Chinese strongman Liu Weiqiang has a middle finger made of titanium. While Hafthor ‘Thor’ Bjornsson set a new deadlift world record on July 26 when he managed to pull 505kg at a competition in Germany, Weiqiang set a new world record of his own when he deadlifted 144.72kg with just a single finger.
Despite performing the lift in February, Guinness World Records has now recognised the 29-year-old’s achievement, highlighting how he surpassed the previous record set by Egmond Molina by over 6kg.
Weiqiang connected a carabiner to a pole capable of holding six plates – four 25kg plates and two 20kgs – before then wrapping his left middle finger around the carabiner. He assumed a conventional deadlift position and pulled through the floor, struggling with the unbalanced nature of the weight before finally locking it out and controlling it to the floor. Guinness World Records claim that the entire lift took nearly 10 seconds in total.
It’s far from the first record Weiqiang has managed in his outrageous lifting career, however. He managed to collect eight Guinness World Records titles in 2023, completing the heaviest weighted pull-up (109.2kg), the heaviest weighted dip (154.2kg), and managing an extra 44.2kg on his person to achieve the heaviest single-rep weighted ring muscle-up – among many other impressive performances.
Regardless, he never intended to start setting such outrageous records. ‘When I first started with fitness, online resources were scarce, and it was difficult to find guidance from fellow enthusiasts. Therefore, I simply wanted to share my training process on social media,’ he said.
‘Since starting my job, I’ve had less time for fitness, and I’ve felt a bit slack. However, after proving myself through these records, I find fitness to be relaxing and enjoyable.’
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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_