11-year-old Richard Sandrak

hoppo254 · 05-03-2008 10:28pm #1

Watching this on TV3 at the moment. 11 Years old and in ridiculous shape. My first reaction is im freaked out and i feel sorry for the kid as his life is taken over by this

Having worked in the fitness industry as a Personal Trainer i know the commitment it takes to get in that kinda shape and it seems to have been forced and this kid who knows no different

hoppo254 · 05-03-2008 10:31pm

www.richardsandrak.com scary

Hanley · 05-03-2008 10:35pm

Is he 11 now?

xebec · 05-03-2008 10:36pm

That's sick...

zAbbo · 05-03-2008 10:37pm

I remember watching a TV show about him, it was extremely suspect what supplements he was being fed by his father.

Isn't he a lot older than 11 now?

rubadub · 05-03-2008 10:44pm

zAbbo wrote: »

Isn't he a lot older than 11 now?

15 now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Sandrak

Photos all look photoshopped, not just because he is big, and I am not saying they are fake, just look weird
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Richard+Sandrak&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Hanley · 05-03-2008 10:45pm

Haha yeah... I heard when they took his dad's shakes away, all of a sudden he shurnk.

It's weird looking at his photos tho, SOMETHING's off. His face is far too puffy/bloated in some pics for a bodyfat as low as his. And in some pics the ONLY thing that stands out is his abs.

Hanley · 05-03-2008 10:46pm

rubadub wrote: »

15 now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Sandrak

He's no Lee Priest!

Esse85 · 06-03-2008 12:53am

Left arm looks way bigger than the right

MrJoeSoap · 06-03-2008 12:59am

Esse85 wrote: »

Left arm looks way bigger than the right

Head looks waaaaaay too big for the body, definitely not real.

Hanley · 06-03-2008 1:03am

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Head looks waaaaaay too big for the body, definitely not real.

And look at the shading and how his abs and left arm blend into the backround. I'd be calling photoshop on that one I'm afraid.

amazingemmet · 06-03-2008 9:20am

Wasn't he dropped by his sponsor as they found out his da was putting more then just protein into his shakes?

Think I seen that documentary the most impressive thing for me was the over middle splits while holding a 20kg weight :O ouch

hoppo254 · 06-03-2008 9:37am

Yeah his trainer wanted to know what his father was putting in his shakes and the dad wouldnt say before going off on a bender and he no longer sees his kids.

A funny part of the Doco was the fat american couple sitting outside his house in a camper van waiting to meet him because he was their inspiration to getting fit.... Obviously they where pacing themselves !

Al_Fernz · 06-03-2008 9:47am

That kid is seriously messed up. I think his parents should be brought to justice for their actions.

Teaching a child to squat using the smith machine is just disgraceful.

hoppo254 · 06-03-2008 9:57am

Agree , but is it Illegal to force you child to train 5-7 hours a day ?

Al_Fernz · 06-03-2008 10:16am

I was actually talking about the smith machine.

KiwiChick · 06-03-2008 10:30am

The kid has been exploited and didn't get much of a chance to be normal at all while growing up as a result of the training he was put through but do you think that the mother knew what the kids father was up to and had an idea of what might be going into his shakes? It seems once he left the kid filled out a bit.

They did say in the doc that the kid was given 3 drug tests and a bone age test because the experts didn't think his parents were telling the truth about his age or substances he was taking.
The drug tests came back negative and his bone age was the same as the age given so what is up with this kid?

amazingemmet · 06-03-2008 10:38am

hoppo254 wrote: »

Agree , but is it Illegal to force you child to train 5-7 hours a day ?

Most gymnastics coaches would say no

Al_Fernz · 06-03-2008 11:01am

What kind of implications would this level of training have in later life? I am aware that girls have to give up gymnastics very early if they are to develop.

What about males? Can a boy continuously do this volume of training for years and still develop into a healthy adult? The 4000 push-ups a day etc. would grind his joints into dust surely?

Jimmy Bottlehead · 06-03-2008 12:13pm

Sounds unfair on the kid - his folks are probably pushing him so they can achieve a better quality of life. I don't think any kid actually wants to diet properly.

amazingemmet · 06-03-2008 12:35pm

Al_Fernz wrote: »

What kind of implications would this level of training have in later life? I am aware that girls have to give up gymnastics very early if they are to develop.

What are you talking about? There's nothing like that in gym at all. The only reason you see all the top competitors being five foot nothing is they're the only ones who can maintain the right power to weight ratio for that level.

There's some very questionable dietary practices what go on in womens gymnastics, mens to a lesser extent as well which could harm development but its nothing to do with the training.

yeah-buddy · 06-03-2008 1:54pm

That's hot

hoppo254 · 06-03-2008 2:23pm

Wasnt there talk of Romanian or Russian trainers getting young female gymnasts pregnant to release the relaxin hormone thus allowing for a greater range of movement and stretching then having the pregnancy aborted ?

