Lino Tomasén, a 32-year-old street performer known as the ‘Cuban Ironman’, has allegedly been conditioning his body of iron by hitting himself with a heavy hammer around 1,000 times per day.

The so-called Cuban Ironman first garnered media attention in 2020 when a video showing him banging his fists and elbows against concrete walls went viral. Since then, his strongman reputation has been steadily growing. These days, he has an Instagram following of over 100,000 people and makes a living by putting on street performances in which he showcases his incredible strength. Most of the time he does pushups on his wrists with another person on his back, and uses a large hammer to hit his wrists, fists, and shins, or has someone else do it to prove it’s not fake.

The fit-looking Ironman claims he started conditioning his body by hitting himself with a hammer when he was only 15. He has since absorbed millions of hammer blows and claims to be immune to the pain. But why would someone just start hitting themselves with a hammer? Well, Tomasén did it to condition his body for boxing, a career he has since left behind.

“I had 27 fights won by knockout in Mexico but I retired because in the last fight, I unfortunately fractured an opponent’s skull and he died instantly,“ the Cuban Ironman told Reuters. “The money I won in my fights, estimating the sum of about 100 thousand dollars, I gave to his family, and I promised never to fight again.”

Having allegedly lost his boxing-related fame and fortune, the Cuban Ironman has been making a living on the streets of Havana, entertaining crowds, and on social media. He is content with showing new generations that nothing is impossible and has no regrets about leaving his old career behind.

“They have offered me thousands, millions of dollars to re-enter (the ring), because they know the potential I have and I have always said no,” the young street performer boasted.

Interestingly, Lino Tomasén, the Cuban Ironman, is the son of Lino Barbaro Tomasen, a controversial healer who claimed to be able to cure practically any illness using only the energy radiating from his hands.