Plague of Strength

Mike Tyson was the undisputed baddest man on the planet in the late 1980s & is one of the few boxers in history who no fighter in any style at any weight could have defeated at his peak.

Between 1985-1990, racked up 37 consecutive victories with 33 knockouts- 19 of those knockouts were consecutive, & 13 of them happened in the first round.

Tyson was a small heavyweight, fighting at 1.78 & 96-100kg (5'10" 212-221lbs), but there was no fighter on the planet more powerful or intimidating at the time, & Tyson is still jacked in his 60s (he's ~100kg / 220lbs at 59 years old in Pic 4).

Iron Mike is unique in that it's unlikely anyone could have beaten him in a fair fight under any ruleset at the time- there were no heavyweight fighters in any style who could beat him.

The world's greatest P4P mixed martial arts fighter in that era was undoubtedly , who beat a kickboxer Tyson's size in a 1974 MMA tournament called the World Series of Fighting, but it's unlikely the 1.68m & 66kg (5'6" 145lb) god of unarmed combat could have managed to hurt Tyson, who is also an accomplished street fighter & was so strong & fearless he slept with a full grown tiger for 16 years.

Tyson:
- has a 50W-7L-2NC record (44KOs)
- is the youngest heavyweight champ in history
- is 's Hardest Hitter of All Time & Most Intimidating Fighter of All Time
- has become a legendary American pop culture figure.

Tyson's training routine changed over the course of 40 years, but at his peak he trained every day but Sunday & sparred 5-6 days per week. Sparring days looked like this:

Morning Cardio:
- 5-8km (3-5mi) Run
- 10 x Sprint Intervals

Strength Session:
- 400-500 Push-Ups
- 500 reps of Abs (Sit-Ups, Leg Raises, Crunches
- 20 mins of Side to Sides
- 400 Squats
- 6 mins of Neck work
- 6 min Sp*ed Bag
- 9 min Jump-Rope (non-stop)

Sparring:
- 15 mins of Mental Focusing with Trainer
- 15 min Stretching
- 3 x 3 min Shadow Boxing
- 4 x 3 min Focus Pads
- 10-15 min Sp*ed Bag
- 12-15 x 3 min rounds of sparring

Bang that link in my profile & grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method to learn how to build your own badass body by following the lead of natty GOATs!

Takemaru Wakagi was Japan's answer to Eugen Sandow, but he was no pretty boy- he a mass monster who trained 10+ hours per day & was so big that only US servicemen would speak to him unprompted.

At 1.63m & 69kg (5'4" 152lbs), Wakagi wasn't huge by modern standards but was enormous compared to the average Japanese man in the 1930s, who was 160cm & 55kg (5'3" 121lbs), which meant Japanese women were terrified of him & men avoided the "Monster of the Showa Era."

When he died at age 88 he was still so jacked that people joked there were no coffins in Japan that would fit his body. Wakagi famously gave himself a stroke while training early in his 80s- obsessed with trying to keep his arms at or over 40cm (15.75"), he trained until the effort broke his brain.

You might think that's impossible, but Wakagi's training methods were widely publicized because of his physique, strength & the people he trained- Kyokushin founder Mas Oyama & Judo demigod Masahiko Kimura.

Wagaki was so strong, he:
- was invited to the 1932 Korean Weightlifting Championship despite never having touched a real barbell
- he never lost a match in Arm Wrestling
- Floor Pressed 212kg (468lbs)
- Strict Overhead Pressed 110kg (242lbs)

Wakagi started working out like a maniac at age 14, using mostly calisthenics because the 1st barbell wasn't imported into Japan until 1934.

He trained 10-15 hours per day until he was in his 80s using an an iron bar, homemade cement plates, & cement filled buckets.

Wakagi created Japan's 1st strength training tradition by combining Western bodybuilding exercises taken from Eugen Sandow's book with arm wrestling training done on home-made equipment & ridiculously high-volume & high-intensity calisthenics like Fingertip Pushups, Pistols, & Dips between Chairs.

