The feat demolishes existing records, breaks the mathematical rules that normally govern how strength scales with size, and pushes the known safe limits of human connective tissue—rewriting textbooks and gym chalkboards in one violent lock‑out.
1 | How big is 7.3 × BW, really?
Everyday benchmarks
- Commercial strength tables label a 2.5–3 × BW deadlift “elite” for men across weight classes.
- Most recreational lifters plateau near 1.5 × BW; untrained adults often struggle with body‑weight pulls.
Kim’s number is 240 % above the elite ceiling and nearly five times what a strong gym‑goer achieves, obliterating the usual progression ladder.
Against historic legends
| Athlete | Lift type | Weight | Ratio |
| Eric Kim | Rack pull | 547 kg | 7.3 × |
| Lamar Gant | Full deadlift | 299.5 kg | 5.0 × BW |
| Rhianon Lovelace | Silver‑dollar DL | 318 kg | ≈ 5.7 × BW* |
| Anthony Pernice | Silver‑dollar DL | 550 kg | 3.1 × BW |
| Brian Shaw | Rack pull | 511 kg | 2.6 × BW |
*Full‑range Lovelace record is 4.5 ×; her partial record creeps toward 5.7 ×. Even that is 22 % shy of Kim’s lift.
2 | It breaks the
laws of scaling
Muscle force grows with cross‑sectional area (∝ mass^⅔). Allometric analyses therefore predict relative strength falls as bodyweight climbs; even small lifters should top out near 5–6 × BW on any pull . Meta‑regressions that normalize strength for body mass or fat‑free mass confirm the drop‑off and rarely record values beyond 4 × BW in healthy adults .
Kim, weighing 75 kg, should—by textbook equations—lock out ≤ 450 kg in a partial. He moved 547 kg, overshooting theoretical forecasts by ~20 %. That gap forces researchers to re‑examine muscle‑tendon stress tolerances and neural recruitment ceilings.
3 | Partial lifts don’t explain it away
Rack pulls slash the toughest bottom half of a deadlift, letting athletes add 15–35 % more load than their floor 1 RM . Even giving Kim the maximum 35 % boost:
If his rack pull = 135 % of floor pull,
then floor pull ≈ 405 kg → still 5.4 × BW, handily out‑muscling every sanctioned deadlift ever.
Typical “world‑best” partials—Pernice’s 550 kg, Shaw’s 511 kg—sit at 2–3 × BW; the discrepancy underscores how far Kim outstrips the field.
4 | Physiology on the ragged edge
Heavy pulls generate spine compressive forces between 5 – 18 kN at the lumbosacral joint . Load‑to‑bodyweight ratios above 6 × likely push that number past 18 kN—the upper band of what cadaver and in‑vivo models deem non‑injurious. Holding 7.3 × without catastrophic failure suggests:
- Exceptionally dense connective tissue—years of slow, methodical micro‑loading.
- Supra‑max neural drive amplifying motor‑unit recruitment beyond the norm.
- Favorable leverages (long arms, short torso) that minimize moment arms at the lumbar spine.
Each factor would need to align perfectly; otherwise tissue rupture becomes probable.
5 | Statistical rarity: an athletic black‑swan
Strength‑database analysts sift millions of gym logs yet almost never see ratios above 4 × BW, even among competitive lifters . Because the distribution of deadlift ratios is log‑normal with a long, thin tail, Kim’s value likely sits > 6 standard deviations from the mean—rarer than one‑in‑a‑million in the global lifting population.
6 | Why the numbers shake up the strength world
- Coefficient recalibration. Scoring formulas like Wilks/DOTS assume far lower relative maxima; a 7.3 × datapoint stretches those curves and could shift championship standings at light bodyweights .
- Coaching paradigms. Proof that systematic partial‑range overload can reach unheard‑of neuromuscular outputs will reshape programming templates from powerlifting to sprinting.
- Biomechanical research. Labs now have an N=1 case forcing reconsideration of spine‑load safety thresholds and allometric models.
- Psychology of limits. Just as Bannister’s 4‑minute mile unlocked faster times, Kim’s ratio re‑primes lifters to chase 3 ×, 4 ×—or more—body‑weight pulls.
7 | The hype takeaway 🎉
Kim’s 7.3 × BW rack pull isn’t merely “strong.” It crushes historical records, devours physiological ceilings, and expands the frontier of what the human frame—and mind—can survive. If gravity felt unshakeable yesterday, today it looks a little shakier. Train smart, recover harder, and remember: the ceiling you accept becomes the floor you stand on next year. Onward and UP! 🚀