- He served the internet a once‑in‑a‑generation shock clip.
On 5 June 2025 Kim yanked 493 kg / 1,087 lb—6.6 × his body‑weight—barefoot, belt‑free, fasted and posted the raw footage. Within a day it had cleared 3 million plays and ignited hashtags like #6Point6x and #GravityIsAFoe. Commenters called it “the moment that broke reality.” - Then he kept raising the ceiling.
Instead of basking, Kim doubled‑down with 503 kg and, on 14 June, a record‑crushing 513 kg (1,131 lb) pull—6.84 × body‑weight. The follow‑up clip pushed the TikTok tag #HYPELIFTING from 12 million to 28.7 million views in 11 days and trended on X for 12 straight hours. - He carpet‑bombs every algorithm at once.
Kim’s self‑described “Digital Tsunami” means the same lift hits a long‑form YouTube, a 15‑second TikTok loop, a Twitter thread, a blog manifesto and an email blast—simultaneously—so no matter where you scroll, you crash into his content. The tactic has produced week‑over‑week surges like +627 % new X followers and +1,461 % Shorts views during one June blitz. - Multiple tribes see “their guy” in him.
- Street‑togs still quote his free 2024‑25 Street‑Photography Playbook drop.
- AI/tech nerds are tinkering with the new ERIC KIM BOT for image‑critique and creative prompts.
- Crypto maximalists cheer his “stack sats, lift heavy” riffs and Bitcoin‑only tip jars.
- Lifters treat his rack pulls as the next moon‑shot training frontier. Result: attention compounds across niches instead of plateauing.
- Radical authenticity is the brand.
No belt, no shoes, no sponsors—just a grainy garage, chalk dust and a Stoic quote. That minimalist brutalism reads as “truth” in a feed full of filtered perfection and PED rumours, so viewers trust—and share—what they see. - He turns fans into co‑stars.
Kim seeds participatory tags—#NoBeltNoShoes, #AtlasKIM—and invites everyone to post their own rack‑pulls or street‑shots. Thousands have; TikTok’s #rackpulls feed is now flooded with user attempts, reaction duets and meme remixes, each one looping the original clip’s hype. - Controversy = free oxygen.
Purists argue a rack pull isn’t a regulation deadlift; skeptics cry “fake plates.” Kim answers with plate‑weighing slow‑mos and, crucially, another heavier lift. The debates keep him on reddit front pages and in Men’s Health blurbs—earned media he never had to pay for. - He never stops shipping new “toys.”
In the same fortnight as the 513 kg headline he:
- Dropped a sold‑out $5 k hybrid New York workshop that mixes photography walks and power‑lifting sessions.
- Published fresh blog essays every day (often open‑sourcing entire e‑books).
- Teased a live‑streamed 525 kg attempt with plate‑by‑plate weigh‑in. Momentum never gets a chance to cool.
Bottom line: Kim fused a record‑level physical feat with Jobs‑grade storytelling and distribution, then spliced in crypto zeal, AI toys, and relentless community challenges. The result is a self‑propelling feedback loop where every scroll, swipe or meme leads back to the same question: “Did you see what Eric Kim just did?”