A genuine maniac very few people liked being around, Wakagi slept hugging a heavy bag & left dumbbells by the bathroom because he would do sit-ups & curls when he awoke at night to p*e.

Bang the link in my profile & get hyped with Herd of GOATS! It's the ultimate zero-caffeine preworkout with profiles on 160 jacked AF athletes & entertainers from 52 countries & every sport you can imagine!!

Weili Zhang is more brains than brawn (which is crazy because she's so jacked) & she credits her ability to think, not her ability to punch, kick, or wrestle, with all of her success in MMA & life.

It's her ability to follow Bruce Lee's advice to "be like water" that she's been able to become one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, because she learned at an early age that she could overcome any "obstacle that had seemed insurmountable" by "slowing down. By thinking. By adapting to the world in front of me."

has been using a combination of 2 traditional styles (Shaolin Wushu & Shuaijiao, which is the Manchurian & Chinese version of Mongolian wrestling) along with modern Chinese kickboxing (Sanda), dominated MMA's 52kg (115lbs) division for 12 years & became the 1st Chinese champ in the .

Zhang started training in Shaolin Wushu at age 6, then started seriously training in Sanda & Shuaijiao at age 12.

At 17 she took up BJJ & before long, she was training in an MMA gym & beating people down using a wild combination of everything from Muay Thai to 5 Element Fist.

Now 36 years old, Zhang is ranked #3 in the pound-for-pound rankings after dominating the rankings for 5 years. In 2025, Zhang bumped up a weight class to fight at 57kg (125lbs) & lost on decision after a titanic battle of the GOATs.

Zhang hasn't said if she's staying at 57kg or dropping back to 52kg, but she:

- is 1.63m (5'4") & walks around at ~61kg (135lbs)
- won the UFC title 2x at 52kg (115lbs) & had 4 successful title defenses
- has a 26W-4L MMA record (11 KOs, 8 Subs) & a 2-2 record in pro Kickboxing.

Zhang trains so much that she literally lived in the gym for 2 years so she could train anytime she wasn't working, & her training includes a lot of Shuiajiao & Tai Chi (because they develop a calm mind & finesse), along with bodyweight training, balance work, running, & weightlifting, to develop her body & skills as an MMA fighter.

Bang that link in my profile & grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method for a Bruce Lee-inspired, 350pp text containing everything you need to become a one-person wrecking crew!

Tiger Shroff doesn't take days off from exercise- he became one of Bollywood's most jacked & badass actors by managing his recovery with sleep, saunas, ice baths, & massage so he never loses his edge.

At ~1.71m & 70kg (5'7" 154lbs), is no mass monster, but he might be the ultimate action hero- he's built like peak & has the physical skills & flexibility of at his best.

Due to his physical perfection & the fact that many of his films seem to be heavily inspired by Rambo 2 & 3, you might think he was grown in a lab & raised on nothing but American action films, but Shroff is the son of barrel-chested action star Jackie Shroff & the 1980 Miss Young India Ayesha Dutt, which makes him Indian action movie royalty.

Now 36, Shroff started training Wushu & Taekwondo at age 4, then added Kalaripayattu (the Indian martial art thought to be the basis of Wushu), Krav Maga, Silat, & Sanda at 26 to develop his practical fight skills.

Much like Jason Statham did while in Hollywood, Shroff got seriously into MMA by training for his films, so much so that he's the co-owner of , owned a team in India's 1st MMA fight league, & essentially India's MMA ambassador to the world.

Footwork has never been a problem for Shroff, whose dance moves in his films occasionally outshine his action sequences. All Indian films contain at least one dance sequence, which means their stars essentially compete on Dancing With the Stars while prepping & filming & they can't utilize extreme dehydration or glycogen compensation to look ripped.

To ensure he's always in shape, Shroff trains daily:

AM: 45 minutes of stepmill or treadmill followed by kickboxing or dancing
Early PM: Lifting (currently benching 60kg / 132lb dumbbells for 5)
PM: Parkour, Cricket, Basketball, & is on a 5th tier Indian pro Football team

Training daily becomes a habit when you start at age 4, but probably seems impossible to modern trainees steeped in the fitness industry's propaganda.

