Who could ever forget Little Hercules?
"When Inside Edition first met 8-year-old Richard Sandrak, he was The Strongest Boy
In The World."
"Back off!"
In the early 2000s, this pint-sized bodybuilder probably made you feel awfully inadequate.
And these days, we imagine you're wondering: Did The Strongest Boy In The World grow up
to be The Strongest Man In The World?
What does this short stack of shredded muscle look like now that he's in his twenties?
For the uninitiated, here's a little bit of background: In 1994, when Richard Sandrak
was only two-years old, his parents moved from Ukraine to Pennsylvania...and reportedly,
they were already drilling him on his strength and flexibility at that extremely tender age.
Infact, they may have started even earlier than that.
In 2004, Sandrak told the Sunday Mirror:
"[I] was six months old when I started working out."
As the Guardian reports, the Sandrak family eventually moved to California in the hopes
of getting their son some publicity.
Makes sense: He must have made quite a splash on Muscle Beach.
But as Richard's muscles and fame grew, so did concern from his doctors.
Many professionals suspected Richard's muscles were the result of steady steroid abuse, definitely
not the kind of juice a growing boy needs.
"Having seen footage of the boy at age six, it would be highly unlikely that anyone could
achieve that type of physique without artificial enhancement."
Of course, his parents denied any drugs were involved.
They said it was all about the workouts.
According to the Guardian,
"[Richard endured] six- or seven-hour training regimes."
Tensions rose in the Sandrak household as Richard got a little older.
Richard's father Pavel tried breaking into the fitness supplement market, which probably
made those skeptical doctors even more skeptical, and even more concerned.
Meanwhile, Richard's trainer, a man by the name of Frank Giardin, also became worried
about the parental choices being made.
So he quit training Richard.
Pavel was eventually sent to jail for assaulting his wife, he allegedly broke her wrist and
nose.
As The Guardian reports,
"It was Richard who called the police, asking them not to use sirens, for fear of how his
father would respond."
Richard then took a break from training, which proved to be a rude awakening.
"I got kind of puffy.
I got kind of puffy.
And I got not very happy about that."
Despite the problems at home, Little Hercules had plenty of good times, too.
Here he is at the premiere of 2005's Get Rich or Die Tryin', posing with none other than
professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.
In 2009, Sandrak made his first feature film, Little Hercules in 3-D, which co-starred Hogan
and Elliott Gould.
"But Father, I'm half-mortal, half-Olympian.
Isn't it time for me to learn more about my human side?"
"You have the best tutors in the world.
You've got Socrates."
The film wasn't particularly well-reviewed, nor did it make a whole lot of money.
But the filmmakers seemed to know exactly what kind of movie they were making.
"Hercules!
Yes, Hercules, it is I."
"Lord Zeus!"
In 2007, the Guardian dutifully reported that Little Hercules had lost much of his signature
build, writing that
"[Richard looks] almost disappointingly normal.
[He's] short with a puppyish face."
The article also revealed that:
"He trains five times a week, 90 minutes a session, but only when he has to get in shape
for a part."
Meanwhile, his old trainer, Frank Giardin, was back in the fold, and Richard was once
again enduring an intense gym regimen.
In 2009, Richard had a rather robust YouTube presence.
"Hey, what's up, everybody?
It's Richard.
Today I am at a local gymnasium just working on my martial arts and my gymnastics."
"Hey everybody.
It's Richard.
I'm at a local public pool right now doing one of my most favorite exercises.
Which is swimming."
Coincidentally, that was the same year he endured what might be the world's most uncomfortable
interview.
"That's remark…May I touch your muscles?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"I just want to reassure you I'm happily marr—"
"Yeah, go ahead.
Hehe."
Meanwhile, it sounds like Richard is totally at peace with his peculiar childhood.
As he told Inside Edition in 2015:
"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."
In that same Inside Edition story, we learn that Richard worked as a stuntman at Universal
Studios Hollywood's "WaterWorld" show, routinely being set on fire and diving into water from
a 50-foot drop.
And you gotta admit: He's looking great these days.
"It's Little Hercules, all grown up.
With a beard and a ponytail."
As the then-23-year-old proudly told Inside Edition,
"I don't lift weights anymore.
If anything, it just got boring to me."
And it sounds like his priorities have changed, too.
Asked what he considers his dream job, he wasted no time before replying,
"Quantum scientist.
For, more specifically, maybe even an engineer for NASA."
And though he may have lost some of his muscles, Richard certainly hasn't lost any self-confidence.
Asked if he really thought such a profession was within reach, he immediately responded:
"Absolutely.
There's no reason that it couldn't be."
Oh, Little Hercules.
You're our hero.
"But Father, I want to learn about being human."
"NOOOOOO!"
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