Plague of Strength

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."

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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") pans*xual 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!

Qiqi Yuan earned the nickname "King Kong Barbie" because her ripped 1.58m & 50kg (5'2" 110lbs) physique inspired countless male & female athletes in China to train harder- no one doubts her when she says "Every muscle in my body will win glory for my country."

Yuan & the Chinese women's 4x100 team have become a guiding light for other Chinese Track & Field teams, which were basically non-existent until the 1990s but have won the Asian Games 2x & Asian Championships 1x, took 2nd in the Asian Champs 1x, & Yuan won an individual silver in the 60m at the Asian Indoor Champs.

A massive mentality shift was required for the Chinese to start winning- they focused on the fact that precedent matters far less than persistence in sport, trained their handoffs & starts obsessively, & completely dedicated themselves to physical fitness.

Led by 2 ultra-jacked speedsters in Yuan & the man who's physique inspired her (), the Chinese track & field team has become steadily more muscular over the last decade, & their influence has even spread to other sports..

Men's basketball player said in an interview that he was inspired by Yuan to work harder in the gym & so he can have a strong physique like hers & ultimately make more contributions to the national team.

Given the way the Chinese press talks about her, it's hard for anyone to stifle the urge to head to the track & the weight room.

"Yuan Qiqi is a typical sprinter. Her neck looks like someone practicing boxing, & her thighs look like someone practicing bodybuilder."

She apparently doesn't do anything special in her training that her teammates don't- it might just be that she's been doing it longer & trains a bit harder.

Yuan has been doing Chinese gymnastics, sprint training, plyometrics & core work pretty much every day since she was 10 years old, so the 30-year old is displaying 20 years of muscle maturity.

Everyone should incorporate Chinese gymnastics in their daily workouts- it hits stuff Western calisthenics don't. There's multiple resources for you to try that stuff in the Mobility section of Plague of Strength's Lifting Method (like )! Link in profile!

Busta Rhymes is the most jacked Grammy-nominated musician in history, but linebacker-sized hip hip legend didn't start out looking like a breakdancer- he began his career as an ultra-skinny breakdancer & then went on a rollercoaster journey with his eight that many people can relate to.

When Busta landed his 1st record contract at 17 years old, he was a far cry his current size (1.85m & 102kg / 6'1" ~225lbs) & instead looked like your average b-boy- thin, ripped, & muscular.

As a teen, Busta was part of the breakin crew run by the DJ for Public Enemy (Johnny Juice), & was so good his mom was shocked that he became famous for rapping instead of dancing.

By the time he dropped his 1st solo album at age 24, Busta was closer to 100kg (220lbs), with most of his muscle located in his arms.

Since then, Busta's fitness journey was a bit more relatable to most people- after a couple of personal tragedies, Busta got depressed, abandoned his workouts & diet, & gained a ton of weight.

Realizing he was in trouble because he got winded having s*x, Busta reached out to & moved to Jacksonville with his personal chef & security team to cut down from 132kg (290lbs).

For a month, they trained 3x a day, 3 days per week, & twice a day on 2 more, & ate a huge meal every 2.5 hours to stimulate his metabolism that was something like 12 egg whites & oatmeal or a 285g (10oz) steak.

After 30 days he was a swole-fat 154kg (340lbs), so he went to LA with Dex & was his training partner for his Mr Olympia prep. After that, Busta returned to NYC 113kg (~250lbs) lighter & started training a more sustainable 5x/week, & now hovers around his original "fighting" weight.

Building muscle is easy when you've got a base in stuff like gymnastics, breakdancing, & calisthenics- when you're already conditioned to exercise & possess above-average mobility, you can easily work your muscles through a full range of motion & develop them more fully because you can recruit far more muscle fibers.

Bang that link in my profile & grab Plague of Strengths Lifting Method to learn everything you need to know about building muscle, including the oft-ignored but crucial element of mobility!

Ateba Gautier broke the internet with pics of his pre-fight physique last week because this impossibly jacked Middleweight fighter apparently cuts very little weight to make 84kg (185lbs) & hates lifting weights.

Gautier is 24 years old, is listed at 1.93m (6'4"), appears to be closer to 1.86m (6'1") & despite looking absolutely massive apparently walks around at just over the 84kg limit. He's got an 11W-1L record in MMA that includes 9KOs, most of which occurred in Round 1, & he's equally dangerous with any of his limbs- he's KO'd people with punches, knees, kicks, & elbows.

He credits calisthenics, fasting, fighting, & home-cooked meals for his physique- protein-rich stews like Ndolé are famous for building badass physiques throughout Central & West Africa.

Born & raised in the economic capital of Cameroon, Doula, Gautier learned to fight on streets- Cameroon was extremely violent at that time, & fighting in the street was part of daily life.