Click the link in my profile & grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method to learn why you need to look back to the pre-steroid era to see we're all training too little, not too much!

Serge Ibaka is relentless discipline in human form, which is why this Congolese-Spanish badass was able to overcome serious hardships to become one of 's top 100 NBA players of the 21st century.

is a 36 year old, 2.08m & 107kg (6'10" 236lbs) Olympic silver medalist (with Spain) with the rare distinction of being an , champ (Germany), & (Spain) champion.

One of the 1st wave of the new breed of centers who can shoot from the outside as well as dominate in the paint, Ibaka's ability to adapt to his environment & unbending work ethic made him a dominant force in the NBA despite having none of the advantages enjoyed by his competition.

Born in Congo in 1989, Ibaka lived through 2 civil wars, the death of his mother, & the politically-motivated imprisonment of his father before he was 10, so he practiced his craft incessantly because everyone saw basketball as his only way out of the chaos he was living in.

Ibaka taught himself Spanish & started playing professionally in Spain at age 17, became the 1st Congolese player to be selected in the NBA draft a year later, & had set the record for blocks in a single playoff game (7) during his rookie season.

From to 2009 to 2014, Ibaka was primarily a defensive center who used his physicality to dominate his opposition with blocks & rebounds, so his playing weight was closer to 111kg (245lbs).

He got that way not simply by training hard, but training as hard as possible with the best possible form- he only tests his ability to lift weights with perfect form.

Ibaka's off-season workout (basically every day for 2 months):

AM: Mountain Run & Basketball
PM: Boxing, Yoga, Lifting

Ibaka's attention to detail forced him to replace some of his lifting with skills work to achieve his final form, because although he loves lifting & would love to be bigger, he wanted to be more than a defensive juggernaut.

As a result, Ibaka nearly doubled his scoring in every game while maintaining his rebounding dominance & cemented himself as a legend on 3 continents.

Learn how to identify your weak points & fix them with Plague of Strength's Lifting Method! Link in profile & highlights!

Fernando Pimenta is a 5x Sprint Canoeing World Champ who has been training 2-4x per day, 7 days a week, 11 months out of the year for nearly a decade.

At 1.79m & 81 kg (5'10" 179lbs), 36-year-old has the perfect condition to dominate Men's Physique but is much more than a pretty physique- he's competed in the World Championships in all 9 canoe races, as well as in all 4 of the Olympic races.

Demonstrating unreal versatility & bodyfat is so low it looks like a papercut might kill him, Pimenta:

- won the World Champs in the solo 1000m (3x) & solo 5000m (2x)
- took 2nd at the World Champs in the solo 500m, 1000m (2x), & 5000m (3x), as well as 3 more 2nds in the 2-man 500m & 2-person 500m, & the 4-man 1000m
- has 6 bronzes at the World Champs
- won Olympic silver (2-man 1000m) & bronze (1000m)

There's really no analogue to Pimenta in track & field or any other sport- he's equally good at distance & sprints, competes with men & women, & seems to have no off button, which is probably why he's been knighted & granted the Portuguese Order of Merit.

If you wanna match Pimenta's berserk year-round condition, make exercise your entire existence because fitness is a canoeist's "greatest ally."

“We don’t have a standard training routine; every day is different."

AM Workout: Canoeing

PM Workouts: Rotate between Running, Cycling / Mountain Biking, CrossFit / Lifting, & Swimming

You have to build up gradually to that level of volume, which Pimenta has been doing for 25 years after starting sprint canoe at age 11. By age 26, he was was training 2-3x a day (some workouts 2+ hours) & he only took 2 weeks off per year along with "1 or 2 special days/dates" "to rest & take the opportunity to recover energy."

