Plague of Strength

Hyeseong Kim is the hardest worker in baseball- he's one of the fastest & most jacked baseball players in history, possibly the only elite male athlete outside of figure skating who's got more steps in his daily skincare routine than you have exercises in your daily workout, & definitely works out more than you.

3 is 27 years old, 1.78m & 79kg (5'10" 174lbs), & lifts six days per week in addition to his skill & cardio workouts, but he's revealed more details about his skincare routine than his workouts- it involves 5 steps in the AM & 6 in the PM.

In re working out, he's only said:

"I trained using my lower body a lot, & because I trained so much, the result came out this positively."

Kim was the fastest player on the 2025 World Series Champion , hitting 31.49kph (19.57mph) in the 27m (90ft) between home plate & 1st base & is considered to be the strongest player on the team as well due to the fact that out-trains everyone around him all the time.

Kim's obsessive dedication to his craft & intense, high-volume training schedule made him legendary in Korea before he came to the US & won a World Series, & he's now world famous because:

- he shows up a day before everyone else to start training every season, working light drills with coaches where possible
- he is always the 1st person to arrive at training & the last to leave
- when other players take breaks during daily training sessions, Kim runs drills with other hyper-motivated teammates

Due to that supernatural work ethic, Kim is a 4x .official Golden Glove winner, Asian Games gold medalist, & a force multiplier on any team he plays on.

As one teammate put it, Kim:

“sets such a good example & works out so hard that I learn even more by watching him. I naturally end up working harder so I don’t fall behind.”

Turn yourself into a hyper-conditioned, athletic force multiplier of your own with Plague of Strength's Lifting Method! It's got over a dozen programs, massive sections of core & cardio, a huge section on mobility with free resources to help you get limber, & an updated version of the methods I used to break a 40 year old record in powerlifting!

Al Berman had a huge set of boulder shoulders & could out-bench nearly everyone on Earth

Michael Chan is the most hardcore actor of all time- Chan was a Triad underboss & pro kickboxer who was simultaneously a martial arts movie mainstay, appearing in over 174 films mostly playing roles similar to those he played off-screen anyway.

Chan, stilled ripped at 82, was a notorious Hong Kong street fighter who became a corrections officer & police officer before joining the 14K Triad & working up their ranks to eventually become their #2.

The 14K is the 2nd largest Triad group on the planet, boasting 20000 members worldwide, & Chan was one of their toughest fighters.

Chan stood 1.7m (5'7") & weighed an estimated 70kg (154lbs) at his peak in the 1970s, during which time he racked up a16-0 (14KO) record in the "freestyle fighting" competitions popular in Asia at the time.

These fights were set up to allow fighters from Japan, China, & Thailand (representing Kyokushin Karate, Sanda / Wushu, & Muay Thai) to compete under very fluid rules that became the precursor to & , & Chan used a combination of Western boxing & traditional martial arts to smack the crap out of anyone dumb enough to p**s him off, including Brandon Lee.

Chan & Bruce Lee were good friends, but Chan slapped the younger Lee during a dinner meeting in Japan & has since described him a "fu***ng useless," which he also would have done if Bruce was still alive- Chan's 1-inch punch was said to rival Lee's, 2 of his pro fight victories came with

Letícia Bufoni is one of the greatest street skateboarders of all time, one of the most shredded X-Games competitors of all time, & an iconic rebel athlete.

Bufoni's dad smashed her skateboard because "girls aren't supposed to skateboard". That sent the tiny badass into a frenzy of skating, & 4 years later she had her pro card. Since then, became the 1st woman signed to & earned:

- 6 straight medals in X Games Women's SKB Street (2010–2014)
- the world title in 2019
- 5x gold in the X-Games (she's tied for the record)
- 2017 Espy award

Bufoni's an all-round X-Games athlete who skates & races cars for Red Bull. She practices skating or racing for 4 hours/day 5 days a week, followed by a 2nd daily session in the form of yoga, pilates, lifting, & massage, plus the Brazilian badass plays soccer for hours a day when she can & sneaks off to go wake surfing if there's still time left.

As a 1.6m & 44kg (5'3" 97lb) vegetarian woman, Bufoni has spent a lot of time working out at the facility to develop the physicality necessary to make space for herself in a traditionally male sport.