“I didn't want to be a fighter. I used to fight just because, first, I just really liked fighting. For me, it was the only way to get the respect. People have to respect me, so it was the only way."

Gautier loves fighting so much that he talks about teenage street fights the same way Americans reminisce about summer camp, & he's happy to show off a scar from where he was stabbed with a screwdriver- he didn't even realize he'd been stabbed until after he'd won the fight.

Although he's African by heritage, he seems Russian when looking at his martial arts history- street fighting is his base, to which he started adding Sambo at age 18 & then switched to MMA a year later.

Gautier's sole loss came as a result of inexperience- he started fighting as a pro almost as soon as he switched to MMA, & has improved dramatically with every fight since.

At 21, he moved to the UK to train with & is fighting at a breakneck pace you could only expect out of someone who loves fighting- he's racked up 5 KO wins in the over the last 15 months.

Trying to build an internet-breaking physique of your own? Grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method for everything you need- cardio, calisthenics, mobility, & weights! https://plagueofstrength.com/downloads/plague-of-strengths-lifting-method/

Daniel Dubois is a humongous knockout machine who's sponsored by as a running athlete because he runs so much- if anyone can prove that running won't kill your gains, it's "Dynamite."

Standing 1.96m & 114kg (6'5" 251lbs), Dubois is 28 years old & the current heavyweight champ who's got one-punch knockout power in both hands, which he's used to KO 22 opponents on his way to a 23W-3L record.

knocked out to win the title in an 11-round war this weekend & has KO wins over gigantic badasses like & , which might lead you to think that Dubois spends the majority of his strength & conditioning time on lifting, but you'd be incorrect.

Power is useless without the cardio to deliver it, & one of the physicians recently gave Dubios his pre-fight physical says no one is in a better position to dish out destruction than the massive Brit, who he said is in better shape than most World Cup winners.

Dubois says it's essential to do roadwork at least 3x per week, but that's the BARE minimum.

His road work generally consists of 5-8km (3-5mi) done 5-6 days per week, to which he adds a 2nd afternoon run when prepping for a fight, but Saturdays are where is insane fitness is really built.

On Saturdays, he runs hill sprints in Greenwich Park in London, where the hill is 45° at its steepest:

- 20 x 120m uphill sprints
Rest as long as it takes to walk back to the bottom

Dubois trains 2-3x per day when in camp, but for most of camp he only has 1-2 strength workouts involving weights (it's either sparring or weights on Wednesdays)- the rest are pads, bags, sparring, or running.

His coaches put him through 3-4 weight workouts per week early in camp, with a focus on heavy compound movements, but Dubois vastly prefers calisthenics & training on gymnastics rings because he'd rather be quicker & have endless cardio than slightly stronger but far less fit.

Trying to develop your cardio so that you can get into the best shape of your life? Bang that link in my profile & grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method to get the strength, mobility, calisthenics, & cardio resources you need!

Jessica Biel trained so hard for Blade: Trinity she ended up more jacked than her stunt double & got so good at archery her coach said "She’s the best bowman ever on the big screen.”

For 3 months prior to filming, Biel trained for 4+ hours a day, 6 days per week. Her training was broken up into 3 daily sessions with an AM strength workout, an hour of fight training in the early PM, & an hour of archery practice after that.

At first they focused primarily on building strength & size, then added more cardio & reduced the weight work slightly to maintain size while leaning out. She followed an ultra-strict, Mediterranean-style diet throughout training & filming that was heavy on veggies & complex carbs like quinoa, along with some animal proteins.

Although she looked like she gained weight for the role, the already-fit former competitive gymnast actually lost weight for Blade- in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the 1.7m (5'7") American actress stopped the hearts of half the planet weighing ~59kg (130lbs), but a year later she had people literally screaming in the theaters weighing a shredded ~55kg (121lbs).

did most of her own stunts, but whenever breaking glass was involved in a scene she was replaced by a double to ensure nothing would cut her. Biel recalled

"I had been in the gym so much that I was even bigger than she was. I was totally ripped in my arms. So from the side or running, I can see when it's me, I can see my arms & hers are just a little bit different.

Biel's a real life Hawkeye who can effortlessly walk on her hands, tumble, & is capable of training harder than most of the people on the planet. She usually does full body workouts 2-3x with , but for Blade they ramped it up to:

Day 1: Hardcore Circuit training

Day 2: 6-8 sets of Sprints ranging from 200m at 75% to 100m at 100%, sometimes ending with some hops up stairs (single & double leg)

Day 3: Regeneration & Recovery work

Day 4: More Hardcore Circuits

Day 5: Focus Mitts (Punching & Kicking)

Day 6: Recreational Sports

Trying to ramp up your training? Grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method for a bunch of 2-3x per day, 6-day per week programs that'll get you right!