He looks like a regular guy... then he starts lifting things most strongmen can't

This guy just goes by the name of Hercules, and there's a reason for that. He has the strongest grip on the planet. Hercules is a powerlifter, V12 climber, and has 15 grip strength world records to his name. He's a force of nature, pushing the limits of human strength, all while excelling in climbing. This isn't just strength. It's precision, control, and the kind of raw power that leaves you speechless. And in this video, we're not only gonna see how insanely strong he is, but we're also gonna see if he's the first person that can beat me in climbing-related exercises. I've never had beer in it. It's just water. Do you bring that everywhere? Just as part of your workout? I get a bicep workout every time I go to drink it. I think you might be the strongest person I know pound for pound. How many world records do you have in grip? 15. 15? Oh my god. Do you have the world record in this as well? For my weight class, yeah. Yeah? Do you know how to deadlift? No, I've done it before, but I always get comments on my form. Here, let me show you real quick. Your stance should be where you're most explosive. The way I have people find that is step forward like you're about to jump. Okay. That's where I'm most explosive. So if I were to... Yep, so basically just under your hips, and you wanna try and keep a neutral spine. Very nice. Should we put more weight on? Ben is like the strongest guy I know of. Pound for pound, I think no one is even close to you. I remember just, I saw you at the climbing gym in Long Beach a couple years ago. You did some like lifts. I was like, who is this guy? Just some random guy in the gym lifting like that heavy? He looks really strong. And then I looked you up on Instagram and I was like, oh God. He's actually really good. Nice. Getting heavy? Getting heavy, yeah. That's so fricking easy for you. Yeah, I don't know if I can lift this. Feel free to criticize my form, Ben. Although I'm not gonna think about my form at all, 'cause I'm gonna focus on lifting this thing, you know? Just don't hurt yourself. Okay, yeah, good advice. Nice. Okay, I think that's max for me. I felt lightheaded there. Oh god. You just go by the name Hercules on Instagram, now I know why. Someone gave that to me, I didn't self-apply. What do you think you're so strong? Like, have you done anything in the growing up? What did you do? I did gymnastics. That could possibly explain a lot, yeah. And you do all these stunts, Hollywood stunts. of seeing like jet skis and getting launched out the wall. While we're on this subject of like fat bar, I kind of want to see you lift the Thomas Inch dumbbell. Because I've only seen like really big guys lift it. So this is the size of a Coke can. That's a good for people at home to kind of visualize how fat this grip is. I mean for you it's probably pretty casual, right? The Thomas Inch. I actually picked it up first try. First try? Oh God. All right, you want to demonstrate? to do it? Yeah, I'm gonna do it. I'm sure. You can take my MagDust, too. MagDust. This is the best dust. Best chalk in the world, you know? Oh, yeah, that's nice. Yeah. Oh, God. I don't know why I would do it now. I haven't trained it since I tried it last time. I feel like it's close. Came up. Came up with a finger, yeah. Is there anything heavier than this, or this is the heaviest? That is so big. Holy crap. So that is how heavy you said? It's 170 or 180. I only know one person who can lift it. You only know one person who can lift it? Who's that? His name is Alexi. His nickname's Tank. Okay. Well, your nickname is Hercules. Try it. I mean, look at the size comparison between these two. Come on. Ooh. It came off the ground. Well, it came off the ground. Let's see if I can cheat it. That is not far. I've never done that before. That's not far from lifting it, man. Okay, let me feel this thing. Oh, God. Yeah, I believe it's 180, but it's... It's so fat. It's fat. No, I mean, it's impressive to see those really big guys do this stuff, but to see someone like you do it, it's just so different. So what is the technique? It's basically more or less a deadlift. You gotta find the best place to grip it. You're gonna lap it. And then you just stand up. And then it's in competition, you do go to shoulder. Oh, you do. And then this one's 120 pounds. Okay. You do this in competitions too? Strongman competitions. Do they have strongman competitions for lighter people? Yeah, there are different weight classes. I did one strongman