The Romanian siblings, aged nine and seven, who are put through gruelling two-hour sessions each day
Giuliano Stroe, 9, and his brother Claudiu, 7, want to be bodybuilders
Lift weights for two hours every day to build up arm and chest strength
Lifting 4kg dumb bells and heavy weights for two hours a day would be an impressive fitness regime for an adult.
But the gruelling sessions are in actual fact exercises for a pair of Romanian brothers who part of a family dubbed ‘The Hercules’.
Giuliano Stroe, aged nine, and his seven-year-old brother Claudiu hit the headlines as they trained to be the world’s strongest boys in a family of bodybuilders.
Now the family could be on their way to Britain after falling on hard times in their homeland and struggling to find the fame and fortune they hoped would await them while living in Florence, Italy.
Iulian Stroe, 35, was determined to make his sons famous and put them through a gruelling two-hour regime each morning while the family lived in Florence.
The tiny muscle ‘men’ have been performing acrobatic feats and lifting weights since they were toddlers.
Giuliano has already broken two world records for 90-degree vertical pushups and another holding on to a pole like a human flag.
Claudiu followed suit and he is already performing handstand push-ups on a bar and learning the same terrifying flag trick.
Both boys routinely lift 4kg dumbbells and heavy weights to work on their biceps and build up their chest muscles.
Claudiu started training at a younger age than Giuliano and was copying his older brother at just 18 months old. Now he can do the splits between metal rings and can turn backflips along the ground.
The boys are undeniably capable of extraordinary feats – but it has been suggested that it’s cruel to expect children of this age to train so hard.
Unable to forge a living for themselves in Italy, Mr Stroe and his sons were forced to return to Romania, where they now make a living from scrap metal trading in the village of Icoana.
Mr Stroe now plans to travel to the UK in the hope of finding either work for himself, or a financial sponsor for his sons as he hopes to bring the family’s novel weightlifting act to a new audience.
Last week nine-year-old Giuliano posted on his Facebook page that his dad was planning a move to the UK so he could work – but he didn’t want him to go.
‘Who will take care of us? Alone here is sad and dangerous. Help him to get a job near to us. Thank you,’ he said.
While some people posted positive replies, others were critical of the family’s actions.
Mr Stroe says he has no choice but to travel to the UK, where he hopes to find other Romanians who will help him find work so he can continue to pay for his sons’ training regime.
Both Mr Stroe and his wife Ileana defend their training regimen for their boys.
‘They have a natural ability for this, nothing is forced, it is what God intended for them,’ Mrs Stroe said.
‘My husband will go abroad to earn money, as a builder or labourer, and we will use it all for our sons,’ she added.
