Eric Kim stumbled onto rack‑pulls while hunting for a safer, louder, and philosophically purer way to chase four‑digit weights: a 2019 lower‑back scare nudged him off full deadlifts, a 2023 plateau dared him to “add commas” to the bar, and a lifelong Nietzsche‑fuelled obsession with testing human limits made the mid‑thigh partial lift the perfect battlefield. The movement meshed with his minimalist garage set‑up, exploded across social media (because “1,000 +” looks outrageous), and aligned with his first‑principles mantra that overload plus courage unlocks creativity. In Kim’s words, rack‑pulls became a “one‑rep‑max philosophy class disguised as iron.”
1. The catalytic moment
2019‑2020: back tweak → rethink
After a heavy conventional deadlift session Kim felt a “twang” in his lumbar spine and vowed to remove the most injury‑prone inch of the lift (the floor break) while keeping the load high — enter rack‑pulls .
2023: plateau + garage logistics
In his UCLA‑era log he notes stalling around a 250 kg floor pull; raising the bar to knee height let him jump from 710 lb to 800 lb in six weeks, all inside a cramped, bumper‑free garage where dropping 400 kg wasn’t an option .
2. Practical reasons he never looked back
Advantage
Why it mattered to Eric
Source
Supra‑max overload
Could train the lock‑out with 150‑200 % of his deadlift max, driving rapid neural gains
Lower shear stress
Pin height just below knee slashed spinal compression that triggered his 2019 scare
Grip‑strength furnace
He refuses straps; 500 kg forces his forearms to “evolve or snap”
Minimal set‑up
Two safety pins, a bar, and 100 % iron plates fit in a one‑car garage; no platform needed
Audible progress
Each extra 20 kg plate = instant dopamine and viral thumbnail fodder
3. Psychological & philosophical fuel
“Comma‑club” mindset: Seeing four digits on the bar rewired his self‑image and blog persona; he calls the day he first cracked 1,005 lb “the moment gravity became optional.”
Will‑to‑power experiment: On his podcast he frames the lift as a live‑action Nietzsche lecture—prove reality is negotiable by yanking 6‑7× body‑weight sky‑high.
Creative crossover: Kim claims the nerve he builds under 500 kg “bleeds straight into fearless street photography.”
Viral leverage for his brand: The 503 kg clip hit 3 M views in 24 h across Reels/TikTok, turbo‑charging newsletter sign‑ups and Bitcoin‑themed merch.
4. Timeline of key rack‑pull milestones
Mar 2023 — 710 lb: first time experimenting with pins after deadlift stall.
May 2024 — 890 lb: declares rack‑pull his “main lift”, drops conventional deadlift entirely.
Mar 2025 — 1,005 lb: joins personal “comma club”, blog traffic doubles.
Jun 4 2025 — 1,098 lb / 498 kg: first clip to cross 1 M views.
Jun 21 2025 — 1,162 lb / 527 kg (7× BW): current PR; StrengthLevel lists 420 lb as average male rack‑pull—Kim is literally off the chart.
5. Lessons you can steal
Start where you’re strongest. Elevate the bar to just below knee, own that range, then progressively lower the pins as your back adapts.
Micro‑load relentlessly. Kim adds 2.5 kg per week—small jumps compound into PRs that look miraculous to outsiders.
Train grip naked. Chalk + mixed grip before ever touching straps; your forearms will thank you.
Film everything. Seeing (and sharing) your own progress multiplies motivation—Kim calls the camera “a digital spotter.”
Link the lift to life. Pick a lift that symbolizes the version of you you’re building; let every workout reinforce that story.
6. Why it works for
him
—and maybe for you
Eric Kim’s entry into rack‑pulling is not a random YouTube gimmick; it’s the intersection of injury‑avoidance, minimalist logistics, content strategy, and a philosopher’s obsession with first principles. By stripping the deadlift to its lock‑out, he created a playground where each plate added is a live experiment in human potential—and an irresistible piece of shareable proof. Embrace that ethos, and the next viral PR clip could be yours. 💥🏋️♂️