competition last January, took second. That's good. Have you had any accidents with these stones? Oh man, I'm traumatized. This guy, 385. Oh god, look at that. That's like a boulder. I was attempting to just pick it, stand up with it. I was just holding it for too long and I was ready to bail, but I shifted back too far and it took me down and fell on my inner thigh. Oh, jeez. But you were okay though. Yeah, took a couple months. Nice. Nice. Is that good enough? Yeah. Oh, sorry about that. This one's 218, and it's very round too. You wanna find the right spot. Sometimes there isn't. I'm just gonna get under it. Nice. I can't believe you've lifted the heaviest one. That's incredible. I'll attempt it today. I need redemption. Yeah, okay. Well, don't injure yourself, though. Be careful. Yep. Super strong. Very nice. Now it's starting to get heavy, and especially because it's so round. How heavy was that heaviest one you said? 385. Oh, God. 385, that's so much heavier than that one. That's cool. You went from climbing rocks to lifting rocks. Yeah. I mean, it's pretty useful because sometimes when you're at the crag and you need a-- there's a massive boulder in the way in the landing or you want to make a landing. Yeah, or if it's uneven, you just carry rocks. You got to build a platformer. Hey, Hercules, fix it. Yep. Nice. Solid. That's strong. I think there's some carryover from rock climbing to lifting rocks. Oh, for sure. You don't want this in your toes. Or in your fingers. God damn. That's like you and me combined. Yeah. Pretty much. Oh, man, I haven't done this in forever. Come on, man. Yeah. This brings back bad memories. Gotta be careful. Good. Nice. Good job. You got it. That's a big rock, man. Don't hurt yourself. I'll try not to. Come on. Oh, my God. I could lift it off the ground, but there's no way even getting that up in my lap. That's too heavy for me. No, I actually didn't think I would lift the other one, so I'm happy with that. You want to try the heaviest? Mm, fine. Well, I'm not trying to push you to do this. You do it at your own risk. I know that you almost hurt yourself while trying it last time. Cue the flashback. Yeah, yeah. Do you want-- I was going to offer help, but I don't even know how to help. I think it's easier if I do it myself. Oh, God. Nice. Come on, man. Come on, man. Come on. Give me a second. Oh, God. It's there. It was a warm-up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could see you, like, disappearing for a moment there. You were, like, kind of somewhere else. Oh, God. someone like Hathor or Ryan Shaw doing this is like one thing but he's just like 7 kilos heavier than me. It's so crazy. I feel like this is a true test of strength. Yeah, for Oh, yeah. Come on, Ben. Get it. Come on. Yeah, yeah. No. God, not today. That's crazy. Well, we have a video of you doing it. That's good enough. Or I guess it was a video of you dropping it, but still. So this is more climbing specific. Yeah. These are 20 millimeters, right? Yeah. What is your record in this, though? 405. 405? That's from all the way down here. Okay. So this is going to be a bit easier. I may be able to do a bit more from the knees. Wow. Yeah, nice. Easy. Got your calves involved. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what's the number now? 365. It's getting heavy now. I see that there are a lot of big guys in this gym. Do they ever want to try this stuff? They always come and try, yeah. Do you think Brian Shaw would lift this? No, I don't think so because it's a very different type of strength. Did we just challenge Brian Shaw to something? Yeah. It's hard to get the height for me. Let's stand on something. Now it's getting really, really heavy. Yeah, nice. Oh, yeah. You may beat me. Well, I guess this is the most timing specific one, so this would be your record. This is what I, yeah, I didn't go up from here. This is a world record. Come on. Oh, nice. You okay? Yeah. More than 200 pounds on each hand. That's crazy. Yeah, somehow it was easier on me after we added this box. All right. