Taking the weight off his shoulders: Utah man lifts weights in nature to help lift his spirits

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Clay Cooper combines hiking and weightlifting for mental health benefits.

He began this practice in May 2020 amid personal challenges and the pandemic.

Cooper's wife films his workouts, sharing them on social media as Discovery Deadlift.

SALT LAKE CITY — Like many people with anxiety, Clay Cooper sometimes seeks relief by lifting weights, in his case, deadlifting. And like many, he finds hiking helps him, too. But, like probably no one else, for the sake of his mental health, he does both at the same time.

In May of 2020, the Saratoga Springs man was feeling especially anxious due to the ongoing pandemic, the recent death of his father and the fact that he had just become a father himself.

"It was a little bit of a crisis, or it felt like an impending crisis," Cooper sa