'Little Hercules' once dubbed world's strongest boy transformed 21 years later

A boy who was once a child bodybuilder who could bench press three times his own weight is almost unrecognisable 21 years later.

Richard Sandrak was once dubbed "Little Hercules" owing to his incredible build, and at the age of eight he showcased his washboard abs, and at one point was reported to have a 1% body fat.

Now 29, Richard is all grown up and now works as a Hollywood stuntman, throwing himself off 50ft heights and getting set on fire.

But lifting weights is no longer part of his day-to-day routine, telling Inside Edition : “No, I don't lift weights. If anything it just got boring.

Now 29, Richard is all grown up and now works as a Hollywood stuntman, throwing himself off 50ft heights and getting set on fire (Inside Edition/Youtube)

“I’m very proud of my past.," he continued. "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,” he said.

Nowadays Richard stands at 6ft tall, and revealed his dream is a “quantum scientist” or “maybe specifically maybe even an engineer for NASA”.

On the surface Richard's life might have seemed incredible, but his fitness came from pressure from his dad Pavel, who was a martial arts wold champion from Ukraine.

On the surface Richard's life might have seemed incredible, but his fitness came from pressure from his dad Pavel (Inside Edition/Youtube)

Although he began with light exercise with his dad, the intensive regime soon included 300 squats and 600 press ups and sit ups each day, and he would reportedly train for up to seven hours each day.

He was home schooled, and hoping to use his physique as a springboard, his mum and dad took him to fitness trainer and promoter Frank Giardina and his wife, Sherry, a former Ms. Fitness America.

But when they met Richard, they couldn't believe what he looked like.

“At first I thought, ‘Is this a midget? Or is this some kind of a trick photography’," he said.

His life as a bodybuilder soon came to an end, after his father was jailed for domestic abuse against his mum (Inside Edition/Youtube)

Richard was then showed off at bodybuilding competitions, and he eventually became a celebrity, and got his own documentary in 2004 called "The World's Strongest Boy".

But his life as a bodybuilder soon came to an end, after his father was jailed for domestic abuse against his mum.

Richard cut ties with his dad from there on, and he stopped bodybuilding.

Later he confessed to having an isolated childhood with his abusive father.