To fuel his training schedule Pimenta eats 5-7 meals per day, but none of it's junk- he mostly sticks to lean meats, salads, fruits, & veggies, with pasta & rice for carbs & doesn't even eat cold cuts "because they are harmful to the health of even the average person."

Wanna read about more jacked badasses from every conceivable sport & region of the world? Grab Herd of GOATs, my newest ebook, which features 160 jacked athletes from 52 countries!

Amber Glenn is an ice Jedi who collects light sabers & figure skating trophies- the 3x US Figure Skating Singles National Champ, 2025 International Grand Prix Singles Champ, & 2026 Olympic Team Gold medalist is 1 of the coolest & most muscular figure skaters of all time, never skips leg day, & is the 1st female figure skater since Tonya Harding who people would rather cross the street than fight.

is unlike any other figure skater in history. She's:
- built like an MMA fighter
- from the working class
- the 1st openly LGTBQ US female singles skater
- the oldest member of the US women's figure skating team

Due to her hardcore, borderline ice hockey mentality. incredible muscularity & power, Glenn is the only female figure skater who's described with terms usually reserved for the men-as “explosive," "muscular," & "aggressive,."

The 1.67m (5'6") pansexual badass has grit you wouldn't expect in a figure skater- she practiced for years in skates that were too small because her dad was a cop & her mom worked as a nanny for her skate coach. Because they were so poor, she just fought through the pain rather than put pressure on her parents to buy $800 skates.

Glenn spends 2-3 hours per day on the ice & a couple more off the ice doing stretching, mobility, plyometrics, & core strength 6 days per week.

Instead of conforming to look smaller, Glenn packed on mass & became the only elite women’s skater to land multiple ratified Triple Axels (a 1260° rotation) in international competition in a single season, but that wasn't due to her efforts in the gym- it was because of her effort in therapy.

Glenn competes so hard that her “brain didn’t know the difference between competing & having to fight a bear," so she started putting in serious hours with sports psychologist & immediately started stacking up the victories.

Want to read about more jacked GOATs from every imaginable sport? Bang that link in my profile & grab Herd of GOATs Vol 1, which contains 246pp of profiles like this one with diet & training info from 160 badass men & women from 52 different countries & every conceivable sporting background over the last 150 years!

Arthur Zanetti might be the most heavily armed person in all of Brazil. This conquistador of the Olympic Still Rings & his coconut-shaped cannons provide ample reason for all of us to consider the fact that bodyweight exercises, applied properly, might yield better arms than weights do.

is one of the thickest gymnasts in history at 1.56m & 61-64kg (5'1" 134-141lb) & was the 1st Brazilian & Latin American gymnast to medal in the Olympics, plus he's won so many other competitions that he'd look like an old-school dictator if he wore all his medals at once.

His international dominance on Rings includes:
- 1st in 2012 Olympics, 2nd in 2016
- 1st in 2013 World Champs, 2nd in 2011, 2014, & 2018
- 3x 1st & 3x 2nd in the Pan American Games
- 2x International University Games Champ

Zanetti participated in the 2020 Olympics & placed eighth, then missed qualifications for the 2024 Olympics due to the flu & retired in Jan 2025 after 27 years of competition.

In addition to being one of the most muscular, Zanetti is one of the strongest gymnasts of all time & has an ultra-difficult gymnastics move named after him as well as the insane exercise he uses to train for it- the Zanetti Press (Pic 3).

If you wanna try out some cool odd gymnastic lifts like the Zanetti Press, check out , who has a dope tutorial for Zanetti-esque training. For the most part, however, gymnasts build strength & size by doing of skill work with 3-4kg (7-9lb) weighted vests.

Gymnastics were such an essential part of lifting culture in the 19th century that weight lifting was called "Heavy Gymnastics," & bodybuilding culture was based heavily in gymnastics & hand balancing until the mid-1960s.

Straight-arm exercises like that are the reason gymnasts & lifters prior to the 1930s have such absurdly thick arms with high-peaked biceps- until the 1960s, every lifter's workout included massive amounts of straight arm dumbbell movements.

