Mindset over mass. Muscles move metal, but mindset moves universes.
You felt that quake? That’s just the warm-up, fam. Clip’s up in glorious 8K—go watch it, screen-grab it, meme it, blast it everywhere and tag #552KG so the algorithm sweats as hard as my chalked-up palms.
Remember: Impossible is just a PR you haven’t smoked yet.
Stay audacious, stay hungry, and keep pulling the planet off its axis.
“Zen breath.” Three deep nasal inhales, hold, then explosive mouth exhale to clear chatter.
Eye‑lock on an anchor point (rack bolt or wall scuff) to funnel focus.
Kim calls it “becoming empty so the bar can fill me.”
5. Lift‑Specific Tweaks
Squat PR Day
Ankle rockers between ramp sets.
Heavy singles performed beltless until ≥ 80 % so his core stays honest.
Bench / Floor‑Press PR Day
Extra 2 × 20 band pull‑aparts and triceps push‑downs to protect elbows.
Deadlift PR Day
Hip‑hinge drills (broom‑stick good‑mornings) before the bar, then chalk & ammonia on the 90 % set only.
6. Plug‑and‑Play Template for You
Mobility Block – 4–5 min (swap pigeon pose for 90/90 hip switches if you’re stiff).
Activation Block – pick one shoulder and one core drill.
Ramp Sets – seven jumps total; use ~10 % jumps if your max is under 225 lb.
Trigger Ritual – choose a sensory cue (shout, slap, sniff).
Attempt PR – one shot; no grinders after success.
7. Safety & Progression Checklist
Pain ≠ PR. Any sharp hip pinch—stop and regress the weight.
90 % rule. If the 90 % single feels slow, abort today’s record attempt and harvest the volume instead.
Record & review. Kim films each warm‑up set on his phone to spot technical leaks early.
Go Forth and HYPE‑LIFT! 🚀
Eric Kim’s formula proves you don’t need a 30‑minute mobility saga—just intentional movement, progressive loading, and unapologetic hype. Combine those ingredients and your next personal record isn’t a question of if, but when. Now crank your playlist, slap those plates, and own the decisive rep! 🎧💪
Born in 1988 in San Francisco and raised in nearby Alameda, Kim discovered street photography while studying Sociology at UCLA, a discipline that sparked his fascination with everyday human drama.
In 2009 he launched ERIC KIM PHOTOGRAPHY as a simple Blogger site; by 2011 it had become a full‑time WordPress blog updated almost daily from whatever city he was teaching in—Tokyo, Paris, Dubai, you name it—thanks to the “digital nomad” lifestyle he proudly chronicles on his Biography page.
1.2 Signature teaching style
Kim’s workshops are famously hands‑on: he straps a GoPro to his Leica, approaches strangers with an infectious grin, and later breaks down failures and successes frame‑by‑frame on YouTube and the blog.
Major photo sites list him among the most influential modern educators for exactly that blend of practical demos, philosophy, and raw transparency.
2 The “Open‑Source” Philosophy
2.1 Give it all away
In 2013 PetaPixel spotlighted Kim for releasing full‑resolution images and permitting unrestricted downloads—“going open source” long before it was trendy in photography circles.
He hosts a Downloads page packed with free e‑books, Lightroom presets, keynote decks, and printable zines, all licensed for remixing and redistribution.
2.2 “Share as You Learn” mantra
Kim’s 2024 essay “Share As You Learn” argues that waiting for perfection kills creativity; instead, publish half‑baked experiments and let the community iterate.
A complementary post, “Open Source Philosophy,” lays out his rationale: generosity builds trust, trust builds community, and community sustains a career even when you give the core product away.
2.3 Impact on the wider scene
Digital‑Photography‑School articles still cite Kim’s tips—and often republish them verbatim with his blessing—illustrating how his CC‑friendly materials propagate across the web.
Industry journalists use Kim as a case study for SEO power: rank for a niche keyword by delivering massive value at zero cost.
3 Recent Moves (2024‑2025)
Philosophical deep‑dives: Essays like “The GOAT of Street Photography” and “The Future of Street Photography” explore existentialism, AI, and embodied perception, showing Kim shifting from how‑to posts toward bigger‑picture reflections.
The Eric Kim Manifesto (2025): A freshly published credo urges photographers to embrace moral ambiguity and chase “impolite truth” rather than staged politeness—an evolution of his earlier “shoot from the heart” ethos.
Workshops 2.0: While still globe‑trotting, Kim increasingly offers micro‑workshops livestreamed from wherever he happens to park his camera bag, keeping costs low and reach high.
4 Why His Approach Resonates
Democratizes learning: Free, remixable resources lower the barrier to entry for cash‑strapped creators.
Fosters fearless practice: Watching Kim negotiate tense sidewalk encounters gives beginners permission to be bold in their own work.
