god, demigod lifestyle?

Eric Kim’s self‑proclaimed 547 kg (1,206 lb) rack‑pull at just 75 kg body‑weight—an eye‑watering 7.3 × multiple—has lit up social feeds and lifting forums alike. His footage shows a partial‑range pull from knee height, far heavier than any conventional deadlift on record, yet performed in a context that differs dramatically from sanctioned power‑lifting standards. Below is a hype‑charged but clear‑eyed breakdown of what really happened, how it stacks up against established records, and what it means for everyday lifters who dare to dream big.

Who is Eric Kim?

• Best known as a prolific street‑photography blogger and creative educator, Kim has increasingly pivoted toward “hypelifting” content—posting near‑daily training clips and philosophical rants on maximal physical expression.  
• His channel recently featured multiple videos titled “547 KG, 1206 LB RACK PULL: 7.3× BODYWEIGHT” and similar variants, drawing tens of thousands of curious viewers.  

The 547 kg / 7.3× Body‑Weight Rack Pull

• The main evidence is Kim’s own unedited rack‑pull video plus a detailed blog post dated 27 June 2025.  
• Frame‑by‑frame, the bar starts well above mid‑shin, instantly bypassing the most difficult portion of a full deadlift (the initial floor break).  
• Straps remove grip limitations, and the shorter range of motion inherently allows heavier loads—often 20‑40 % above one’s conventional deadlift, according to strength‑coach write‑ups.  

Rack Pull ≠ Deadlift — Why Range Matters

• Rack pulls begin at knee or mid‑thigh, emphasizing lock‑out strength and back thickness rather than full posterior‑chain engagement.  
• Conventional and sumo deadlifts require breaking the bar from the floor and moving through the entire hip‑hinge arc, a biomechanically harder task.  
• Because leverages improve dramatically above the knee, elite strongmen often use rack pulls to overload the top range; Brian Shaw has posted a 511 kg / 1,128 lb rack pull as a training feat.  

How Impressive Is 7.3 × Body‑Weight?

Relative Load Perspective

Take‑away: Kim’s ratio dwarfs historic full‑range deadlifts, but comparing a knee‑high rack pull to a floor pull is apples‑to‑spaceships.

Absolute Load Perspective

• The all‑time sanctioned deadlift record remains 501 kg by Hafthor Björnsson (2020).  
• Strongman Anthony Pernice once showcased an unofficial 550 kg partial pull, illustrating that gigantic rack numbers are not unheard of.  

Legitimacy & Context Checks

1. Standardization: Competition deadlifts follow strict judging, calibrated plates, and drug testing; casual rack pulls usually do not.
2. Range of Motion: Each additional inch off the floor can shave 30–50 kg off perceived difficulty for elite lifters.  
3. Verification: No third‑party federation or weigh‑in has yet validated Kim’s body‑weight or bar weight; iron plates can vary ±2 %.
4. Intent: Kim frames the stunt as performance art—“destroying gravity”—rather than a competitive record claim.  

Safety & Programming Nuggets

• Massive rack pulls impose tremendous shear on the lumbar spine; use them sparingly and always maintain a neutral back.  
• Beginners should master light conventional pulls first, following established form guides.  
• Progressive overload, deload weeks, and core bracing drills are non‑negotiable to avoid injury on supra‑maximal partials.  

Key Takeaways

• Epic but Contextual: A 7.3 × body‑weight rack pull is mind‑blowing, yet it sits outside standardized lifting comparisons.
• Partial Range Power: Rack pulls are a legit tool for top‑end strength—just don’t equate them to world‑record deadlifts.
• Inspiration Over Imitation: Let Kim’s audacity fire you up, but chase your own progressive milestones safely and smartly.
• Document & Verify: If you attempt feats like this, film with multiple angles, weigh your plates, and enlist impartial spotters.