At , they always utilize a balanced combination of strength training, flexibility work, balance work, & cardio- they're injury prevention when you're uninjured & rehab when you are.

Balance is essential to skating, so Bufoni's trainers have her doing nothing but unilateral weight-lifting exercises, & that's honestly something most of us could stand to do. If you look at how symmetrical athletes' abs are compared to modern bodybuilders' abs, you'll start to see that we're doing something wrong, & failing to do unilateral & twisting exercises is part of it.

If you're not already doing them, you should be doing Broomstick Twists every day of your life, because they're phenomenal for bringing out your center line- that line from your neck to your groin that separates left side from right that Leticia Bufoni has so prominently on display.

Read more about how to develop that center line in Plague of Strength's Lifting Method! It explains how you need to change your training to have abs like an athlete rather than the bulging abs of an ape!

Who is Hollywood's all-time best "jacked everyman badass"- Chuck Bronson, Sylvester Stallone, Brad Pitt, or Jason Statham?

These dudes weren't famous for being cartoonishly huge like Arnold (although Sly tried for a minute)- they instead played the type of role you would typically see Bruce Willis play, & revealed similarly-sized, shredded physiques when they popped their shirts off & started throwing fists.

Charles Bronson was the most jacked leading man & the highest-paid action star of the 1970s. Standing 1.74m & weighing 73-77kg (5’9” 160-170lb), Bronson was rarely the biggest, but he was always the most shredded guy in the films he was in & was Bruce Lee (& everyone else's) inspiration for getting jacked.

Sylvester Stallone represented the pinnacle of an "attainable" physique dude from the early 1980s through the mid 1990s. Standing 1.75m & usually around 80kg (5'9" 176lbs), he was at his most shredded in Rocky 3 (74kg / 163lbs), his most bodybuilder-y at ~90kg (200lbs) in Rambo 2 & 3, & his biggest in Rambo 4 at 100kg (220lbs). Sly inspired people to get fit, start boxing, & start bodybuilding, & promoted a larger physiques.

filled the role of muscular badass everyman in stuff like Kalifornia, Fight Club, Sn**ch, Mr & Mrs Smith, & Fury, & his physique caused widely reported, indisputable shifts in exercise habits among US men in the early 21st century. Pitt was 1.8m & ~75kg (5'11" 165lbs) in Fight Club & Sn**ch & 84kg (185lbs) in Troy, & his lean, lithe physique caused a rejection of bodybuilding by the mainstream.

was the snarling, flexing counter-point to Pitt's shredded stoner physique & was so ripped & angry he reprised Bronson's role in The Mechanic. Statham was 1.78m (5'10") & 77-82 (170-180lbs) in the Transporter, Crank, & Death Wish series, & his bulked-up diver's physique also contributed to mainstream rejection of massive action stars & bodybuilder physiques.

Whatever kind of shape you want to attain, you can do it with Plague of Strength's Lifting Method. It explains stuff like how I set world records in powerlifting & why I don't recommend you train like that if you want to look good shirtless!

Shaina West is one of the most badass up-&-coming martial arts action stars & one of the most jacked leading ladies currently working in film.

looks like a live-action anime character because that's exactly what she is- her calisthenics-based training methodology is almost entirely inspired by anime & is what set her on the path to becoming the UK's 2nd stuntwoman of color.

With an origin story that could've been ripped straight from an episode of Baki, everything about the Samurider is larger than life.

While she was in the hospital convalescing from a fractured neck & broken thumb resulting from a motorcycle accident, she lost her job & boyfriend at the same time.

West found inspiration in the pages of manga & onscreen in anime, & the tales of warriors building their bodies back better after a terrible injury inspired her to do the same. She taught herself swordplay & martial arts while she built herself back stronger in the gym, newly obsessed with the idea that she could inspire other women of color with her message of strength & indomitable spirit.

In less than 10 years, the Samurider went from bedridden, broke, & broken-up to fit, fab, & famous, starring in her own badass feature film Jade, which seems to be at least tangentially related to the John Wick series & co-stars (John Wick 3).