Builds virtuous cycles: Every time a student republishes his guides, his brand—and the open‑source ethic—spreads further.
Evolves with tech: From SEO hacks to crypto payments for zines, Kim treats his career as one long experiment, modeling lifelong adaptability.
5 How You Can Plug In
Action
Where to Start
Download a free e‑book or preset pack
Kim’s Downloads hub
Read his newest essays
Blog front page (updated near‑daily)
Join a live workshop
“Workshops” tab on his site
Pitch a guest translation or remix
Contact form under each post—he routinely features reader translations.
Follow real‑time inspiration
Instagram @erickimphoto and the ERIC KIM YouTube channel, linked in his site sidebar.
6 Bottom Line
Eric Kim the blogger exemplifies an “open‑source overlord” not by hoarding authority but by dismantling gatekeeping—proving you can sustain a joyful, globe‑hopping career while giving most of your knowledge away. If you crave a hype‑shot of creativity, dive into his downloads, hit publish on your own experiments, and keep the virtuous cycle spinning!
Relentless publishing → swelling surface area: Kim’s blog crossed ≈2 600 posts by late 2016 and ≈2 800 by mid‑2017—a pace that averages 400‑plus new essays per year.
Search‑engine flywheel: This depth of evergreen, tutorial‑heavy content pushed him to the #1 Google result for “street photography.”
Traffic doubles in 12 months: Public dashboards show ~50 000 monthly uniques in mid‑2024 surging to ≈120 000 by mid‑2025—an inflection tied to headline‑grabbing weight‑lifting posts and crypto essays.
Spike events amplify the base‑line: A single blog post about his 1 071‑lb rack‑pull drew 28 000 views in 48 hours, proving his network can mobilize quickly.
Social proof loops: The Facebook page alone lists 85 k+ followers, while the viral rack‑pull clips on YouTube keep pouring new eyes into the funnel.
Together, these numbers illustrate a compound‑interest engine: more posts → higher search gravity → bigger audience → louder spikes → more backlinks → repeat. The chart below maps that flywheel.
Visual: Momentum vs. Virality
(Scroll up if the plot hasn’t popped in yet—your browser may load it above this text.)
The orange solid line tracks cumulative blog‑post volume (momentum); the yellow dashed line shows estimated monthly unique visitors (virality) on a secondary axis. Anchors come from verifiable milestones (citations above); intermediate points are linear interpolations to make the growth trajectory clear.
Reading the graph
2010‑2013 — Lift‑off: Rapid content ramp‑up while traffic lags; classic “build the library” phase.
2014‑2017 — SEO escape velocity: Content count crosses ~2 000; Google rewards depth, visitors climb steadily.
2018‑2023 — Plateau & polish: Growth slows but remains positive; Kim experiments with new verticals (philosophy, minimalism) to keep audiences engaged.
2024 dip, 2025 pop — Viral shockwave: A short‑term algorithm shift plus topic pivot momentarily dents traffic (mid‑2024), then the rack‑pull + Bitcoin spree triggers an 120 % YoY rebound by mid‑2025.
Bottom line: Kim’s momentum is the predictable slope of the orange line; his virality is the jagged, event‑driven lift of the yellow dashed line. One fuels the other in a self‑reinforcing loop.
What Drives Each Curve?
Growth Lever
How it feeds Momentum
How it multiplies Virality
Daily‑ish shipping
Keeps the orange line rising; fresh posts index fast.
Constant “newness” gives algorithms & followers reasons to reshare.
Open‑source PDFs & cheatsheets
Bulk content without paywalls pads volume quickly.
Free value ignites backlinks from forums, Reddit, and edu sites.
Repurposes one idea across formats—lowers friction to publish often.
Each channel is a new fuse; a single post can light four rockets at once.
Stunt posts (e.g., 1 071‑lb rack pull)
Adds only one data point to volume—but that post’s comments & follow‑ups pad the archive.
Spike adds thousands of new backlinks and embeds in fitness subreddits.
Community photowalks & guest essays
Outsourced words/photos = faster volume gain.
Participants become organic amplifiers across their own socials.
Limitations & Data Notes
Exact counts vary: Kim occasionally deletes or merges posts; numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 based on archive snapshots and his own claims.
Traffic estimates: Sourced from Kim’s public analytics screenshots and third‑party tools; they convey order‑of‑magnitude rather than audited figures.
Interpolation: Years without hard public stats are linearly interpolated to visualize direction, not precision.
Still, the pattern is unmistakable: volume precedes visibility, and viral shocks stack on a wide, evergreen foundation.
Steal‑able Insight
If you want your curve to resemble Kim’s:
Front‑load quantity until search engines know you’re serious.
Give away premium resources to earn backlinks.
Engineer occasional spectacle (a contrarian take, a bold experiment, a world‑record attempt) to send short‑term traffic surging into long‑term subscriptions.
Stay joyful, keep shipping, and let the compounding begin!