Do You Even Lift Table?

Noble CR4 reader, allow me to introduce you to the internet.

It's this figurative place where people congregate on various interwebs to make snide remarks, argue with other information super-highway travelers, and look at pictures of cats and naked people.

Oh, you're well-versed in this technology it seems! I suspect you're here for the former two then, because CR4 is woefully empty of the latter two. Stick with me here, please.

Then do you know what a meme is? More specifically, DO YOU EVEN LIFT, BRO?

Excuse me, my inner lunkhead is coming out. Memes are visual placards expressing ironic or subtle humor relevant to internet culture.

The meme which we are discussing features musclemen refuting non-musclemen simply because they do not work out enough.

The origin of this strange, internet-insiders joke is closely intertwined with the existence of the lift table. See, lift tables are known for their robust capability and reliable work ethic. More specifically, they are devices that allow materials and workpieces to be raised and lowered to ergonomic and accessible heights for specific tasks or purposes. Despite its exclusive function lift models vary by size, capacity, elevation and actuation.

Furthermore, lift tables are often manufactured with wheels allowing operators to convey items at their discretion. These wheels are typically pressurized inner tube or urethane caster in design. Wheeled tables typically feature a handle for safe grasping as well as a floor lock to temporarily immobilize the table. Elevation control is usually provided by a hand or foot control, and some models may feature electronic integration. Versions that also feature a tilting table will rely on similar interfaces to determine the pitch of the table plane. Adjustable-speed ascent and descent can be popular features when dealing with dynamic, uncentered, or shifting loads such as liquids. Such loads also benefit from an integral counterbalance and retainment edges. Finally, models incorporating a carousel into the design allow operators to rotate cargo without unloading.

The four most important considerations when deciding upon a table lift are:

• Capacity: The maximum weight the table is suitable to burden. Tables capable of lifting 5 [short] tons or more are common.
• Size: The physical dimensions of the lift table.
• Stroke: The elevation capability of lift table, from contraction to full expansion.
• Operational manner: The power source and mechanism providing lift to the table.

How does a lift table get turned into an internet gag? By a musclehead getting into a lifting contest with a lift table--and losing.

Internetters everywhere were enthused at the sight of the musclehead getting beat by machinery--mostly because the musclehead was a jerk. The disembodied voice of the lift table became the rally cry of millions.

The lift table smugly asks the musclehead: "Do you even lift, bro?"

(Image credits: Toph the Tomboy; Funky Junk; Northern Tool; Brobible; Advanced Handling)