Scottish Highland Games:

An Introduction to the Heavy Events

Adriane Blewitt
2X Women’s World Champion

This is a guest post by Adriane Blewitt, world-renowned Track and Field Throwing Athlete, 2X Champion at Highland Games and the first ever certified Women’s Captain of Crush. To read more about this unbelievably well-rounded athlete, check out my interview with Adriane Blewitt or check out her youtube channel.

My athletic background has been focused around track and field, specifically the throwing events. I have trained at the elite level for the shot put, discus and hammer throw for 10 years and I have competed in two U.S. Olympic Trials.

Upon contemplation of professional retirement from the Olympic events, I was lured into the Scottish Highland Games as a competitive substitute. It was an easy transition in the weight room, I continued to focus on the development of a strong posterior chain to handle the heavy implements but the time in the trig proved to be the most time consuming with nine new events to master.

After a year of training for the heavy events, my need for competition was rekindled in the Olympic shot put and I managed a 4th place finish at the 2010 USA Championships in the women’s shot put. It was clear that training the heavy events complimented my Olympic dream. London is calling for 2012. Until then, I will train for a few World Records and my third World Championship title in the Women’s Scottish Highland Games.

What are the events in the Scottish Highland Games?

Braemar Stone

(Standing Stone Toss)

The heavy stone is thrown with one hand and the stone is held at the neck until release. There is minimal movement with the feet, specific instructions may be regulated by the head judge.

Men: 20-26lbs.
Women: 13-18lbs.

Open Stone

(Similar to the Olympic Shot Put)

Any style of approach is acceptable to throw the stone but one foot must remain inside the trig at all times. Most throwers use the glide technique or a variation of the rotational spin to complete their throw.
Men: 16-22lbs.
Women: 8-12lbs.

Why is there no standard weight for the stone events?

Stones are chosen by the Athletic Director and it is up to their discretion the weight, texture, and shape of the stone. The stone is weighed prior to the game and will be used annually for the festival. Throwers may use tape or an elastic wrap for their throwing wrist for support.

Weight for Distance

Metal weight is held with one hand and thrown from one or two turns inside the trig. One foot must remain in the trig at all times and throwers frequently use tape on their fingers to prevent ripped calluses and blisters. Occasionally, throwers will use a hook grip on the round ring or D-handle for the throw.

Light Weight for Distance
Men: 28lbs.
Women: 14lbs.
Masters: 28lbs.

Heavy Weight for Distance
Men: 56lbs.
Women: 28lbs.
Masters: 42lbs. or 56lbs.

Scottish Hammer Throw

Round metal ball attached to a long rod made from rattan, wood, bamboo or PVC. The hammer is thrown with two hands on the handle of the stick and generates speed by winding the hammer around the thrower’s head. The thrower’s feet must remain stationary throughout the throw and cannot pass the wooden trig at any time. Occasionally, throwers will wear boots with hammer blades or spikes attached at the toe for added leverage.

Light Hammer Throw:
Men: 16lbs.
Women: 12lbs.

Heavy Hammer Throw:
Men: 22lbs.
Women: 16lbs.

Caber Toss

Most recognizable event of the Scottish Highland Games. The caber does not have a regulation size or weight but must be made of wood. The caber is positioned upright for the thrower with the heavy end on top. The bottom may be tapered for easier hand placement and the attempt is established when the caber leaves the ground.

Generally, the fingers are interlocked together and the bottom of the caber rests in the palms of the hands. The thrower manages control of the caber by hugging the caber close to their shoulder and neck during the throw. The caber is an event of accuracy, there is no measurement for distance but each thrower has three attempts to turn the caber.

The toss is scored when the caber is flipped end over end and its position on the ground in relation to the thrower determines a clock score. For example, the thrower is standing at 6 o’clock and the caber flips over and lands slightly left of center. If the foot placement of the thrower upon the pull is 6 o’clock, the score would result in 11:00 or a time decided by the judge following behind the thrower.

