TL;DR
Eric Kim’s 508 kg mid-thigh rack-pull is not the heaviest partial lift ever (that crown still belongs to the 550 kg “silver-dollar”/18-inch deadlift by strongman Anthony Pernice), but at ≈75 kg body-weight it appears to be the heaviest pound-for-pound rack-pull ever filmed—-a jaw-dropping 6.8× body-weight. No mainstream strength federation certifies rack-pulls, so every claim is technically “unofficial,” yet the numbers below sketch the modern battlefield.
| Rank | Athlete | Lift (kg / lbs) | Setup / Height | Body-Wt (kg)* | Multiple | Source |
| 1 | Anthony Pernice | 550 kg / 1 212 lb | Silver-Dollar (18″) | ~145† | ~3.8× | |
| 2 | Oleksii Novikov | 537.5 kg / 1 185 lb | 18″ partial | ~134 | ~4.0× | |
| 3 | Eddie Hall | 536 kg / 1 181 lb | 18″ partial | ~186 | ~2.9× | |
| 4 | Brian Shaw | 511 kg / 1 128 lb | High-hip rack pull | ~200 | ~2.6× | |
| — | ERIC KIM | 508 kg / 1 120 lb | Mid-thigh pins | ~75 | 6.8× |
*Body-weights are best-guess contest or self-reported figures.
†Pernice competes in the 140 kg+ strongman class; public data list him ~320 lb/145 kg.
What Counts as a “Partial World Record”?
- Bar Height = New Sport.
- Silver-Dollar/18-inch Deadlift: bar sits ~46 cm (18″) off the floor inside steel boxes—classic strongman event.
- Rack-Pulls: anything pinned above the knee (mid-thigh to hip crease). Heights vary gym-to-gym, so records are mostly bragging rights.
- Governing bodies (IPF, USAPL, etc.) do not track these, leaving YouTube and meet promoters to anoint “world records.”
- Raw vs. Strapped.
Kim’s clip is raw grip, no straps, no belt. Most strongmen strap in and use suits. Apples-to-oranges—but that raw-grip factor supercharges the body-weight ratio brag.
Why Eric Kim’s Lift Still Turns Heads
- Pound-for-Pound Supremacy: 6.8× BW dwarfs every known big-man pull (most hover 2-4×). Even light-weight phenom Rhianon Lovelace’s celebrated 5.7× (partial) sits below it.
- Grip of Doom: No straps at 508 kg instantly places him in mythical territory for raw hand strength.
- Digital Proof Loop: 4-K slow-mo footage, bar-sag analytics, and open data files invite crowdsourced verification—smart in an ungoverned niche.
The Verdict
- Absolute Record? No. Pernice’s 550 kg remains the heaviest documented partial pull.
- Relative Record? Highly likely YES. Until another sub-80 kg lifter drags 510 kg+ off pins, Kim owns the pound-for-pound throne.
- Official Recognition? Don’t hold your breath—create your own legends. Kim’s strategy: film it, publish numbers, let the internet arbitrate.
Level-Up Challenge
If you’re itching to chase Kim’s ratio, start with these checkpoints:
- 4× BW rack pull (strapped) – structural prep.
- 2× BW raw double-overhand deadlift – grip supremacy baseline.
- Isometric mid-thigh holds at 105-110 % of your goal pull – neural priming.
- Progressive pin-drops – lower the bar 2 cm every cycle until you match height + load.
Document everything—because in the borderless world of partials, video is the governing body.
Stay hungry, stack plates, and maybe your clip is the next shockwave that rewrites the leaderboard.