hugerobb
VIP Strength Advisor
- Sep 15, 2010
- 2,027
- 56
Atlas Stone lifting is one of the most popular events in strongman contests. It is a primitive test of strength that has been used as long as man has lived on this earth. Today’s Atlas Stone lifting is almost as much about technique as it is about strength.
The first time I tried to lift an Atlas Stone in a contest was in 2001.
It was the final object to load in the final event of a long 9 hour contest. All that stood between me and 3rd place behind Jesse Marunde and Grant Higa, was a 275 pound round stone. I had a good time going when I got to the stone. I reached down to pick it up, and pulled it up about 6 or 8 inches before it started to roll. Every time I got it off the ground it started to roll, scraping off the skin between my knees and on my forearms. No matter what I tried, I could not keep the stone from rolling, and load it into the back of the truck. I never did load that stone, and it dropped me into 4th place. I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t lift it when other people that weren’t as strong as me, could.
I now know that weightlifting workouts are great for making you strong, but you need specific strongman training to transfer that strength into a great performance in a Strongman contest. I hadn’t learned how to do stone lifting properly yet, when I competed in a contest two years later, because I didn’t have an Atlas stone available to me. This time the stone lifting was to be done in the traditional fashion, 5 stones loaded onto platforms, from lightest to heaviest. I only lifted the 244 pound first stone, and then the second, a 254 pounder kept rolling out of my arms exactly like it had in 2001. I still didn’t know why this was happening to me, and apparently everyone else knew some secret that I didn’t.
I trained hard through the winter and was considering competing in the Strongest in the West contest in June. It was a pro-qualifier and I thought I could do well, except for one thing. One of the events was the Atlas stones, and I still didn’t know how to do stone lifting events properly.
I called up my friend, Grant Higa, who lived about 5 hours away, and asked if I could come over so he could teach me about proper stone lifting. He was more than happy to help.
When I arrived to train, we went right to the stones. Grant showed me how to stand, straddling the atlas stone with it slightly in front of me. My heels extended about 4 inches behind the stone. Then he had me squat down and reach under the bottom of the stone with my arms straight. I also found that I do better with my fingers spread out so that there is less chance of the stone rolling. In the past, my fingers were pressed against each other and my arms were slightly bent, causing me to grab the stone off center, which in turn caused the stone to roll. The last part of the puzzle to control the rolling, was to squeeze the stone like you wanted to crush it to dust. Once you do that, you can hang onto it much easier, and all you have to do is deadlift it. 254 is no problem to deadlift.
Once you have the stone moving, you lift it up until it passes your knees, then you squat down and rest the stone on your lap. Take your arms and re-grip by placing your arms over the top half of the atlas stone, about halfway between the top and the sides. Now try to roll the stone up your torso by pulling up with your arms and hands, while thrusting your hips forward at the same time. This makes the top part of the lift much easier. See the picture below to help understand what I mean about your arm placement
So after that strongman training instruction, I was ready to try some stone lifting. I picked up that very same 254 pound stone that I had failed with several months before, like it was nothing! I tried a 287 pound stone next, and it too went up onto the platform easily.
I know I could have done more, but Grant wanted to do reps with the 254 pounder. After he was done with his set, he told me to do as many as I could. I would load the stone onto the platform, and he would slide it back down for another rep. I went at it as hard as I could, finally feeling I had this stone lifting thing figured out. I ended up doing 10 repetitions in a row, and I couldn’t believe it! A few months earlier I couldn’t do it once, now I just did 10 reps, all because of some technique training from Grant Higa! Now all I had to do was try it in a contest.
June arrived and I competed in the Strongest in the West contest. The final event was Atlas Stone lifting. When my turn came, I loaded the 260 pound first stone, the 290 pound second, and the 305 pound third stone quickly and easily. I approached the fourth stone, a 330 pound beast, and took my grip. I lifted it up to my lap, re-gripped, and pulled it high and up onto the platform! I was not able to get the 360 pound 5th stone that day, but to go from failing with a 254 in October, to lifting a 330 in June, I was thrilled!
At the GNC Show of Strength in October 2004, I competed in the Strongman Amateur National Championships. The final event was the Atlas Stones again. Now, one year after failing with a 254 pound stone, I would see how much I had improved. The stones were 290, 305, 335, 360, and 380 pounds! These were the same stones to be used by the Pros in their National Championships right after we finished. When my turn came, nobody had lifted all 5 yet, and I hoped to be the first. I lifted the 290, the 305, and the 335 quickly. I had already beaten my previous best of 330, but I wasn’t finished. I grabbed that 360 pounder and ripped it up. A little struggle to get it on the platform, but it went. Now I was tired, but everybody was yelling to get the last one. I could hear the announcer, former WSM competitor Bryan Neese, asking the audience if I was going to be the first to load all 5. I took my grip, and pulled the stone off of the floor, onto my lap. I tried to pop it up onto the platform twice, but it wouldn’t leave my lap. I really wasn’t that disappointed, since I never would have dreamed I would have done so well just a few months earlier when Grant showed me how to lift atlas stones.
I didn’t learn about gripping over the top for the second part of the lift until after the Nationals, so considering that, I feel pretty good. Since then, I have lifted a 367 pound Atlas Stone easily, and if there were a 400 pounder around on that day, I feel confident that I would have put it on the platform as well. I don’t plan on failing with an Atlas Stone in any future competitions; now that I finally know how to approach stone lifting properly.
