At just 5'11" and 171 lbs (78kg), Vladimir "Anatoly" Shmondenko doesn't look like a wrecking ball of human strength. But watch any of his viral prank videos, and you'll bear witness to a powerlifting phenom who makes the biggest gym bros look frail by comparison.

This 24-year-old Ukrainian has captivated millions with his deadlift dominance and squatting supremacy. Footage of the unassuming Anatoly, disguised as a cleaner, effortlessly lifting staggering weights that leave brawny meatheads struggling has burned up the internet. It's powerlifting prowess so preposterous, you'd swear it was some muscle-bound Marvel superhero performing CGI trickery.

But Anatoly's astonishing ability to hoist double and triple his bodyweight is no computer-generated con. This cattle farm-raised kid from the tiny village of Krishtopovka is the real deal - a self-made strongman forged from humble beginnings.

Growing up, Anatoly cobbled together his first gym from Soviet tractor scraps, wood and bricks, fueling his obsession with American bodybuilding videos that finally reached his remote hamlet upon the advent of the internet in 2016. While his classmates giggled at the discarded dining hall trays stacked with his signature seven daily meals of cottage cheese and eggs, the determined teen had visions of bodybuilding glory dancing in his head.

That laser focus and unyielding drive paid off in 2018 when Anatoly captured 3rd place at the GPA World Championships in his homeland, amid the brutally competitive Teen 18-19 category. But his journey was just beginning.

After a stint posting content to a rapidly growing Russian YouTube channel, Anatoly found himself a refugee from the Ukraine war, resettling in Dubai in 2022. Embracing his new international audience, he doubled down on studying English and pivoted to uploading prank powerlifting vids aimed at the world.

And the world couldn't believe its eyes.

In one viral clip, a scrawny Anatoly in janitorial disguise shocks a gym full of beefed-up bros by effortlessly deadlifting a bar loaded with 639 lbs (290kg) - over triple his body weight and shattering the gym's presumed lift records. In another, he squats 462 lbs (210kg) like a walk in the park while his flabbergasted fellow gym rats look on in disbelief.

From humble homemade gym beginnings to shattering powerlifting norms on the world's stage, Anatoly's inspiring underdog story is still unfolding. With a net worth already estimated between $2-3 million by age 24, a burgeoning merchandise empire and 3.3 million YouTube subscribers awaiting his next feat of superhuman strength, get ready for plenty more viral antics from this farm boy turned international internet icon.

When it comes to powerlifting phenoms, they don't get much more remarkable than the unstoppable force of nature known as Anatoly Powerlifter.

https://youtube.com/@vladimirfitness