Elite Powerlifter Once Pretended to Be a Beginner at the Gym and Shocked Everyone in the End
Internet celebrity Vladimir Shmondenko, also known as Anatoly, is a Ukrainian bodybuilding community favorite because of his viral prank videos. Most of his videos include Anatoly pretending to be a gym rookie while doing impressively large lifts. Anatoly is a powerlifter by career, but he spends much of his time creating content for hisYouTube channel and other social media accounts, which he updates on a regular basis
In early 2023, Anatoly posted a video on YouTube in which he acted like a gym newbie, making the regulars’ heads spin. Almost 3.3 million people have seen this video, making it a clear success
In the video, as soon as Anatoly stepped foot in the gym, he began picking up his targets. He performed the dumbbell chest press, deadlift, bench press, and hammer curls in the video. To convince the trainers that he is new to the gym, he first fails to do the standard routines with reduced weight
Yet he insisted that he must train harder for a powerlifting competition in a matter of weeks. The coaches listened to him and then explained that he would need years of consistent practice to reach his goals. Yet they didn’t realize they were being pranked by a real powerlifter
When he deadlifted a barbell with around five weights on each side, he utterly shocked his trainer. The man next to him was also astounded, remembering that this was the same guy who had previously failed at deadlifting with a standard barbell. He proceeds to execute hammer curls with 77-pound weights, absolutely shocking the woman teaching him the fundamentals
The only thing the coach could muster was a single word: How is this possible, bro? The newcomer’s effortless performance with the hefty weights stunned everyone. After that, Anatoly also told the trainers that he was making a prank video and showed the cameras to them