Click the link in my profile & grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method to learn more about the methods of pre-steroid era lifters & how they caused me to change my record-setting strength training methods, plus TONS more!!

Tony Yaniro is the father of modern sport climbing & one of the most jacked people to ever play Spider-Man on the side of a mountain.

's weight was never published, but he probably didn't weigh much more than 66kg (145lbs)- he & arm lifting & climbing champ are both 1.68m (5'6") & similarly built.

When you've got hyper-mobile, ultra-lean muscle like Yaniro & Gravelle, you don't need hundreds of pounds of it to look big- you just need to sport the vicious pump you get from doing 7 consecutive ascents of the same cliff face.

Building piles of badass muscle was hardly Tony Yaniro's goal anyway- climbers stay as light as possible because weighing more usually means they lose endurance.

Getting jacked as a climber in the late 1970s was also difficult because they were all essentially homeless people who lived illegally on federal property so they could climb all day, every day, famously subsisted on tourists' leftovers & massive amounts of free butter slathered on slices of free bread.

Muscular climbers like Yaniro often carried a can of tuna & pineapple slices to eat while climbing, but Yaniro's muscularity came from his training style rather than his diet- he did a lot of weighted pull-ups, chins, & high volume repetition of climbing "power moves."

Yaniro trained like that because he believed "If you can't do the moves, then there is nothing to endure," so there was no sense preparing for long climbs if you couldn't do the hardest moves at the top.

He approached climbing methodically, working skills repeatedly & training on mockups of hard parts of climbs to ensure that his perfect practice would ensure perfect play.

Yaniro's immense success with his highly regimented approach turned the climbing world upside down, which contrasted sharply against the free-wheeling methods of the other jacked climber of that era, John Bachar, a pioneer of free solo climbing who also liked to climb while tripping on acid, & ended up splitting climbing into "Sport" & "Traditional."

Grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method for everything you need to build a physique so crazy they have to create an entirely new sport about it!

Ranveer Singh is one of India's most badass action actors & one of their most jacked actors of all time- if you love hard-boiled action like The Raid: Redemption but wish it featured more jacked actors, you need to see Singh tearing it up in Dhurandhar: The Revenge on .

is 1.78m (5'10"), originally got in shape because he intended to be a pro cricketer, & stays in phenomenal shape year round by training with a variety of trainers who most recently included his Dhurandhar co-actor, .

Like Sylvester Stallone, Singh's weight varies depending on the physical requirements of the role he's playing & tends to look better at lighter weights, & Singh always retains a Tom Cruise-esque mobility & athleticism. He was:

- ~84kg (184lbs) at his most shredded as an evil sultan in Padmaavat (Pic 2 & 3) & 86kg (190lbs) in Simmba (2018)
- cut to ~73kg to play a scrawny, street-smart rapper in Gully Boy (2019)
- was 75kg (175lbs) to play a cricketer in 83 (Pic 1, 2021)
- bulked to 87kg (192lbs) for Dhurandhar 1 & 2 (Pic 5)

Singh worked with chefs, a nutritionist, & to achieve his shredded physique at age 31 in Padmaavat but made his biggest physique transformation for Dhurandhar, for which he gained 10kg (22lbs) in 6 weeks of hyper-intense training.

For 5 weeks, he ran daily & trained for 3-4+ hours per day, 6-7 days per week fueled by 4500-5000kcal of chicken, mutton, veggies, & rice, then trained as much as possible for the last week of travel & prep.

He did 1.5-2 hours of Kalaripayattu every morning (ancient capoeira / wushu) to ensure he stayed limber while bulking, which everyone should try.

"Usually, when people bulk up, they look stiff. That also takes away from the performance as an actor because you don’t flow freely. So, we were very particular… he has to look big, like a beast, but he can’t seem slow or stiff."

In the PM, they did 60-90 minutes of strength training with a very heavy emphasis on shoulders & arms utilizing a combination of calisthenics, dumbbells, & barbells.

Trying to make a transformation of your own? Grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method to get everything you need in 1 resource!