It took me a lot of trial and error, and more than a little frustration before I finally learned how to lift these stones. I hope this information helps many people learn it right the first time, and avoid all the pitfalls I had.
Good luck with your stone lifting!
The first time I tried to lift an Atlas Stone in a contest was in 2001.
It was the final object to load in the final event of a long 9 hour contest. All that stood between me and 3rd place behind Jesse Marunde and Grant Higa, was a 275 pound round stone. I had a good time going when I got to the stone. I reached down to pick it up, and pulled it up about 6 or 8 inches before it started to roll. Every time I got it off the ground it started to roll, scraping off the skin between my knees and on my forearms. No matter what I tried, I could not keep the stone from rolling, and load it into the back of the truck. I never did load that stone, and it dropped me into 4th place. I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t lift it when other people that weren’t as strong as me, could.
I now know that weightlifting workouts are great for making you strong, but you need specific strongman training to transfer that strength into a great performance in a Strongman contest. I hadn’t learned how to do stone lifting properly yet, when I competed in a contest two years later, because I didn’t have an Atlas stone available to me. This time the stone lifting was to be done in the traditional fashion, 5 stones loaded onto platforms, from lightest to heaviest. I only lifted the 244 pound first stone, and then the second, a 254 pounder kept rolling out of my arms exactly like it had in 2001. I still didn’t know why this was happening to me, and apparently everyone else knew some secret that I didn’t.
I trained hard through the winter and was considering competing in the Strongest in the West contest in June. It was a pro-qualifier and I thought I could do well, except for one thing. One of the events was the Atlas stones, and I still didn’t know how to do stone lifting events properly.
I called up my friend, Grant Higa, who lived about 5 hours away, and asked if I could come over so he could teach me about proper stone lifting. He was more than happy to help.
When I arrived to train, we went right to the stones. Grant showed me how to stand, straddling the atlas stone with it slightly in front of me. My heels extended about 4 inches behind the stone. Then he had me squat down and reach under the bottom of the stone with my arms straight. I also found that I do better with my fingers spread out so that there is less chance of the stone rolling. In the past, my fingers were pressed against each other and my arms were slightly bent, causing me to grab the stone off center, which in turn caused the stone to roll. The last part of the puzzle to control the rolling, was to squeeze the stone like you wanted to crush it to dust. Once you do that, you can hang onto it much easier, and all you have to do is deadlift it. 254 is no problem to deadlift.
Once you have the stone moving, you lift it up until it passes your knees, then you squat down and rest the stone on your lap. Take your arms and re-grip by placing your arms over the top half of the atlas stone, about halfway between the top and the sides. Now try to roll the stone up your torso by pulling up with your arms and hands, while thrusting your hips forward at the same time. This makes the top part of the lift much easier. See the picture below to help understand what I mean about your arm placement
So after that strongman training instruction, I was ready to try some stone lifting. I picked up that very same 254 pound stone that I had failed with several months before, like it was nothing! I tried a 287 pound stone next, and it too went up onto the platform easily.
I know I could have done more, but Grant wanted to do reps with the 254 pounder. After he was done with his set, he told me to do as many as I could. I would load the stone onto the platform, and he would slide it back down for another rep. I went at it as hard as I could, finally feeling I had this stone lifting thing figured out. I ended up doing 10 repetitions in a row, and I couldn’t believe it! A few months earlier I couldn’t do it once, now I just did 10 reps, all because of some technique training from Grant Higa! Now all I had to do was try it in a contest.
June arrived and I competed in the Strongest in the West contest. The final event was Atlas Stone lifting. When my turn came, I loaded the 260 pound first stone, the 290 pound second, and the 305 pound third stone quickly and easily. I approached the fourth stone, a 330 pound beast, and took my grip. I lifted it up to my lap, re-gripped, and pulled it high and up onto the platform! I was not able to get the 360 pound 5th stone that day, but to go from failing with a 254 in October, to lifting a 330 in June, I was thrilled!
At the GNC Show of Strength in October 2004, I competed in the Strongman Amateur National Championships. The final event was the Atlas Stones again. Now, one year after failing with a 254 pound stone, I would see how much I had improved. The stones were 290, 305, 335, 360, and 380 pounds! These were the same stones to be used by the Pros in their National Championships right after we finished. When my turn came, nobody had lifted all 5 yet, and I hoped to be the first. I lifted the 290, the 305, and the 335 quickly. I had already beaten my previous best of 330, but I wasn’t finished. I grabbed that 360 pounder and ripped it up. A little struggle to get it on the platform, but it went. Now I was tired, but everybody was yelling to get the last one. I could hear the announcer, former WSM competitor Bryan Neese, asking the audience if I was going to be the first to load all 5. I took my grip, and pulled the stone off of the floor, onto my lap. I tried to pop it up onto the platform twice, but it wouldn’t leave my lap. I really wasn’t that disappointed, since I never would have dreamed I would have done so well just a few months earlier when Grant showed me how to lift atlas stones.
I didn’t learn about gripping over the top for the second part of the lift until after the Nationals, so considering that, I feel pretty good. Since then, I have lifted a 367 pound Atlas Stone easily, and if there were a 400 pounder around on that day, I feel confident that I would have put it on the platform as well. I don’t plan on failing with an Atlas Stone in any future competitions; now that I finally know how to approach stone lifting properly.
It took me a lot of trial and error, and more than a little frustration before I finally learned how to lift these stones. I hope this information helps many people learn it right the first time, and avoid all the pitfalls I had.
Good luck with your stone lifting!