Meet homeless bodybuilder Sayagh Jacques

50-year-old Sayagh Jacques has lived on the streets of Paris for many years, scrounging for spare change and nuggets of food just to stay alive. He spends his nights sleeping on the street in a tent that he has patched and insulated with pieces of cardboard. His two dogs help keep him warm. However, his unfortunate circumstance doesn’t stop Jacques from working out, striving to reach his goal of becoming an American bodybuilder.

Jacques spends most of his time on a short stretch of street in Paris, France where he lives and sleeps with his two dogs. Jacques says that when people give him money, he doesn’t buy alcohol or smokes and instead, uses the money to buy healthy food, drink, and protein shakes to supplement his workout regime. He carries around various pieces of workout equipment (e.g., padded wraps, rope, cable, elastic bands) that he ties to street posts, signs, and any other edifice that will allow him to use that structure as a piece of workout equipment. This allows Jacques to do push-ups on the pavement, pull-ups with belts suspended from signs, and bicep curls using elastic bands tied to fencing.

Sayagh’s life captured in documentary

In 2014, French movie director Julien Goudichaud met Sayagh on the streets and with Sayagh’s agreement, filmed a short documentary about him titled Street Fight. Goudichad was astonished at Sayagh’s healthy lifestyle and intense workout routine, despite a damaged liver from many years of alcohol abuse. Thanks to the popularity of the documentary, Sayagh was unexpectedly reunited with his son Remi – they spent Christmas together last year in his son’s home where Sayagh met his grandchildren for the first time. Afterward, when Sayagh was asked about his family, he told reporters:

“I have grandchildren, I don’t want them to think their grandfather is an ass****, I want them to be proud of me.”

The popularity of the mini documentary prompted Goudichaud to put plans into place to film a longer piece about Sayagh’s unusual lifestyle on the streets of Paris. Snippets of the new documentary should begin to hit the video streams this year.