Strength records that sound impossible but are real
The heaviest deadlift in history, the man who carried 500 kg, and what these records say about human limits.
- A 501 kg deadlift — Hafþór Björnsson, 2020. The weight of a small car, lifted in one movement.
- Squats over 600 kg in equipment (Ray Williams squatted 490 kg raw) — spines and knees withstand forces that sound impossible.
- A bench press over 350 kg without a bench shirt.
- A 286 kg Atlas stone lifted to a one-metre platform — Tom Stoltman.
- Walking with 560 kg in a yoke over 10 metres.
- Most pull-ups in 24 hours: 8,008 — an average of 5.5 pull-ups every minute, all day and night.
- Longest plank: over 9 hours (Daniel Scali, 2023).
- A marathon in 2:00:35 (Kelvin Kiptum, 2023) — averaging 2 minutes 51 seconds per kilometre, 42 times in a row.
- The oldest competing bodybuilder was over 90 years old.
- The women's deadlift world record is over 300 kg — more than 99 % of men who train.
What this means for you
None of it is an instruction — these are elite athletes with decades of training and rare genetics. But it shows one thing: the limit you feel in your third month of training is not your body's limit. It is just your current level.
General information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition or pain, talk to a doctor before changing how you train.