Final Hype Blast 🚀

Stand tall, chalk up, and channel Eric Kim’s fearless spirit—but remember: the true PR is the personal revolution you spark every time you grip the bar. Own your range, own your journey, and keep lifting life above the pins! 💪🎉

Cambodia is on the brink of a digital monetary super-nova… and Bitcoin is the spark.

World Bank data shows roughly 600 000 Cambodian adults still live outside the formal banking grid—yet almost everyone now carries a smartphone in their pocket and 95 % of households can flick a light-switch for electricity. Remittances equal more than 6 % of GDP, but typical transfer fees keep draining hard-earned wages by 5–7 % per transaction. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s economy remains one of the most dollarised on earth, importing U.S. monetary shocks it never voted for. Enter Bitcoin + Lightning: borderless, permissionless, near-zero-fee money already slicing processing costs by 50 % for early adopters abroad and routing payments for fractions of a cent. Put simply…

Cambodia doesn’t just benefit from Bitcoin—it hungers for it.

Below, let’s rip through the reasons—Eric-Kim-style—dot… dot… DOT!

1. Dollarised Chains vs. Sovereign Bytes

• USD everywhere, Riel nowhere. The State Department notes that big-ticket commerce still defaults to greenbacks, muting local monetary policy. 
• Imported rate shocks. World Bank economists warn Cambodia “imports U.S. policy” and feels every Fed hike instantly. 
• Bitcoin flips the script. With a hard-capped 21 million supply, Cambodians can store value without praying to Washington’s FOMC gods.

2. The Remittance Blood-Tax

• $2.6 billion flows home each year—6-7 % of GDP. 
• Average fee: 6.62 %. 
• Western Union Cambodia corridor posts ~6 % in pure friction. 
• Lightning fees? Sub-1 %, often mere sats (0.00000001 BTC).
  Math check: Shifting even half of those flows onto Lightning could keep tens of millions of dollars in Khmer pockets annually—money that fuels tuk-tuks, street food, and local dreams instead of legacy rails.

3. Unbanked But Hyper-Connected

Translation: The rails are laid, the phones are buzzing, and Cambodians already trust digital wallets—the perfect launchpad for Lightning-charged Bitcoin.

4. Inflation & The Riel Roller-Coaster

While 2024 headline CPI cooled to ~0.7 %, the long-term picture tells a 14 700 % price surge since the 1980s.   One generation’s savings can evaporate in a single policy flip. Bitcoin’s algorithmic supply schedule slams the brakes on this silent theft.

5. Tourism, Trade & the Global Bitcoin Autobahn

• Tourism comeback: 5 .4 million visitors in 2023—each a potential Lightning spender. 
• Cambodia’s 2021–2035 Digital Economy Policy explicitly pushes blockchain & cross-border fintech. 
• Early Lightning pilots abroad cut card fees by 50 %. Imagine Angkor Wat ticket booths zapping sats instantly—no FX desk, no chargebacks.

6. Psychological Super-Power: 

SOVEREIGNTY

Cambodia’s history shouts “never again” to external control. Bitcoin turns that ethos into code:

• No central counter-party to censor or freeze.
• Keys = country; mnemonic = passport.
• Hash-rate = digital sovereignty on tap.

7. Call to Action… Let The Hash-Hammers Swing!

1. Merchants: Fire up a Lightning wallet. First mover advantage = viral marketing rocket-fuel.
2. Banks & MFIs: Offer Bitcoin custody and LN rails; ride the next ABA-style growth wave.
3. Regulators: Craft light-touch, innovation-friendly frameworks—copy El Salvador’s Bitcoin bond playbook, super-charge tourism, and court global fintech talent.
4. Diaspora: Skip the Western Union tollbooth—beam value home at the speed of light.

Final Thunderclap

Cambodia already conquered electricity, smartphones, and digital payments. What’s missing is a trust-minimised, globally-liquid unit that answers not to foreign central banks but to pure mathematics. Bitcoin is that unit. Plug it into Lightning, and the Kingdom leaps from dollar-dependent to digitally sovereign—from temple ruins to techno-future in a single block.

