Athlete Gregg Ernst set a record by lifting the heaviest weight totaling 2,422 kg, but experts believe humanity has not yet reached its maximum muscular strength.
The world was astonished when British weightlifter Eddie Hall lifted 50 kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in 2016. Hall was the first to break the 500 kg barrier. Subsequently, in 2020, Icelandic weightlifter Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson successfully lifted 501 kg. Meanwhile, the record for the heaviest weight ever lifted by a human belongs to Canadian athlete Gregg Ernst, who lifted two cars with drivers inside, totaling 2,422 kg, according to Live Science.
Hafthor Bjornsson at the World Weightlifting Championships in 2013. (Photo: Victor Fraile/Stringer)
Experts suggest that it is very likely that athletes have not yet reached their maximum muscular strength, and we are still unclear about the true limits of human strength. However, measuring an individual’s maximum muscular strength is quite challenging.
Bradley Schoenfeld, a professor of exercise science at Lehman College, explains that muscular strength can be measured using electromyography (EMG). However, EMG works by recording the electrical activity generated within a muscle, both by nerve cells and contracted muscle fibers. Such testing can only be conducted in a laboratory, and EMG only monitors a localized muscle group, making it impossible to assess overall muscular strength in a person.
“It’s very hard to determine that limit,” says E. Todd Schroeder, a clinical physical therapy professor at the University of Southern California, who studies ways to enhance muscle strength and mass in older adults. He believes the only way to ascertain an individual’s muscle strength is through continuous training. “If someone claims they can lift 200 kg, that’s impressive. However, we know they can lift more. We just don’t know how much more,” Schroeder shares.
Physically, a person’s ability to bear weight depends on actin and myosin, two proteins that allow muscles to contract. These proteins are arranged within different types of muscle fibers. Muscle mass and fiber ratio depend on training regimens, as well as biological factors such as genetics and sex. Generally, the greater the muscle mass, the more force you can produce.
Professional weightlifters continually push themselves to the limits by consistently increasing their muscle mass. However, the feedback force diminishes as muscle mass increases, and eventually, muscles will reach their limits. Schroeder notes that sometimes merely increasing muscle mass is not enough. Some lighter individuals can lift heavier weights than those who weigh more.
One factor that weightlifters need to overcome is “neural inhibition,” which limits the force that muscles can contract to prevent injury. Research shows that this limit can be raised through endurance training. In addition to physical training, lifters must also overcome psychological barriers to lift increasingly heavier weights. The best lifters are those who can surpass these barriers and place themselves in the right mental state to utilize all their muscle strength.
“If I try to lift the heaviest weight possible, say 90 kg, and then can eliminate that neural inhibition, I could lift 136 kg,” Schroeder states.
This effect was validated in a 2020 study published in the journal *Impulse*. Researchers sought to determine whether positive visualization, a technique involving mentally imagining positive outcomes, impacts strength training.
They recruited 133 student athletes and divided them into two groups. The first group visualized themselves lifting 110% of their capability for at least 5 minutes each day while listening to motivational music. The second group did not engage in this practice. After 3 weeks, the group practicing positive visualization increased their lifting ability by at least 4.5 – 6.8 kg, while the other group only increased by an average of 2.2 kg.