A turn can be scored between 9:00-12:00 or 12:00 to 3:00. The perfect throw is 12:00. However, quite often the caber is too heavy or long for a thrower and the caber does not reach past a vertical position to score a turn. A side judge would establish the score by the degree of movement of the caber. A protractor would be handy to score 0-90° from the sidelines.

Weight for Height

Implement is thrown with one hand overhead to clear a fixed or knock off crossbar.

Weights Used in the Weight for Height:
Men: 56lbs.
Women: 28lbs.
Masters: 56lbs. or 42lbs.

Sheaf Toss

Burlap sack filled with rope or twine that is thrown for height over a fixed or knock off bar crossbar with a pitchfork.

Sheaf Toss Weight:
Men: 20lbs. or 16lbs.
Women: 12lbs. or 10lbs.
Masters: 20lbs. or 16lbs.

How are the height events scored?

Similar to the high jump or pole vault, each competitor has three attempts at each height. The thrower may pass earlier heights; however, once the thrower has begun the event, he or she must attempt each progressive height throughout the competition. Three misses at a height results in the elimination of the competition. In the case of a tie, the judge will determine the winner based on the fewest number of misses from the tied competitors throughout the event.

Some athletes choose the spin technique but Scottish tradition recognizes a standing throw only in the height events.

What is the trig?

The trig is a wooden toe board in the front of the competitor’s throwing box in the distance events. It is secured in the ground to provide a stop board for the thrower and establish a common measuring site.

How do you score the events?

The Athletic Director determines the number of events for a particular game but generally the winner of each event will receive one point for first place and second place will receive two points etc. The competitor with the lowest score is the winner.

How do you compete in a game?

Most games ask you to fill out a registration form with an entry fee and poof! You’re in. Make sure you show up with your kilt, a good attitude, and a lot of ibuprofen. There are many online forums to help out the new throwers with questions on technique, game schedules, and general inquiries regarding the events. Most throwers visit the North American Scottish Games Athletics site (www.nasgaweb.com) to view results and records. There are regional clubs and athletic groups as well to aid in the networking of Athletic Directors and competitors.

Many thanks to Adriane for putting together this great article explaining the events in the Scottish Highland Games. Once again, congrats on your fantastic accomplishment on becoming the first woman certified as Captain of Crush as well. All the best to you in your future training, Adriane! -Jedd-

ON SALE 50% OFF UNTIL 10/28/2011 AT MIDNIGHT

Axle Clean and Press for Max Weight

In any strongman competition there is going to be an overhead event of some kind. This event could be in the form of Maximum Log Press, Log Press for Reps, Max Axle, Axle for Reps, or it could involve the Viking Press, or the Circus Dumbbell, etc.

When most strongman contests involve 5 events with one of them being overhead, if you suck at overhead press, can you afford to give away 20% (one out of 5 events) of the points?

If you can afford to give that much of the score away to your competitors, then you’d better be heads and shoulders above the rest of them in all four other events in order to negate all of the points you’re handing over to them in the overhead.

If you have identified the overhead lift (regardless of the implement used or whether for reps or max weight) as an event that you must improve upon, there are a few ways you can go about improving your performance.

Which one you choose will depend on what your weakness is, and one of these points of attack may be something you have not thought of before.

Liability #1 – Weak Clean

If the event involves cleaning the implement to the shoulders before pressing, and you struggle with the clean, then you are going to be in trouble for the press.

When you have to labor in order to make the clean, then you will be burning energy reserves that you need for the press.

If you have to struggle in order to get the log or axle up, and it is a clean-every-rep event, then you will be in even more of a rough spot.

If you knowingly have a hard time with the clean, then you will need to dedicate time to it in your training sessions.

One way you can do this is to over-load the clean beyond the weight you can comfortably press or jerk overhead. I show you how to do this in the video below, from 2006.

Without a doubt if your difficulty is a technique flaw, then you need to fix that. Getting stronger in order to power through it will only get you so far. It is much better to hone your technique, make it efficient, and then improve your strength levels later on.

If technique is what you need work on, then you should check out our Strongman Training DVD, which is heavily technique based in order to help you solidify your foundation for strongman training. Remember, it all begins with technique.

