Chapter 563: Where is My Limit

Chapter 563: Where Is My Limit

World record.

337 kilograms.

Bench press.

Five reps.

So the world record is just your 5RM?

No.

In the realm of strength training, RM combined with a number refers to the maximum weight you can repeat for X reps.

Clearly, from Meng Fan’s movements, he did the world record five times without even reaching failure!

Many people had an absurd feeling: if Meng Fan wanted to, he could probably lift the 487-kilogram world record in the equipped division!

A difference of 150 kilograms!

Yet some believed Meng Fan could do it—absurd, but somehow it felt so reasonable.

But others thought what was happening in this livestream was too absurd, even fake.

These weren’t just casual viewers; many strength training enthusiasts and powerlifters thought so, especially foreign powerlifters.

As an Olympic gold medalist in five events and bearing the title of the world’s strongest man, Meng Fan had a very high credibility, so even those who found it exaggerated were mostly in awe, rarely thinking of fraud.

Rarely, but not never.

Besides, some did spot issues worth doubting.

“Definitely fake. With that much weight on the bar, the barbell doesn’t even bend! Not a hint of curvature—are those plates made of foam?”

The athletes on-site knew the plates were real and hadn’t even considered that angle, only noticing after seeing the livestream comments. Hey, the barbell really showed no sign of bending.

Earlier, when Meng Fan squatted 585 kilograms, the bar had bent noticeably, but after switching bars, there was no bending.

The athletes on-site knew the issue wasn’t with the plates but with the new barbell itself.

What material was it?

The athletes who noticed couldn’t understand.

Let’s go check it out.

An enthusiastic athlete helped unload the plates, and after finishing, hearing that Meng Fan was going to deadlift, quickly volunteered to carry the barbell to the deadlift platform.

Same weight.

It felt no different to the touch.

Neither harder nor thicker.

Very strange.

If you don’t know, ask—he wasn’t an outsider; he was practically a fellow senior disciple.

After placing the bar, while helping load plates, the athlete asked Meng Fan, “Iron God Senior, is this barbell custom-made? With such heavy plates, it doesn’t bend—what material is it?”

Meng Fan paused, mentally slapping his forehead. He’d forgotten about this.

Quick-witted and eloquent (or rather, good at spinning tales), he said, “It’s a gift from a friend in aerospace materials. I can’t really say what specific material it is, but it works well.”

What material? Aerospace material.

What is aerospace material? I don’t know either.

Saying that, no one should be able to find fault.

Meng Fan said to the person loading plates, “Just add up to five hundred and one.”

Deadlift—this is one of the essential and primary specialized movements in weightlifting.

Generally, weightlifters practice deadlifts mainly with a narrow stance, somewhat different from the conventional or sumo deadlifts in powerlifting. First, it’s an explosive deadlift, not the resistance-focused style of powerlifting; second, after pulling up, there’s always an upward shrug as a finishing move, related to the technical movements of weightlifting.

By now, Meng Fan’s body was fully warmed up, and having already done snatch and clean and jerk, he didn’t need to warm up with light deadlifts or practice the movement.

After loading the weight, Meng Fan stood in front of the bar, still using a narrow stance.

Double overhand grip, squat down, tighten the back and core.

Drag the bar to the front of his feet, pressing it against his shins.

Bend the knees, chest up.

Pull hard with both hands.

Feet flat on the ground, as if driving through the heels.

Meng Fan deadlifted as he did in training—explosive, pulling his body straight.

Up in a second!

After pulling up, Meng Fan habitually shrugged a bit, not much but enough to be noticeable, then let go, the barbell crashing to the ground.

That crash struck everyone’s hearts.

Too easy!

501 kilograms—this was the world record, and the most well-known and recognized record among the three big lifts, since the two strongmen who deadlifted half a ton were relatively famous. One was the Icelandic giant “The Mountain,” a strongman who played the role in *Game of Thrones*, earning him that nickname in real life.

When humans first deadlifted half a ton, it made many sports headlines. When “The Mountain” deadlifted 501 kilograms to break the world record, it even hit the entertainment section.

Though many didn’t understand what 501 kilograms truly meant, they were deeply shocked and naturally assumed that 501 kilograms was the human ceiling.

Now that ceiling had been shattered in this way, leaving them even more stunned.

He pulled it too easily—not only did he lift it with ease, but he even shrugged it!

Indeed, relatively speaking, the world records for squat and bench press weren’t as simple for Meng Fan as the deadlift. His deadlift limit should be somewhat higher than both squat and bench press.

Meng Fan successfully pulled it, completing the sixth world record challenge, and also the seventh, because there was another world record called “Total of the Three Powerlifting Lifts.” Weightlifting has a total, and so does powerlifting.

Meng Fan was delighted.

He’d completed seven in one go.

Additionally, he was curious about where his limit lay.

So he prepared to pull again.

This time, he didn’t add plates but increased the weight.

He adjusted the weight of the high-tech barbell, raising it straight from 20 kilograms to 499 kilograms, making the bar itself weigh 519 kilograms. Combined with the plates already loaded, it came to exactly one thousand kilograms.

One ton!

That doubled the original world record.

Meng Fan was ready to test his limit; from the deadlift, he could roughly estimate his limits for squat and bench press.

Meng Fan stood before the bar again, this time much more serious.

Though still using a narrow stance, he had no intention of shrugging, nor would he use an explosive pull. At this weight, he would need to pit his full strength against it.

Pull.

He pushed off the ground with both feet, exerting force.

The barbell left the floor, rising upward.

Then, under Meng Fan's full power, the barbell was lifted in an explosive instant!

Meng Fan had underestimated his own strength.

He needed a third deadlift to reassess his power.

Releasing the barbell, Meng Fan rested for a moment at the side, regulating his breath.

Meng Fan's poised demeanor left the on-site athletes and the netizens in the live stream bewildered—what was wrong with him, suddenly so earnest and grave?

Although deadlifting a world-record weight again was indeed challenging, he had rest between sets, and given his performance in the first two lifts, he shouldn't have been acting like this.

Who could know that Meng Fan had played an utterly invisible trick?

Meng Fan stood before the barbell for the third time, setting the weight of the high-tech barbell to its maximum—ten times his body weight, that is, 1,040 kilograms.

Adding the 481 kilograms of the plates.

The total: 1,521 kilograms!

(End of chapter)