Athletes - Richard Sandrak

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	Athletes - Richard Sandrak

Richard Sandrak, also known as Little Hercules (born April 15, 1992) is an American bodybuilder, martial artist, actor, and nutrional supplement promoter, renowned for his 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 at an adult level.

Outside his training he enjoys sports such as basketball, soccer, tennis and distance running. His non-sport interests include enjoying music (particularly hip-hop and rap), playing on his Playstation, playing the guitar, and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. He currently attends Millikan Middle School. As a student Richard's favourite subjects are art, philosophy and physical education. He also enjoys chess.

Present

As of 2005 he stands 4 feet and 10 inches, weighs 100 pounds (45 kg) and his chest measures 35 inches, biceps 12 inches and his thighs 19'. At the age of 8 he was able to bench press 210 pounds at the body weight of 70 pounds. These statistics, as well as his training regime, have made him known in the media of many nations as "The Strongest Boy in the World". His parents have worked to get him a career in movies, much like Richard's idol, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the family even launched a line of supplements featuring Richard's picture on the packaging that Richard himself promoted. Richard is also an accomplished martial artist, able to perform impressive spinning kicks, and balance himself on a large beach ball with one leg stretched upward. These abilities owe to the stretching excerices that Richard's mother had him perform since the age of two months, which she also conducts with Richard's younger sister.

He is working with a speech therapist to reduce his Ukrainian accent and improve his general acting skills. Hoping to be an action movie star, he has starred in a trailer for a proposed film called Tiny Tarzan directed by Joey Travolta, in which Disney has expressed interest. Some of his more notable appearances include The Sunday Times (London), Examiner (twice), Fox Sports News, Today Tonight, A Current Affair, 20/20, The Howard Stern Show, and Viva (Poland). His current projects include a training video, and a cookbook on healthy eating co-written by his mother. He also appeared recently in a Boost mobile commercial in the United States.

Early years

He was born in Ukraine and reportedly displayed great strength in infancy, when his doctor experienced trouble holding him down during examinations. He came to America at the age of 2 years, with his father Pavel and his mother, Lena. Pavel, a martial arts trainer, was dedicated to bodybuilding, which led to Richard training at an early age. To this end, he started training at two years of age and by the time he was six was pressing his own weight.

His father only allowed him to eat according to a strict diet, consisting of liquid nutrients, vegetables, and it is also alleged, though never substantiated, that he was given numerous anabolic steroids. He was not allowed to eat foods like pizza, even when dining with others who did. Pavel guided Richard's career until he was put in jail for assaulting his wife, having broken her nose after years of alcoholism. Having accepted a plea bargain, Pavel Sandrak is currently in jail for three years, and at present Richard is being trained by his mother.

Richard was not allowed to own any toys, to socialize with other children his own age, and so had no friends until his father was jailed. Following the removal of Pavel from Richard's life, Richard was allowed to experience some of the normal aspects of life for children his age, including spending time with friends, the ability to eat foods like pizza, and enjoying video games. He continues to train, but at more moderate levels, and while still in excellent shape, does not possess the muscle definition he once had when training under his father.

Richard is believed to be born with a defective gene which encodes the "myostatin" gene. Normally, humans are born with a certain amount of muscle cells. The myostatin protein, "myo" for muscle, "statin" for static, prevents muscle cells from replicating in humans. A mutation in this gene, making a mutated protein which no longer carries the proper function allows Richard's muscle cells to replicate where normal humans cannot (their muscle cells only grow with exercise, but not replicate) allowing Richard to gain the unique physique he possesses. With proper training, the definitions of his musculature are very visible.

Criticisms

His father has been criticized for focusing all of his son's time on such intensive training, for isolating him from activities enjoyed by children his own age, the strict diet he kept Richard on, and for allegations of giving Richard anabolic steroids. Critics point out that muscle cannot grow without testosterone, which is determined by age, fueling speculation that Pavel was either giving Richard steroids in the form of an unknown powder, or that Richard's true age was being concealed. Richard himself is reportedly upset by such accusations, asserting that he has passed numerous age and drug tests with clean results.

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