*hysterical strength:* “a display of extreme physical strength by humans, beyond what is believed to be within their capacity, usually occurring when people are in - or perceive themselves, or others, to be - in life-or-death situations.” the brain tends to limit the amount we can physically due because of exhaustion and potential horrible damage. people can literally destroy their bodies doing this. some alleged examples: • a woman saved several children by fighting polar bear (hunter eventually shot the bear) • not a direct example, but the creator of the hulk claims he was inspired after watching woman lift a car off a child. • in ww1, a corporal lifted bombshells that weighed 608 pounds (276 kg) • after a helicopter crash, a man lifted the 1,400 pound (640 kg) helicopter enough for another person to get someone (who was still in the cockpit) out • many, many examples of people lifting cars and trucks off of others • a man bent a doorframe of a flaming car in half to help someone trapped in it there’s a lot of interesting personal accounts of this stuff on reddit (& etc). i got these all from wikipedia, but i do recommend checking the discussions about this out
