The early 2000s was a special time in pop culture. We emerged from an era of grunge, and into a Y2K obsessed culture. Everyone loved trucker hats, frosted tips, Kazaa and characters like Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit and Ja Rule at the head of Rough Riders. Some of you may even remember the 8 year-old body builder, Little Hercules. SEE HOW HE LOOKS NOW, ON THE NEXT PAGE. Little Hercules (real name Richard Sandrak) was famous for his bulging biceps, washboard abs and ability to contort his body like a Cirque du Soleil performer. His extreme physique made him front page news and at the age of 11 he was named the World’s Strongest Boy. People were so mesmerized that a documentary was created about his life and intense workout regime. Fifteen years later, Richard is now talking about his experience as a child body-builder. He recalls eating heads of lettuce while other kids ate pizza, bench-pressing more than three times his body weight and his less than 1% body fat (which can be lethal for such a young boy). He also opens up about a very dark period in his life that ultimately led to a dangerous career change… If you remember Little Hercules, you probably remember that many people criticized his dad, Pavel, for pushing him too hard, at too young an age. Pavel was relentless with his son’s fitness regime, making him do 600 push-ups, 400 sit-ups and 300 squats… PER DAY. In 2004, Pavel was sent to prison for domestic abuse against his wife. Siding with his mother, Richard cut all ties with his obsessive father and stopped body building all together.
“I’m very proud of my past. It’s not something I don’t want people to know, it’s just that I’m not going to be stuck living in it” Richard explains. “After all, how many 8 year-olds do you know who can bench-press 210 lbs?” The question remains, what is Richard up to these days?
Little Hercules grew up to become a 23 year-old, bearded hipster who sets himself on fire for a living. That’s right, he’s a stuntman. For the last two years he’s been working at Universal Studios and gets his daily dose of adrenaline on set the Hollywood Waterworld show where he’s shot at, and lit aflame up to 5 times a day! But that’s not his dream job… The Ukrainian-born ex-body-builder doesn’t think he’ll go back to lifting weights anytime soon, calling the practice “a little boring”. Now, he wants to become a quantum scientist and hopefully land a job as an engineer for NASA. Talk about a curve ball!
If you remember Little Hercules, you probably remember that many people criticized his dad, Pavel, for pushing him too hard, at too young an age. Pavel was relentless with his son’s fitness regime, making him do 600 push-ups, 400 sit-ups and 300 squats… PER DAY. In 2004, Pavel was sent to prison for domestic abuse against his wife. Siding with his mother, Richard cut all ties with his obsessive father and stopped body building all together.
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