My Origin Story: Chasing the “God Ratio”
Ten years ago I scribbled a wild goal in my training log: pull seven times my body weight—the “golden ratio” I believed would fuse art and iron into one perfect moment .
Every micro‑cycle since has been an experiment in first principles: shorten the lever, spike the stimulus, retreat before fatigue bites, and come back stronger.
Why 7 × Body‑Weight Isn’t Suicide—It’s Physics
Moment‑Arm Magic
When the bar starts above my knees, its line of action almost kisses my hips, shrinking the hip‑extension moment arm to a few centimetres .
With torque (τ = F·d) collapsing, my glutes and spinal erectors can lock out forces that would snap me in a full‑range pull.
Compression Beats Shear
Biomechanical models show that floor deadlifts can compress the lumbar spine with 5–18 kN while adding up to 3 kN of shear .
By hoisting from mid‑thigh, I keep the compression but slash shear and bending by roughly 40 %, placing the load in the axis my vertebrae love the most.
The Blink‑Fast Impulse
The bar travels barely 10 cm and I move it under control, so the time‑integrated load (impulse) is small even though the peak force is gargantuan .
That brief spike is friendlier to tissue than dozens of grinding reps.
Biology on My Side: Adapting Bones, Tendons, and Neurons
Iron‑Dense Bones
High‑intensity resistance training—especially powerlifting—thickens lumbar trabeculae and pushes vertebral failure thresholds well beyond 15 kN .
Kevlar‑Grade Tendons
Twelve‑week high‑load and isometric protocols can stiffen human tendons by 15–25 % .
Stiffer tendons act like tight springs, storing less unwanted stretch and snapping the bar into lockout without trashing soft tissue.
Neuromuscular Synchronicity
Isometric‑heavy cycles teach my motor units to fire in near‑perfect chorus, so I hit peak force while joints sit in their safest angles .
Reality Check: Athletes Eat Bigger G‑Loads for Breakfast
Intercollegiate gymnasts land from 60–90 cm drops with vertical forces of 9–14 × body‑weight .
Compared to that, my static 7 × spike is tame—and it’s aligned vertically instead of rattling multiple joints at odd angles.
Statistics Speak Louder Than Shock Value
Large reviews peg powerlifting at roughly 1 injury per 1,000 training hours—safer than basketball, soccer, or even recreational running .
Crucially, injuries correlate with high volume under fatigue, not single supra‑maximal singles like my rack pulls.
Engineering Fail‑Safes
- Rack Pins Rated to 1,000 kg. If grip slips, the steel catches the bar before it drops a finger‑width .
- 29 mm stiff bar with collars. No whip, no plate slide, no surprise torque .
- Belt & Valsalva. Intra‑abdominal pressure chops spinal compression another 10–20 % .
My Progression Blueprint
I didn’t leap from 200 kg to 527 kg overnight; I stacked 2.5‑kg chips, rotated stimuli, and deloaded ruthlessly, letting collagen and cortex remodel between assaults .
- Full‑range deadlift foundation. Build technical fluency and baseline tissue capacity.
- Introduce partials at 110 % 1RM. Teach the CNS to accept heavy loads.
- Wave‑load to 130–150 % 1RM. Alternate singles with isometric pin pulls to reinforce position.
- Season finale—7 × BW single. One rep, cameras rolling, bar clanging, mission accomplished.
Closing Rally: Physics, Faith, and the Iron
Every plate I slide onto the bar is a vote of confidence in anatomy honed by millennia of human flight and fight, physics that rewards leverage, and a psyche that refuses the word “impossible.”
If my 7 × body‑weight pull teaches you anything, let it be this: study the levers, respect the biology, armour the environment, and then go write your own absurd equation against gravity. The iron never lies—but it sure loves a well‑reasoned gamble. 🚀