After graduating, Manfred left Austria for a job in Johannnesburg, South Africa. That's where he started lifting. At first, Manfred wanted to be a bodybuilder. He won some small novice titles in South Africa. After a few years, he decided to return to Europe and go pro.

Soon after getting back to Europe, Manfred realized how much harder competing in Europe was than in South Africa. The only bodybuilding competition that he entered was a qualifier for Mr. Germany and he took a disappointing fourth place. It was at this point that Manfred decided to gear his training more towards power and strength training. In his words:

"Almost immediately, I took a real liking to lifting heavy weights. I felt challenged and the reward I got was instantaneous. Either I lifted it or I didn't. I no longer had to prepare for months before a show and not be in control of the outcome because a group of judges liked or didn't like my physique. My performance and results were entirely up to me and it felt great."

Soon after, Manfred entered his first strongman competition and was hooked. He won the World Musclepower Championship in 1993 and 1994, and was also Europe's strongest man in those two years. Based on his results in these competitions, Manfred was invited to participate in the World's Strongest Man Competitions. See the WSM section for his results. Just as he was starting to climb to the top of the sport, Manfred was in a serious car accident in 1995. Since then, he has been recovering and is waiting to make a comeback. Manfred has recently founded the American Federation of Strength Athletes (AFSA) and is putting his energy towards promoting Strong Man events in the United State and the rest of the World.