WHIP IT! · 06-03-2008 2:29pm

hoppo254 wrote: »

Wasnt there talk of Romanian or Russian trainers getting young female gymnasts pregnant to release the relaxin hormone thus allowing for a greater range of movement and stretching then having the pregnancy aborted ?

Worst chat-up line ever...

hoppo254 · 06-03-2008 2:31pm

LOL im actually imaging using that on some Russian girl in a bar....Excuse me but.........Wasnt there talk of Romanian or Russian trainers getting young female gymnasts pregnant to release the relaxin hormone thus allowing for a greater range of movement and stretching then having the pregnancy aborted ? !!!Slap!!!!

Al_Fernz · 06-03-2008 4:29pm

amazingemmet wrote: »

What are you talking about? There's nothing like that in gym at all. The only reason you see all the top competitors being five foot nothing is they're the only ones who can maintain the right power to weight ratio for that level.

There's some very questionable dietary practices what go on in womens gymnastics, mens to a lesser extent as well which could harm development but its nothing to do with the training.

I knew girls give up competitive gymnastics at a high level early because of the health impacts of long-term malnourishment. But I assumed that was part of the reason and that their training somehow impeded their development. That really must be a common misconception.

Anywho, surely doing joint heavy exercises in extreme volume is going to have an impact as the child grows (arthritis etc.)?

DublinWriter · 06-03-2008 6:52pm

Al_Fernz wrote: »

What kind of implications would this level of training have in later life?

I'm no medical-expert, but I do know that at that age bones are developing and are still knitting together.

Putting that kind of muscular strain on them with that level of physical regime would definitely stunt skeletal growth in almost the same way that Japanese women had their feet bound in the 17th Century.

Poor kid - I hope he grows up to be normal, both mentally and physically.

Mickk · 06-03-2008 7:18pm

I don't think that lifting weights alone at a young age does any damage, here is a recent pic though, it looks to me like a touch of gyno?
image%20007.jpg

Also doesn't look to have affected his height
San%20Diego%20006.jpg

rubadub · 06-03-2008 7:26pm

amazingemmet wrote: »

The only reason you see all the top competitors being five foot nothing is they're the only ones who can maintain the right power to weight ratio for that level.

Yes the same faulty logic would say playing basketball would make you tall.

Found this page, though they are flogging equipment so have a vested interest.

http://www.gymnasticsrescue.com/posture.htm

jumbopalumbo · 06-03-2008 7:28pm

Hes been around for a long time, and has been tested numerous times for everythin and always tested negative, all the photos are real , could just be a genetic freak? Really hard to say, have a look at pictures of Lee Priest when he was 15/16 when he was natural, he has a physique of a 30 year old, in a good way! there are always exceptions to the rules

Mikel · 06-03-2008 10:03pm

hoppo254 wrote: »

Wasnt there talk of Romanian or Russian trainers getting young female gymnasts pregnant to release the relaxin hormone thus allowing for a greater range of movement and stretching then having the pregnancy aborted ?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/doping.asp

There was, also heard about it being done to track athletes and swimmers in iron curtain days, to get the effect from the hormones. Matthew pinsent did a docu on chinese gymnasts recently, I remember he caused a bit of a fuss about their training conditions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/gymnastics/4445506.stm

Laslo · 07-03-2008 12:47am

Hanley wrote: »

His face is far too puffy/bloated in some pics for a bodyfat as low as his.

+1. Fake.

eroo · 07-03-2008 1:21am

I don't think any kid actually wants to diet properly.

X2

amazingemmet · 07-03-2008 10:11am

rubadub wrote: »

Yes the same faulty logic would say playing basketball would make you tall.

Found this page, though they are flogging equipment so have a vested interest.

http://www.gymnasticsrescue.com/posture.htm

I agree with some of what the guy was saying in that page but some of it was complete bull. And alot of the training related injuries he was discussing can be avoided with proper training practices and good coaching.

@mikel: The same practices, bar hitting, happen in any gymnastics nation that is finishing in the top twenty in the worlds. The stretching we used to go through was basically torture but its what is nesscary to reach a high level.

nibble · 07-03-2008 9:59pm

Damn, I'd have never thought a <12 year old kid would have the test levels to look like that, despite the obvious photoshopping of the pics he's still pretty muscular. And I still don't think an 11 year old could naturally have the testosterone to do do that...

Mikel · 07-03-2008 10:41pm

amazingemmet wrote: »

@mikel: The same practices, bar hitting, happen in any gymnastics nation that is finishing in the top twenty in the worlds. The stretching we used to go through was basically torture but its what is nesscary to reach a high level.

I don't know one way or the other, you may be right. Still, Pinsent has been around the block, can't imagine he'd be easily shocked. Then again, maybe he never came into contact with gymnasts

11-year-old Richard Sandrak

Comments