Liability #2 – Weak Leg Drive

In most of the overhead events in strongman, you are allowed to use your legs to propel the log, axle, or viking press upwards. In some events you are even able to re-bend in order to catch the implement, similar to the Olympic Jerk.

What I suggest here is Front Squats. While many Strongman competitors include Back Squats in their routine on a regular basis, Font Squats should not be forgotten. After all, initiation of the press is done with the legs, and since the log or axle is being held at the front shoulder, the most specific movement to train is Front Squats.

In addition to doing regular Front Squats with an Olympic bar, there is also nothing wrong with including Front Squats using the Log, in order to get used to the shape of the Log, and increase the specificity of the lift (as shown below).

However, if your legs are weak and you can not drive through the log and propel it towards lockout, that will mean you will have to develop sick strong triceps in order to catch the log once its momentum ceases and then drive the arms straight to lockout.

The problem with this scenario is that after a few reps, if your legs are a weak point in the movement, then they will eventually burn out and you will not even be able to pop the implement high enough off your shoulders to involve the triceps. If that is the case, the only alternative is to try to employ a jerk-style re-bend in order to get your body further under the implement in order to catch it.

Unfortunately, while this may sound like an extraordinary plan, this technique requires more skill and to shift to this style mid-way through the event without having practiced it will probably not result in much of a benefit.

Liability #3 – Weak Triceps

As you can see, when there is a weakness somewhere in the overhead lift movement, the general objective is to build the strength and power on either side of the movement in order to fortify the previous link and next link in the overhead lifting chain.

Unfortunately, in the case of weak triceps, there is no next link in the chain to strengthen. Everything up to this point depends on your triceps and their ability to take over in the transitional phase of the “press,” continue to full lockout, and thus control the log in order to get into the finished position (feet together, head facing forward, etc).

With every other part of the overhead lift depending on your triceps to finish the job, its imperative for them to be rugged enough to get the job done, or else you will end up doing a lot of work for nothing in the form of monster cleans, big powerful attempts to push the log up with the lower body, an exhausted core from attempting stabilize the body with all of this movement going on as well as your oxygen and energy stores becoming depleted with possibly many more events to go.

Many strongman athletes realize that their tricep strength is holding them back and they begin adding extra tricep work into their training. Exercise choice in this regard is extremely important. For instance, if you start throwing in a few extra sets of tricep pushdowns or kick-backs, you are in trouble as these movements do very little to improve overhead press strength. Instead, standing overhead tricep work should be employed, such as rank lockouts, pressing against bands, and half reps.

In the video above, I show you how to add resistance bands to the log in order to strength your triceps for the lockout.

Liability #4 – Weak Shoulders

If your shoulders are your weak point in the press than you are going to be against the wall in an overhead event. This is a common scenario, especially for strongman competitors who venture into the sport after years of Powerlifting, where overhead work is not routinely done.

If your pressing power is weak due to a lack of shoulder strength, then you need to spend more time pressing, utilizing a variety of overhead lift methods.

First, you will need to build your vertical pressing using stricter movements in military press fashion. Building a foundation of strength in the vertical position will be a huge asset toward your performance in competition.

Next, you will also need to work on your speed, propelling the log upwards with the lower body in order to avoid a hang-up when the shoulders need to take over. By developing speed in the lower half you can blast the log or axle high enough where the triceps can come into play in conjunction with the shoulders and contributing to a stronger lockout.

Liability #5 – Let’s stop right there for now

I’ve already given you 4 big factors in overhead press success and how to improve upon them. Look at your training program and try to plant some of these movements in it to bring up your weaknesses in the overhead press.

Down the line, I will put up another installment in this series on how to improve overhead pressing power. And in this next one, I will show you some thing you have probably never thought of to improve your overhead lifts.

Be sure to sign up for the Strongman Training Newsletter to be sure you know when the next installment in this series comes out.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Congratulations to Brian Shaw for winning the 2011 World’s Strongest Man contest!

Brian was tied with Zydrunas Savickas going into the last event, the Atlas Stones, and finished a full stone ahead of Savickas to win the event and the championship!