Though her rapid rise from unknown to stuntwoman to starring roles might make it seem easy, West explained:

"it was a lot of hard work; I didn’t learn any of the complex & physically demanding moves overnight."

"But hard work & dedication are not just words people throw out to make you feel bad. I had to train, research, train some more, practice, train again.

Hard work & perseverance are essential to achieving anything."

Inspired to have abs that look more like Samurider's & less like everyone else's? Bang that link in my profile & grab Juicy Delts 2 to start training your core with the attention, variety, & dedication that it deserves using the Meat & Potatoes Diet get lean using historically-validated methods & a badass workout routine designed to transform your body from a powerlifting potato into an aesthetic Adonis or Artemis!

Zdeno Chara won the Stanley Cup Finals with a broken jaw- he's such a badass that he only sat on the bench with a completely shattered jaw for 2 periods, then played a full game a couple days later.

Chara couldn't speak & was on a liquid diet for a couple of days, but nothing could stop the 2.06m & 113kg (6'9" 250lb) Slovakian superman- he holds the record for most games played by a defenseman for very good reason.

is:

- the tallest player in history (2.18m / 7'2" on skates)
- 1 of the greatest defensemen of his era
- a 7x All-Star & 1x Stanley Cup winner
- the pull-up record holder for several teams (his best is 35 with )
- the Hardest Shot World Record (108.8 mph / 175kmh) & won the contest 5x

Chara was also a well-respected brawler who fought 76 times over his career, the last of which came in his final game just before his 45th birthday, so he's also:

- Oldest NHL Player to earn a Fighting Major
- Oldest Defensemen to score a Game-Winning Goal in the NHL playoffs
- Oldest Defenseman to score in the NHL Finals
- Most Game 7 Playoff Appearances
- Most Games Played by a Defensemen

Chara's power comes from Soviet training methods- his dad was a wrestling coach for Soviet-era Czechoslovakia, so he grew up training like a Soviet wrestler & compiled massive folders filled with detailed information on every rep of every training session over the years.

His off-season workouts lasted 4-6 hours & drew influence from everything from sprint skating to powerlifting & ice dancing. Instead of focusing on moving big weights, he trained his core harder than anything else, focused on flexibility, range of motion, coordination, & perfect form, & used circuits like:

Back Squat x 3
Jump On & Off High Bench x 3
Hop Low Hurdles x 3
Sprint in Place 10 Steps

Since retirement, he switched his focus to endurance & is now an elite marathon runner & Ironman competitor who completed the 113km (70.3mi) race in

Ken Norton Sr was one of the strongest & most jacked boxers of all time & used his herculean mass to shatter Muhammad Ali's jaw in their 1st fight, but he wasn't a lifter- his body was built almost entirely through calisthenics, running, & boxing.

Norton was:
- 1.91m (6'3) tall
- walked around around 102-104kg (225-230lbs)
- weighed between 93-99kg in the ring
- heavyweight champ with a 42W-7L-1D (33KO) record

Nicknamed Black Hercules, Norton's 6-Day per week training looked like this:

AM:
20 mins Stretching
5-13km (3-8 Mile) Run

Breakfast- 9 Eggs, 7 slices Bacon, 8 slices Toast, Cereal, 2 glasses Milk & Orange Juice

5km (3mi) Walk

PM:
2.5 hours of Boxing & Calisthenics

Norton did 250-300 Sit-Ups & 250 Leg Raises & reportedly did 5 x 250 Push-Ups per day, but mostly avoided weights- in a training book he co-authored, he did recommend 3 x 10 on Bench Press, Wrist Curls, & Barbell Curls though.

His strength & power made Norton an absolute legend- he once rocked a hospital bed upright & walked it to the door after getting into a really bad car accident.

After awakening strapped to the bed after 3 hours of surgery (& still with an undetected broken leg), Norton decided he was going to leave but was be stopped by the door frame.

"Maybe he was just working on instinct. All that is certain is that he wanted to go home. He was held down by straps. An assortment of IV tubes and electric monitors was attached to his body. What was all this? He wanted to leave.

He started rocking the bed, rocking & rocking until somehow the bed was flipped straight up and he was standing, standing with the bed strapped to his back. He was going home.

