Benny Podda was quite extreme. The following is from t-nation
In the November 2004 issue of Men's Fitness (yes, I know, but was suckered into a 2 year subscription and was before I met T-Nation) there is an article about one crazy mo-fo named Benny Podda.
IMO, he's a T-Man to the extreme and should be recognized and not be constrained to a 3 page article (pgs. 91, 92, 144) in Men's Fitness of all places. The artice the only source of information I found on Podda. I don't have an URL, only the magizine in front of me.
A bit about Podda:
-Born outside of Pittsburg in 1957.
-Fullback and linebacker on H.S. football team.
-Was pretty much a street thug: 'hired himself out as muscle to wiseguys'(p.92) and 'got shot while robbing a pharmacy for painkillers, armed not with a gun like a normal crook but with a bow and arrow'(92).
-Attended University of Richmond in Virginia but was expelled for being "insane". Returned home to start bodybuilding.
-Studied Eastern philosophies and Genghis Khan's philosohy on physical training.
"His warriors learned how to turn themelves inside out to project their inner power like lightning...
You know that feeling when you're blowing your load? Insted of letting that out, you reverse that whole thing. It feels like your body is on fucking FIRE! I lift weights with that [energy] coursing through my body and my fucking testosterone a thousand-times normal - 'cause I just fucked myself...See? That's why I can hang 220 pounds from my fuckin' nuts" says Podda.
-'Fueled by the visualization techniques of Eastern philosophies and herbal concoctions he made and drank from root-filled mayonnaise jars, Benny trained like a human wrecking ball.'(92)
- Won the National Physique Committe USA Bodybuilding in 1983. "I hated competition" he says, "I loved the dicipline of training for it, and I loved partying after it, but I never dug the sport or considered myself a bodybuilder."
-'Benny amazed audiences with the intensity and ferosity of his posing style...But his masterpie cecame at the end of a contest in Newark, NJ. He hung himself from the rafters and dangled motionless from the noose with his eyes closed. For five minuted people watched in silence, bewildered. Suddenly, he bugged out his eyes, gave everyone the finger, and walked out the back door.' (92)
-Went to the west coast and became a trainer.
-Met Chuck Norris in the gym one day. "I didn't know who the fuck he was and didn't give a fuck...They took me to his house and we hit it off because I pounded the guy.
I yelled at him 'Kick me in the fucking chest as hard as you can!' He's like, 'No, I shouldn't.' So, I berated the fucker until he did it - and didn't even budge when he did" says Podda.
-Quit his NFL training shop and headed to the mountains, only coming back to civilization for surival money.
-Now, lives in a cave (a "vaginal oriface"), has a rock pillow, drinks an herbal concoction every three hours, and eats buffalo meat, organic eggs, and homegrown veggies.
-'He flagellates his body with a large metal stick that has 180 spokes. He can spurt blood from his nose at will. He swings 220 pounds of weights from his testicles to see how much pain he can endure. And yet, unhinged though he may seem, Benny Podda is saner than you are.' (pg. 91)
-He stands at 5'6" 215 pounds.