Brian Shaw takes the final event, Atlas Stones:

Here’s another angle of the Atlas Stones:

To recognize Brian’s amazing suspense-filled victory, I am holding a sale on the Introduction to Strongman DVD.

Use this special link and you can get the Intro to Strongman DVD on sale for just $39 (regularly $49).

Special Price – Introduction to Strongman Training DVD

Congrats again to Brian, a true champion and ambassador to the sport. I have met Brian a couple of times, and what an outstanding guy – humble, approachable, enormous, and STRONG!

Click on the image below to take advantage of this special offer:

All the best in your training!

Jedd

Hello DIESELS!

It’s no mystery that I obviously love Grip Training. I do it every single day I train as long as I am injury free (and sometimes I still do it anyway if I am hurt, I just do something else).

My love for developing Grip Strength spilled into a love for competing at Grip Strength in 2003 and my obsession is showing no sign of slowing down any time soon.

Now, even if you do not love Grip Training yourself, you have to agree that having a strong Grip is an advantage, whether you obsess over grip training like me or not.

Advantages of a Strong Grip

Stronger, Heavier Lifts
With stronger hands and a better grip you can lift more weight in pulling and rowing exercises, you can handle more weight in pushing movements like the bench press, and you can control more weight in lifts the squat. Stronger Hands = Bigger Lifts

Better Endurance / More Reps / Better Progress
You are limited in many case by the number of reps you can perform in an exercise. Imagine how much your progress would grow if you could do more reps in all lifts? One aspect that holds people back is their grip. Their grip fails or slips and they end up losing reps and cutting sets short. This is a bad equation only made worse by using the dreaded 6-letter word STRAPS.

Better Performance in Sports
Many sports depend on having strong hands and wrists: Baseball, Wrestling, Football, Rugby, Tennis – even soccer performance is increased by having strong thumbs for passing the ball back into play. With weak hands, you take a back seat to others on the court, field and mat.

Stronger Resiliency Against Injuries
If you do consistent work for the hands, wrists and forearms you build up strength and become resilient against injuries. You can take more bumps at a high intensity level and continue to play at a high level. If an injury does take place, the stronger athletes bounces back quicker. Unfortunately, the thumb is often neglected, which results in the incapacity to return to play which is something I will be covering later on this week.

These are just a handful of the benefits from having a Strong Grip, but I have found in my recent travels that some people are confused about what it takes to develop a strong grip.

Grip Training Myths

I believe in Bigfoot, but not in the following myths…

Grip Training Myth #1 – You Need a Ton of Grippers

First off, you do not need two dozen grippers in order to develop a strong grip. Having a bunch of them is a hell of a lot of fun if you want to have the ability to make small jumps in gripper strength increases, and it is a must if you plan to compete (unless you have the Vulcan Gripper), but if you are looking to just build massive grip strength for the advantages listed above, a couple of Grippers will do you just fine.

Grip Training Myth #2 – You Need a Huge Variety of Griplements

Next, you do not need a bunch of Griplements (specialized Grip Training Implements) to build a strong grip. Even though I have more Griplements than you can shake a stick at, and continue to look for opportunities to buy and build grip training equipment to expand my collection, you can by with a just a handful for variety.

Grip Training Myth #3 – Grip Training Takes a Lot of Time

Finally, you don’t even have to add time to your workout in order to develop a monster grip. You can simply replace some of the things you are already doing with more grip-intensive pieces of equipment.

And that is what I want to show you today – How to Implement Grip Training without Adding Extra Time to Your Workout. In order to do this, we will use a couple of simple Grip Training Concepts…

Grip Training Concepts

Grip Training Concept #1 – Evolution of the Movement

One of the principles in the Diesel Method is to go beyond the normal limitations of a movement and evolve it into something more challenging in order to increase the demands and as a result make you stronger and a better athlete.

There are many ways to do this, but one such way in order to bring about a more Grip Strength intensive training effect is by modifying the equipment used.

In the example below, instead of using normal equipment such as Powerlifting and Olympic bars, we will use Sandbags and Axles, which require a much more open-handed position and make the lifts more difficult to perform and more demanding on the hands, thus increasing Grip Strength.

