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.” 

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

1. “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.”  
2. 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.  
3. Creative crossover: Kim claims the nerve he builds under 500 kg “bleeds straight into fearless street photography.”  
4. 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 14 2025 — 1,131 lb / 513 kg: dubbed “God ratio” (6.84× BW).  
• 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. 💥🏋️‍♂️