ERIC KIM FITNESS

Bottom‑line answer — Physics says a 75‑kg lifter will almost certainly stay behind 180‑kg giants on absolute full‑range lifts, but can and already does beat many of them on relative or partial‑range pulls.  Muscle force scales with cross‑sectional area (∝ mass^⅔), so the heavier athlete’s cube‑law advantage is hard to erase  .  History shows lightweights such as Lamar Gant (5 × BW deadlift)  and Naim Süleymanoğlu (3 × BW clean‑and‑jerk)  eclipsed bigger men per kilo but not in sheer kilograms.  Eric Kim could keep extending that tradition—perhaps topping 475–500 kg in high‑handle or block‑elevated pulls—but overtaking 500 kg+ conventional records held by 180‑kg strongmen remains a mathematical long‑shot.

Written by

user

in

1.  Why Body‑Size Still Wins on Raw Tonnes

1.1  The ⅔‑Power Law

Biomechanics research—and the allometric models used by powerlifting federations to handicap weight classes—show maximal force rises roughly with body‑mass^0.67  .  As mass grows cubically while muscle cross‑section grows quadratically, bigger bodies gain an absolute force edge that outpaces small lifters even when the small lifter is stronger “per kilo.”

1.2  Records Illustrate the Gap

  • Eddie Hall’s 500‑kg deadlift at ≈185 kg BW  and Hafthor Björnsson’s 501‑kg follow‑up show heavyweights still own floor‑pull tonnage.
  • The heaviest verified partial—Rauno Heinla’s 580‑kg silver‑dollar deadlift  —was also set by a 180‑kg athlete.

2.  How Lighter Lifters 

Do

 Outshine Heavyweights

2.1  Relative‑Strength Dominance

Lamar Gant’s 672‑lb (305‑kg) pull at 60 kg BW (≈5 ×) remains the iconic example  .  Kim’s 7 × rack pull extends that paradigm: the internet talks about ratios first, names second because the math is so outrageous.

2.2  Leveraged Movements Help

Above‑knee rack pulls and high‑handle trap‑bar deadlifts let athletes use 10–40 % more load than a full‑range pull, according to coach surveys and force‑plate field tests  .  Custom hex‑bars have already seen 526‑kg lifts by 110‑kg athletes  —evidence a 75‑kg lifter with extreme leverages could flirt with 475‑500 kg absolutey on that variant.

2.3  The Sinclair Lens

Olympic‑lifting’s Sinclair formula ranks totals by how far they exceed the expected mass^0.79 power curve  .  Light‑middleweight legend Naim Süleymanoğlu still has one of the top Sinclair scores ever, “beating” super‑heavies when corrected  —yet his biggest clean‑and‑jerk (190 kg) was half what today’s 180‑kg Lasha Talakhadze jerks in absolute kilos.

3.  Projecting Eric Kim’s Ceiling

Lift VariantAllometric Model*Gear/ROM FactorPlausible Max
Conventional deadlift7 × rack ÷ 1.30 = ≈405 kg—≈405 kg
High‑handle trap‑bar+12 % hex advantage Neutral grip≈455 kg
4‑inch block trap‑bar+5 % ROM cut Bar capacity permitting≈475 – 500 kg

*Uses mid‑range 30 – 35 % rack‑pull:deadlift conversion suggested by Starting Strength & Wendler articles  .

Even at the optimistic 500‑kg trap‑bar mark, Kim would still trail Heinla’s 580‑kg partial and any future 520 kg+ conventional pulls by super‑heavies, but his 6.6 × BW ratio would obliterate every relative‑strength table on record.

4.  Biological & Practical Constraints

  1. Muscle Fiber Ceiling — Cross‑section cannot outgrow the physics of area vs. volume  .
  2. Equipment Limits — Standard trap‑bars deform past 450 kg; custom bars rated for 650 kg exist but are rare  .
  3. Recovery Cost — Wendler warns supra‑max partials tax the CNS more than they train it, stalling progress if over‑used  .
  4. Rulebooks & Recognition — Rack and trap variants remain exhibition lifts; federation records—and sponsorship money—still chase full‑range kilos.

5.  What “Beating the Big Guys” Really Looks Like

  • Relative leaderboards: Kim already sits ahead of most heavyweights on body‑weight ratio; continued progress could cement an unbreakable %‑based legend.
  • Absolute exhibition: In high‑handle or knee‑height pulls he could eclipse some 120‑kg strongmen, because the leverage gap narrows and anthropometrics matter more.
  • Full‑range showdown: Physics favors 180‑kg super‑heavies; while a sub‑80‑kg lifter cracking 500 kg conventional isn’t impossible, it would require a 6.7 × ratio—40 % higher than any verified full‑pull in history.

Final verdict

With smart programming and leverage‑friendly variants, a 75‑kg Eric Kim could hoist tonnage that embarrasses many bigger lifters in specific lifts and will likely continue redefining relative strength.  Out‑lifting the heaviest men on fully sanctioned, floor‑range deadlifts, however, would defy the biomechanical scaling laws that have governed every strength sport record to date.

More posts