{"id":302,"date":"2025-09-17T18:01:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T18:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/?p=302"},"modified":"2025-09-17T18:01:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T18:01:56","slug":"little-hercules-now-works-as-a-stunt-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/?p=302","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLittle Hercules\u201d now works as a stunt-man.."},"content":{"rendered":"

Many parents try to fulfill their failed dreams through their children and force them to do things they are not even passionate about. <\/strong><\/p>\n

For many years, the wide public believed that was the case with \u201cThe World\u2019s Strongest Boy,\u201d or \u201cLittle Hercules,\u201d as many dubbed him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richard Sandrak\u2019s parents, however, denied they pushed their son into the world of bodybuilding and weight lift by force.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richard was born in Ukraine on April 15, 1992, to a mother who was an aerobics competitor, and a father who was a former world champion in martial arts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the age of two, Richard had already started training. That was around the same time when the family moved to Pennsylvania, USA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/strong>
Source: Youtube\/Nick\u2019s Strength and Power<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Both Richard\u2019s parents wanted their son to become a sensation. According to a 2007 article by\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>, they had high hopes of moving to California, aiming to get good publicity for young Richard. <\/strong><\/p>\n

At the time, many criticized Lena and Pavel, Richard\u2019s parents, and accused them of forcing their son into something extreme. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Speculations were he was even given steroids, because his appearance at such a young age was out of this world. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He literally looked like miniature Arnold Schwarzenegger.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0BBC\u00a0<\/em>in 2009, Richard decided to open up about his training sessions which were reported to have taken place five days a week for intensive 90 minutes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been forced to train or do anything against my will,\u201d he said. \u201cMy parents used to train all the time, and I wanted to join in. It was mostly my choice. It\u2019s just what I grew up doing. I was never forced. It was never an issue.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/strong>
Source: Youtube\/Inside Edition<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In 2004, the Sandrak family gathered even more attention after the documentary\u00a0The World\u2019s Strongest Boy<\/em>\u00a0was released. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the rest, the film featured Richard flexing and posing on a Las Vegas stage. Weighting only 80 pounds, Little Hercules could bench press twice his body weight at the age of just 10.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides the extensive training sessions, Richard had to follow a strict diet which consisted of a lot of lima beans due to their protein. <\/strong><\/p>\n

As a result, he had less than one-percent body fat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As he grew a bit older, Richard started working out with a professional trainer, Frank Giardina, who was the boy\u2019s manager at the same time. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He, however, wasn\u2019t happy with some of Pavel\u2019s methods, which included a lot of exercises and sleeping on the floor in order to maintain perfect posture.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pavel believed that wasn\u2019t a big deal. \u201cBut it was just a phase trying out something different,\u201d he was reported saying. \u201cNothing important.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/strong>
Source: Youtube\/Inside Edition<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

When Richard turned 11, his father went to prison and he cut all ties with him. That\u2019s when trainer and manager Marco Garcia came into the picture. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He helped Richard land roles in a couple of movies, including\u00a0Little Hercules in 3-D<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor now, I just want to go out and make more movies,\u201d Little Hercules\u00a0said\u00a0at the time, as reported by\u00a0The Guardian.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve noticed a lot is childhood obesity. It\u2019s become such a big problem, especially here in America, that I feel I have to do something. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Kids are going to be adults. They\u2019re going to be our future. Right now, one out of three has potential of dying before their parents. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to get them eating right and doing sports one hour a day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think of it this way: the kids that do that, how do they end up? They don\u2019t end up with successful careers in any good business. <\/strong><\/p>\n

They end up working at McDonald\u2019s, and that\u2019s not a life I want for myself.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/strong>
Source: Youtube\/Inside Edition<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In 2012, Richard appeared in the film\u00a0The Legends of Nethiah<\/em>\u00a0and the short film\u00a0Assassin Priest<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, Richard Sandrak is not into bodybuilding any longer, or at least not as much as he used to be.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Richard works at the Universal Studios for their Hollywood \u201cWater World\u201d show, where he performs all sorts of stunts, including diving into water from a height of more than 50 feet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time was very scary; all I could think about was to follow the safety procedures,\u201d he told\u00a0Inside Edition<\/em>\u00a0of his job. \u201cI don\u2019t lift weights anymore. If anything, it just got boring to me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of my past,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something that I don\u2019t want anybody to know anymore, it\u2019s just that I\u2019m not going to be stuck living in it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many parents try to fulfill their failed dreams through their children and force them to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304,"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions\/304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}