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I feel like I did nothing. Oh, my back feels like it's about to break. You want a belt? Will it help? Yeah. Yeah? Yeah, why not? I'll grab you a belt. Jeez. Yeah, that's way more than I thought we would lift today. Do you want it really tight? As tight as you can get it. So 425? Oh, God, that's a big number. So this would be a personal record for you? Yeah. With the mag dust, you might be... Feeling strong today. Yeah. Come on, you got it. Get it! Yeah, That was easier than the 405. Was it? Yeah. Yeah! Nice. Oh, wow. Yeah. Does that mean we have to still go up? 100 kilos each hand. That's... Wow. Didn't think that we would go this high. No one does when they work out with me. No? Do you have that effect on people? Yeah. Yeah, it seems like you always try really hard. I can't help it. Come on. Oh, no. That's too heavy. Too heavy? Yeah. I got my mouthpiece. Oh, yeah? What is that for? I use every single fiber in my body when I lift heavy. Okay. So clenching down really helps. It also saves your teeth. You got it. Yeah, just adjusting the weight a little bit. Come on. No! That was very close. It moved. Hold on, I'm gonna give it one more shot. Okay. Come on, man. Come on, man. Come on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No! Yeah, you lifted it. That was good. That was good. Yeah, good job, man. I mean, you should climb V18, you know? That would be cool. With that strength? You just need some technique or something. Yeah, maybe my technique sucks. I think your technique sucks, man. You want to try and pick this up with one hand? Is that a challenge? I believe so. Are you the only one to do it? That I know of. Oh, it's so sharp. Oh my god. Yeah, that's hard. It didn't look that hard when I looked at it. My goal is to flip it. Oh, wow, that'd be impressive. Okay, so, but it is hard for you. Yep. Oh, interesting. Oh, yeah, that's very heavy. Wow, that's impressive to be able to lift that. Did you just do that first try, or? No, that took me months. Months? Yeah. How much do you train this stuff? If I have the time, I'll be in here four days a week. Four days a week, wow. Yeah. You know, I can't do that. It's so sharp, too. It's a test of pain tolerance as well. Eddie Hall trying to flip the 25. I stitched that video and then I did it. I got so much hate from his fanbase. Yeah, they were like, his plate's different, blah, blah, blah. Don't use chalk. I was like, I don't need chalk, I just like it. Oh wow, that's a... Oh god, how do you do that? Oh no. There's no way I'm doing that with one hand. Captain of Crush. But these are like the official ones? Yeah. Those are like the benchmark. Are you good in those? No, I suck. I say that, but I think you're... Now we got one. Oh, that looks like you. It takes some effort. And the last part, I think, is the hardest part. Yeah. I don't know if I can do it with my... Yeah, now we're at two. Two. Got it. I think you need some mag dust for that. Probably. Oh, yeah, you got it. I don't know if I can do my left. Oh, that is it. Oh, no. That's hard, man. Good job on the number two. Try 2 and 1/2. It might not be a big difference. These arrows are a little bit rusty, so. Oh, that's so close. There's like a millimeter. Karl Meerschauf, ginormous human, but gentle giant. He has the world's strongest grip for sure. Okay. He did the four. The four, oh my God. So for reference, this is a three. This is his warmup. He likes to crush fruit. Oh yeah? Yeah. Oh yeah, not too bad. That's pretty good. That was better than I expected. I know you have a strong grip, but you're also strong in weighted pull-ups, right? I hope. I've done weighted pull-ups with a lot of people, and I don't think anyone has ever beaten me in it. I think that you might be the first. How old are you? 30. Do you feel like you've just gotten stronger and stronger? Yeah. When do you think you're gonna peak? Hopefully never. Normally I would start at around 30, but I think with you... We can start with 20. No, no, let's start with 40. Let's not tire ourselves out completely. Now I'm nervous. This is the weight that stops a lot of people already. Not as explosive as you. Nice. Come on, man. You got it. That easy. Come on, nice. That is very close to my max now. This is heavy. More than 160 pounds. More than my body weight. Oh god. Come on. Come on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that was impressive. I thought you weren't gonna get it, and then you had this last little like... I was like, hold on. I'm not done. You know what? I'm gonna even take off my shoes now. No extra weight. All right, come on. Yep. Come on! No. This is the last bit. It's so freaking hard. When I was doing pull-ups consecutively, I got up to 225. 225 pounds? Yeah. Oh my god. That's incredible. I haven't seen anyone being close to that. That's very impressive. Good job, man. Thank you. Yeah, great working out with you. An honor. You guys should check out Ben on Instagram. You're not on YouTube yet. Maybe we'll change that. And I will see you guys next time.