Little Hercules, Richard Sandrakov, Ukraine

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 wasn’t 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 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. At the age 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 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 took place on several TV and radio station broad casts, 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.
Career
Richard was born 15 April 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 martial arts introduced him to various stretches and light weight training when he was at a young age. By the age five, Richard had mastered martial arts and set higher goals to become one the strongest human beings in the world. In 1997, Richard and his family moved to California with hopes for Richard’s career taking f. 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 Isolated Childhood. In shock, once seeing Richard’s outstanding physique, Frank thought it to be untrue "At first I thought, "Is this a midget? Or is this some kind 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 supplements and became the main attraction at bodybuilding events such as Mr. Olympia, Night Champions, Mr. USA, the Emerald Cup, and one the biggest there is, the Arnold Classic among many other. Now that he is older Richard is pursuing a career in acting. He has already starred in a few roles, one them being the main character in the Hollywood movie, “Little Hercules”. However, now at the age 18 his astonishing physique has been lost after his father, who has many to 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 4 days a week, 90 minutes a day, he has lost his once claimed title as “The World’s Strongest Boy”