Strongest Kid_ Little Hercules

Strongest kid in the world

Richard Sandrak (born 15 April 1992), also known as Little Hercules, is a Ukrainian-born, American bodybuilder, martial artist and actor, renowned for his muscular physique at an extremely young age. He is probably best known for his appearance in the documentary The World's Strongest Boy, which has been shown on several TV channels across the world, and for his dedication to bodybuilding. However, this diehard ambition for achieving such a perfect body was not totally self-motivated.



His father, Pavel Sandrak, a martial arts world champion, and his mother, Lena Sandrak, an aerobics competitor, both pushed their son to the limit to become a child prodigy. At the age of two Richard and his family moved from a small village in Ukraine to the United States where his training began. His parents started him out with light exercises and martial arts techniques which soon progressed into more intense bodybuilding training.

Experts are almost unanimous in their observations that Richard was almost certainly on some sort of anabolic steroid, but Richard and his parents vehemently deny this. At the age of six Richard was maxing out at 180 lbs on standard bench-press, during this early age he claimed his title as world’s strongest boy as well as his nickname “little Hercules”.



As his reputation precedes him, at the age of eight he was bench pressing 210 lbs. The young boy had become a world-wide icon as he began traveling across the country taking place in competitions, promos for nutrition products, as well as photo shots for numerous magazines. He also appeared on several TV and radio station broadcasts, one being The Howard Stern Show.

As he got older his career slowly died down. His most recent Hollywood debut was a casting role in the 2009 film, “Little Hercules”. Richard, being in his late teens still trains hard, but after being separated from his father he has cut his training down to four days a week 90 minutes a day. Richard was born April 15, 1992, in a small village in Ukraine.  



His parents decided he would have a much better life living in the United States, therefore moving to Pennsylvania when Richard was two years old. Richard began his training soon after they arrived in the states. His father being a master of Taekwondo introduced him to various stretches and light weight training when he was at a young age. By the age of five, Richard had mastered Taekwondo and set higher goals to become one of the strongest human beings in the world. 

In 1997, Richard and his family moved to California with hopes for Richard’s career taking off. Richard’s father took him to see fitness trainer and performer Frank Giardina, and his wife, Sherry, a former Ms. Fitness America to help with Richard’s career “The World's Strongest Boy Young Bodybuilder Tells of Isolated Childhood. 

In shock, once seeing Richard’s outstanding physique, Frank thought of it to be untrue "At first I thought, "Is this a midget? Or is this some kind of a trick photography," he said. After choreographing a snazzy routine Richard almost instantly became famous. 

The boy began appearing in magazines and on television. He endorsed a line of supplements and became the main attraction at bodybuilding events such as Mr. Olympia, Night of Champions, Mr. USA, the Emerald Cup, and one of the biggest there is, the Arnold Classic among many others. Now that he is older Richard is pursuing a career in acting. He has already starred in a few roles, one of them being the main character in the Hollywood movie, “Little Hercules”.

However, now at the age of 19 his astonishing physique has been lost after his father, who, as many believe, was the boy’s driving force to work out, was put in jail for abusing Richard’s mother. Although Richard continues to work out 6 days a week, 120 minutes a day, he has lost his once claimed title as “The World’s Strongest Boy”



During his childhood, Richard was isolated from the world. Dedicating all of his time towards training, Richard never had time to play with friends and experience a true childhood. Being on a strict diet, enforced by his father, Richard was never able to eat junk food or any sweets. Richard recalls days when his father would eat pizza in front of him, while he was left to eat a head of lettuce.

Richard’s father was taken away from their family after being charged with abuse of his mother. Richard claims his father never forced him into bodybuilding. "I've never been forced to train or do anything against my will," he said. "My parents used to train all the time and I wanted to join in. It was mostly my choice. It's just what I grew up doing. I was never forced. It was never an issue"

Richard recently graduated from Yutan High School and is currently attending San Diego State University. Article source: wikipedia