degree in human kinetics. He owns a kinesiology clinic, Longevity Nexum, in Barrie, Ontario. Hooper is the founder of the clothing and lifestyle brand Lift Heavy, Be Kind and the CEO of Adaptive Fitness Intelligence.

Alyssa Ages is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, GQ, Men's Health, Elle, and other publications. She is the author of Secrets of Giants: A Journey to Uncover the True Meaning of Strength. She lives in Toronto with her husband and daughters.