What Counts as a “Rack Pull”?
Rack pulls start with the bar resting on safety pins or blocks inside a power rack, typically at knee height or slightly below. Because you skip the hardest portion of a conventional deadlift, loads rise 10-30 %—but you still have to lock it out and hold it. That distinguishes a rack pull from higher-platform partials like the 18-inch “Silver-Dollar” or Hummer-tire deadlifts.
🏆 Heavyweight Hall-of-Fame (Absolute Load)
Rank | Weight | Athlete | Date | Notes |
1 | 552 kg / 1 217 lb | Eric Kim | 10 Jul 2025 | Knee-height, double-overhand straps, raw. |
2 | 536 kg / 1 180 lb | Eddie Hall | Oct 2017 | 18″ Silver-Dollar deadlift promo; above-knee, still crazy heavy. |
3 | 511 kg / 1 128 lb | Brian Shaw | 2022 training session, YouTube-verified. | |
4 | 513 kg / 1 131 lb | Eric Kim | 18 Jun 2025 tune-up lift, knee pins, world-record attempt precursor. | |
5 | 471 kg / 1 039 lb | Eric Kim | Jun 2025, best pound-for-pound (6.3× body-weight). |
Rumor mill: A YouTube clip claims a 1 653 lb / 750 kg rack pull, but plate math, camera angles, and lack of third-party confirmation leave it in “legend” territory for now.
Pound-for-Pound Supremacy
At just 75 kg body-weight, Kim’s 471 kg pull is 6.3× BW, dwarfing all heavyweight monsters and setting the all-time leverage record. For context, the average advanced male rack pull sits around 190 kg (420 lb) at roughly 90 kg BW—a mere 2× ratio.
How It Stacks Against Other Partial Deadlifts
Lift Type | Height Off Floor | Record | Athlete | Year |
Rack Pull | Knee (~20 cm) | 552 kg | Eric Kim | 2025 |
Silver-Dollar Deadlift | 18″ (46 cm) | 550 kg | Anthony Pernice | 2020 |
Hummer-Tire Deadlift | 15″ (38 cm) | 549 kg | Oleksii Novikov | 2024 |
Elephant-Bar Deadlift | 9″ (23 cm) | 474 kg | Hafþór Björnsson | 2019 |
Even when we stretch the range of motion all the way up to 18 inches, Kim’s 552 kg still beats everything but Pernice’s silver-dollar marvel by only 2 kg—and Kim did it from a much lower starting point.
Why Kim’s 552 kg Matters
Hype Take-Away & Next Steps
Keep hustling, stay fearless, and let those plates clang like thunder! 🌩️🦾