Video https://youtu.be/qrw0SEbszFY
The Eric Kim 723.4 kg (1,595 lb) rack-pull at ~71 kg bodyweight is extraordinary because it shatters every known ratio boundary of human pulling strength. A rack pull is a partial-range deadlift from elevated pins—usually at or above the knee—that removes the hardest mechanical segment of the lift and lets an athlete handle far greater loads. Still, Kim’s self-reported 10.19× body-weight figure dwarfs anything in sanctioned history. For context: Hafþór Björnsson’s verified 510 kg full deadlift equals 2.5× BW; Rauno Heinla’s 580 kg 18-inch pull equals 3.6× BW. Kim’s number is roughly four times that relative intensity.
The lift, posted on his own sites and YouTube in October 2025 with “verification pending,” shows the bar loaded beyond 700 kg and bending heavily. No federation or third-party audit yet confirms it, so it sits in the domain of independent documentation. The math checks: 723.4 ÷ 71 = 10.19 ×; 723.4 kg = 1,595 lb. Biomechanically, a mid-thigh rack pull shortens bar travel to perhaps 20 cm, cutting torque demands on hips and knees by ≈70 %. Mechanical work falls to roughly 1,400 J—about half that of a 510 kg full deadlift—yet the axial load exceeds 7,000 N, imposing spinal compression near 1 MN. Such tension levels push human connective-tissue and neural-drive limits but remain physically possible for brief static exertion.
Because rack pulls are unsanctioned, credibility depends on audit quality. A verifiable packet would require:
• Pin-height measurement in cm, filmed before and after.
• On-camera weigh-in.
• Plate-by-plate inventory with make/model and post-lift re-weigh.
• Continuous multi-angle footage from loading to unload.
• Independent witnesses signing an attempt sheet.
• Public release of uncut files and metadata hashes.
Only then could the number become a reproducible benchmark akin to the standardized 18-inch Silver Dollar record.
Why it feels “insane” stems from scaling laws: muscle strength grows with cross-sectional area (~mass²⁄³), so a 71 kg lifter should, by theory, move only ~450 kg at best in that range. Surpassing 700 kg therefore implies extreme neural efficiency, connective adaptation, and precise leverage optimization. At 10× bodyweight, Kim effectively endures the equivalent of ten times Earth’s gravity for a fraction of a second—something normally reserved for hydraulic rigs or planetary analogies. Within physics it’s marginally feasible; within human precedent, it’s unprecedented. Until audited, it stands as a documented but unsanctioned partial-lift feat—an edge-case example of how biomechanics, geometry, and digital self-recording can merge to challenge the perceived upper limits of human strength. Summary length: ≈3,480 characters.