'I started walking,' he says. 'I was all right for three or four steps. Then I got to the door. The bed was too tall. It hit the top of the doorway, and I went crashing back, the bed and me, everything. They came in, found me on the floor. That was when they discovered I also had a broken leg.'"

Trying to build a legendarily strong body? Bang that link in my profile & grab 365 Days of Brutality for 361pp of GOATed training routines from pro wrestlers, US Football players, bodybuilders, weightlifters, & more!

Yasemin Adar Yiğit is Türkiye's 1st & greatest female wrestler & arguably the most jacked female wrestler of all time.

adar is Türkiye's 1st female freestyle wrestler, which is especially important because Türkiye has considered wrestling its national pastime for over 1000 years.

Yiğit's used her indomitable will & hyper-muscular, 1.81m (5'11") physique, to smash gender barrier in her country & become a 2x World Champ & 7x European Champ in Freestyle Wrestling at 76kg (168lbs).

Yiğit dominated European heavyweights from 2011-2025, which is an astonishing feat for a pioneering athlete, because she had no local competition & had no one to look to for advice or inspiration.

"There was no one I could take as an example & had to begin my struggle by dreaming. I believe that we can achieve good results if I can set an example for our younger generation.”

As a result, Yiğit has been setting a good example for decades both on & off the mat.

She trained nearly constantly, staying in camp for up to 11 months a year (missing most of life's major holidays & milestones as she pursued her dream) & you can exactly how conditioned she is by watching the athletic competition show Physical Asia, in which most of the male athletes find her intimidating & overpowering.

If Yiğit has a secret weapon beyond a Michael Phelps-esque work ethic, it's cross-training. She started out as a shot putter & was recruited from track & field into wrestling at her local Sports Center, where she trains alongside other female Olympic medalists in Taekwondo & Boxing, & there's video of Yiğit & other female Olympians practicing with the men's & women's rugby teams in a joint practice.

Complete athletes have the most complete physiques, & that means training high reps, calisthenics, mobility, cardio, & balance in addition to brute strength & raw power- proves it in every season.

Bang that link in my profile & grab Plague of Strength's Lifting Method to get a comprehensive analysis on why you need to stop lifting like a powerlifter & start lifting like an elite athlete if you want to maximize your strength & be pain-free!

Lito Adiwang is the most jacked & aggressive 57kg (125lb) fighter on Earth, & this human wolverine is also definitely at the top of the list of all-time greatest most muscular poses by u60kg (132lbs) athletes.

is 33 years old & now has a a 18W-6L record (10 KO, 4 Submission). He was personally scouted by Hall of Famer to fight in & is:

- 1.62m (5'4") & walks around at 64-66kg (140-145lbs)
- a 2x Philippine Wushu champ
- primarily a striker whose base is a mix of Boxing, Wushu, & Sanda, plus lots of BJJ & Muay Thai

Adiwang grew up on a farm & started boxing in high school in an effort to follow Manny Pacquiao to greatness & riches. While studying to be a physical education teacher in university, Adiwang switched his focus to Wushu & became a 2x national champ.

When Adiwang struggled to balance his studies & competition, he chose the latter, so after an international competition tour with the national team netted him no trophies, Adiwang made the switch to MMA to earn a living.

Initially fighting out of the Philippines, he soon made the jump to Malaysia, where he won BJJ tournaments. After that, Adiwang spent 1.5 years in Thailand honing his skills before returning to Manila to join .

He won 7 of 9 fights before his ACL tore in the middle of his 10th. Because he's so incredibly aggressive, Adiwang pushed his rehab a little too hard & hurt himself again- learning to back off the intensity was the hardest lesson of his career.

“I can admit that this experience was a lot more psychological than anything else. Physically, I could overcome it relatively easily, though this one was really more focused on the mental aspect of it all for the past 18 months.”

“I needed to balance out my positivity and eagerness since there really is a process that needs to happen. That’s what I went through for this recovery.”

Drop the dogmatism in your training & draw inspiration from lots of different sources- absorb what works & discard what doesn't!

Bang the link in my profile to grab 365 Days of Brutality & get tons routines from of the GOATs of every strength sport, from powerlifting to arm wrestling!