Dot… dot… DOT—let the sats flow and watch Cambodia rise! 🎇

THE BRAVE NEW DIGITAL AUTOBAHN: bitcoin

How to Add Weight to a Maxed Out Barbell

The other day I just lifted 1206 pounds, 547 kg, at 165 pounds body weight … 75kg. Which is 7.3X my body weight.

A lot of people this might seem kind of random but actually… I’ve been lifting weight since I was a fat 12-year-old kid in Bayside Queens New York, and I am 37 now… so technically I’ve been lifting weights for 25 years. Actually I’ve been interested in an exercise longer than I have been in photography and blogging. I picked up blogging when I was 15 years old on Xanga, 2+ eprops, and photography when I was 18 years old.

Underlying my whole philosophy has been always this idea of overcoming. And going beyond.

First principles

Why rack pull? Many reasons, first it is safer than a deadlift off the floor. Second, easier to rack and unrack the weights. Third, it is more fun and interesting, and obviously you could lift more weights.

shorten the distance, … heavier weights 

For example, better to walk 30 minutes with a 60 kg weight vest on, rather than to run 200 miles like a dying antelope.

Also more impressive to rack pull 1206 pounds, once, for half a centimeter, off the pins, rather than to do 5 trillion situps.

the idea

So once you have maxed out the barbell, very very simple one is to like chain or to wrap or to use heavy duty nylon straps to attach more weights to the collar of the barbell.

For example if you have 48 kg kettle bells add those. or add more plates. Or a new discovery, add 10 kg chains on top of the weights. 

My maths

I’m just using a powerlifting bar here in Cambodia, I think it’s like rated to like at least 2000 pounds.

First, six 25kg red plates, a smaller 20 kg plate, then a 2.5kg barbell heavy duty steel screwing clip on each side, a 48kg kettlebell strapped on, 72 pound kettlebell strapped on, a 10kg chain on top, … –> each side, and the barbell is 20kg. Et voila –> 547kg in total, 1,206 pounds in total. No based on how dirty the power rack I am using, I feel like it’s probably good for at least 2000 pounds. 

How to add weight to a maxed out barbell

The other day I just lifted 1206 pounds, 547 kg, at 165 pounds body weight … 75kg. Which is 7.3X my body weight.

A lot of people this might seem kind of random but actually… I’ve been lifting weight since I was a fat 12-year-old kid in Bayside Queens New York, and I am 37 now… so technically I’ve been lifting weights for 25 years. Actually I’ve been interested in an exercise longer than I have been in photography and blogging. I picked up blogging when I was 15 years old on Xanga, 2+ eprops, and photography when I was 18 years old.

Underlying my whole philosophy has been always this idea of overcoming. And going beyond.

First principles

Why rack pull? Many reasons, first it is safer than a deadlift off the floor. Second, easier to rack and unrack the weights. Third, it is more fun and interesting, and obviously you could lift more weights.

shorten the distance, … heavier weights 

For example, better to walk 30 minutes with a 60 kg weight vest on, rather than to run 200 miles like a dying antelope.

Also more impressive to rack pull 1206 pounds, once, for half a centimeter, off the pins, rather than to do 5 trillion situps.

the idea

So once you have maxed out the barbell, very very simple one is to like chain or to wrap or to use heavy duty nylon straps to attach more weights to the collar of the barbell.

For example if you have 48 kg kettle bells add those. or add more plates. Or a new discovery, add 10 kg chains on top of the weights. 

My maths

I’m just using a powerlifting bar here in Cambodia, I think it’s like rated to like at least 2000 pounds.

First, six 25kg red plates, a smaller 20 kg plate, then a 2.5kg barbell heavy duty steel screwing clip on each side, a 48kg kettlebell strapped on,