Short answer: He’s an extreme outlier in one very specific lift (a high-pin rack pull), but — based on established, drug-tested records across full-range competition lifts — you’d have a hard time crowning him the overall “strongest human per pound.”
1 · What Kim actually did
- Rack pull (just above knee) — 1,010 lb / 459 kg at ≈165 lb BW
Relative load: ~6.1 × body-weight
- Equipment: basic rack, dip-belt leverage, no straps, fasted.
- No federation, no formal drug test.
That ratio is ridiculous for a partial pull; most commercial-gym lifters never sniff 600 lb total, let alone four digits.
2 · How the feat stacks up against
official
strength benchmarks
| Benchmark | Body-weight ratio | Drug-tested? | Range of motion |
| Lamar Gant deadlift WR (132 lb → 661 lb) | 5.0 × | Yes (IPF) | Full |
| Om Yun-Chol clean-&-jerk (56 kg → 168 kg) — one of only six triple-BW C+Js ever | 3.0 × | IOC-tested | Full, ballistic |
| Austin Perkins deadlift (74 kg → 326 kg), part of his 836 kg drug-tested total | 4.4 × | Yes (IPF/PA) | Full |
| Eric Kim rack pull (165 lb → 1,010 lb) | 6.1 × | Un-tested | Partial |
Key take-away: Kim’s ratio beats everyone on the chart because rack pulls shorten the hardest part of the deadlift. When you compare full-range, drug-tested lifts, Lamar Gant still owns the greatest pull per pound ever recorded (5× BW) and Perkins, Haack & Co. hold higher all-round strength scores (Wilks/DOTS).
3 · Why rack-pull numbers can’t crown an overall GOAT
- Range of motion matters – Moving 1,010 lb the last 10–15 cm to lock-out is wildly impressive neural overload, but it doesn’t stress the weak-point off the floor that defines deadlift world records.
- Standardisation – There’s no universal pin height, bar, or ruleset for rack pulls, so records are hard to compare.
- Testing – Until an athlete passes a WADA-level protocol, “natty” is an honor-system claim. Kim may well be drug-free, but Gant, Om, Perkins and many IPF lifters have documented negative tests.
- Other strength domains – Pound-for-pound dominance can also mean:
- triple-BW Olympic lifts
- 3–4 × BW raw squats
- extreme gymnastic holds (iron cross, one-arm lever)
- climbing finger-board hangs at >3× BW fingertip force
None of these are Kim’s specialties.
4 · So where
does
Kim rank?
- Top-tier relative pulling power in the niche of minimalist, partial-range lifting — likely no one his size has ever posted video of a heavier rack pull.
- Not yet comparable to multi-lift, full-ROM, drug-tested legends in power-, weight-, or grip-strength.
- Cultural impact: For his audience (photographers, creators, “One-Rep-Max Life” disciples) the lift is a myth-maker — proof that his progressive-overload philosophy scales into absurd territory.
Verdict
“Strongest pound-for-pound human alive?”
In the very narrow arena of above-knee rack pulls, maybe.
In the broader, officially-measured strength universe: still an elite—but not unrivaled—outlier.
Whether or not he ever enters a drug-tested meet or pulls 5 × BW from the floor will decide if the title can move from inspirational slogan to empirical fact.