Grip Training Concept #2 – Integration

Integration means that instead of just working the Grip in isolation, such as with Grippers or by pinching Block Weights to develop grip strength, we will be working much of the body all at the same time with the hands still being targeted heavily.

One way to accomplish Grip Training Integration inexpensively and effectively is with a Sandbag.

Benefits of Sandbag Training

The Sandbag is an excellent piece of training equipment. Specific models are sold on-line, such as the Ultimate Sandbag (you can get one here through my link: Ultimate Sandbags), or you can make your own sandbag from a duffel bag like I did years ago.

Aside from being versatile (sandbags last a long time), they also enable you to train with speed and explosion, and they work the grip.

• Speed and Explosion – You can throw Sandbags around without mercy. This enables you to develop serious power and strength. Performing Cleans and shouldering movements with the sandbag also trains triple extension, a powerful movement pattern involving the ankles, knees and hips, which is found in many sports and is often trained with the Olympic lifts.
• Grip Strength – Depending on where you grip the sandbag, you can bring about different levels of Grip and Forearm Strength. For instance if you grip it with an open hand like a bear hug or monkey grip, you will work your fingers, thumbs, wrists and forearms all the way up to the elbow. This is the best way to go about it for the Grip Training effect. You can grip the handles if you wnt to, but in my estimation, that takes a lot away from the benefits of the lift.
• Metabolic Effects – Because Sandbag Training involves so much musculature you ended up torching a lot of calories and hitting your conditioning as well. Since it is so much fun, you don’t mind breathing so hard you burn your throat or the aching of the glutes because you know you are throwing around serious weight like it is a rag doll.

Benefits of Axle Training

The Axle is really nothing more than a long thick bar. Axles are sold at many on-line locations. The prices can be scary at first, often in the hundreds of dollars, but they come specialized with collar fittings and sometimes knurling. These additional features make them more expensive.

You can actually make your own out of just a pipe and it will get the job done. Joe Hashey and I show everyone how to make the most awesome Axle ever known to man in our Home Made Strength DVD as well.

What’s great about Axles is the fact that anything you can do with a barbell you can do with an Axle, you just can’t do as much weight or as many reps because the thicker grip tests your hand strength more.

Implementing Grip with Little Special Equipment and Zero Extra Time

One of the things I have been doing more of lately is back-to-back sets of lifts. It allows me to get more work done in a shorter period of time so I can spend more time working on Grip.

I told you I was obsessed.

Below is a video clip where I perform Sandbag Shouldering with Bent Over Axle Rows in a back-to-back fashion.

For this set, I performed 4 shoulders to each side followed by 8 reps in the Bent Over Row. The set itself is not that long, but the cardio demands far exceed normal set, plus you get the benefit of direct grip strength and forearm work while working the rest of the body as well.

If you are wondering about the rest of the workout, this combination was actually Part II. Part I was Pull-ups and Pull-aparts and Part III was Side Rows and Face Pulls. I would have liked to have done Deadlifts first or at least somewhere in the workout, but testing for it wasn’t going well, so I switched on the fly.

I also did a bunch of Thick Bar Work after all of this and got several good singles in the Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift, which i got on video but have not edited yet. Hopefully I can get to that soon.

I hope this article has been helpful in pointing you in some directions you can in order to implement grip strength training. A lot of the information out there leads one to believe you have to all this stuff with a bunch of excess equipment and spend a lot of time doing it in order to develop a grip that would scare the likes of Fritz Von Erich, but that just isn’t the case.

If you have any questions, please let me know by leaving a comment below.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Today I have an awesome guest post from Steve Slater. Steve and I teamed up on the Intro to Strongman Training DVD and he recently put together an article on how he approaches Stone Lifting when he works with new guys in the sport. I just did a Strongman Workshop with Steve two weekends ago and he is loaded with knowledge on Strongman. Look for more articles and videos from Steve down the line. Enjoy!

Atlas Stone Training for Beginner Strongman Competitors

Atlas Stones are a fundamental test of strength in many strongman competitions, and they have also become a staple among strength training enthusiasts who are looking for the ultimate strength workout.

