When I was in the army, I could deadlift 400 pounds. That’s a lot for someone my size and my bodyweight at the time (174 pounds, 8% body fat). But it’s all I could do. I don’t think I could have ever lifted much more because that’s just about the limit of my frame. Maybe if I trained really hard for many more years I could’ve gotten to 450.

So watching these World’s Strongest Man competitors deadlift nearly 1,000 pounds is humbling.

I am going to get back into weightlifting in the very near future. It was the form of exercise I enjoyed the most in the army and if you do it right, you are only competing against yourself. I routinely lifted with guys who could deadlift 600+ pounds and they were ecstatic when I hit 400 for the first time.

It’s also one of the few forms of exercise with well-done and valid scientific studies that show both quality of life and longevity increases, so it’s beneficial to everyone. (And no, women won’t “look like men” if they start weightlifting. Unless you take steroids or work out 8 hours a day, it’ll feminize your shape more than anything. Jessica Biel is a gym rat. Think she looks like a man?)

Deadlifting 1,000 pounds. Damn. That’s half a small car.