Stones literally tax everything from head to toe. In fact, try not contracting any major muscle group like your legs, glutes, back, chest or biceps during a stone lift, and let’s see if the stone even comes off the ground – fat chance.

When it comes to Atlas Stone training, you’ve just got to know how to do it right! So let’s get into that right now.

LEARNING THE STONES

It’s time to get your hands on some stones and get to work.

At first, it can be easy to get frustrated with atlas stones as they fight you the whole way up. Since they are round, they make your job of lifting them very difficult, and once they start to get loose on you, they often win the battle.

Learning how to conquer the atlas stones takes time and requires understanding the proper technique. Once you master the technique you then can really start to work on using the stones to take you to a new level of fitness.

SAFETY FIRST

Stone lifting is generally done by pulling the stone from the ground and either placing it on top of a platform or barrel, or it is put over a bar of a designated height (usually 4 feet or higher). Whatever you choose to lift the stone onto or over, make sure that it is stable. Here are some examples of loading strategies we have used.

Normally, we lift the stone over an adjustable strongman yoke bar. We also at times use solid platforms to load several stones one after the other. To make the platforms, we fastened wood pallets on top of each other, and attached plywood to the front and around all sides. We sometimes use whiskey barrels or oil drums, but if you use a barrel watch out for the lip, as it can be a finger pincher.

With all platforms, please use caution making sure the back side of the platform is braced; this will keep the platform stable so it will not tip if the stone hits it. Once you’re more experienced you can work on shouldering the lighter stones. Incidentally, the world record for a shouldered stone is held by Derek Poundstone. In 2009 he shouldered a massive stone in the range of 420 lbs.

If you practice stone shouldering, make sure you use plenty of rubber mats to drop the stones on. At our club we use four of the 5/8” thick stall mats with plywood under them so we can just drop the stones off of our shoulder or the top platforms without damaging the floor or the stones.

As for lifting the stones, there are some basic cautions to be concerned with for safety.

I have seen athletes twist at the top of a stone load. If you are going heavy or you are doing reps to failure for conditioning, once you get the stone to the tip of the platform, do not pause in that top position longer than a few seconds, and do not twist in order to try to get it onto the platform, as accidents have happened at this point before.

HEIGHT OF PLATFORM

If you use a platform for stone loading, for most stone training I think it is best to use a platform that is around sternum height or somewhere below. This is a good position, especially if you are training for a particular sport that requires hip drive and/or triple extension like a football player exploding off the line of scrimmage or a swimmer leaping off the diving block.

As a variation and progression from the normal platform, we also sometimes use a hanging target. It may be a jump stretch band or a large rope hanging from a rafter or a power rack. We dangle the band or rope from the rack as a goal upon which to touch the stone. When you touch the top of the stone to the bottom of the band, you have achieved your goal. You can also have a partner pull the band/rope up slightly after each successful rep, so you try to increase the height on each rep.

LEARNING THE TECHNIQUE

I will discuss the best way that I have found to lift an Atlas Stone, although we all may lift them slightly differently.

In training, strive to keep good form so you can strengthen your body using the safest way of lifting. As for myself, when it comes to lifting the stone, I first position the stone about 6”-8” away from what I may be loading it onto. I then face the Atlas Stone and straddle my feet over it so that my calves are around 1” from it on both sides. I make sure I stand almost directly over the stone so the balls of my feet are positioned at the center point of it.

Next, I squat down to near parallel, grabbing the stone with my arms straight down and hug the center of it with my forearms and hands trying to get my fingers as far under the stone as possible without smashing them. My finger nails will likely be touching the ground at this point.

I then squeeze hard with my fingers, hands, forearms and begin to pull with my legs and entire back. This is when I think of contracting with everything I have. My legs straighten slightly as the stone begins to come up, although the legs are never completely straight. As the stone starts to pass my knees, I then re-bend my knees back into a near parallel squat and I roll the stone onto my lap. If possible, I also may try to walk my feet in slightly. Since I’m resting the stone on my lap, bringing the feet together will position the stone higher on the abdomen when I start the second part of the lift.

From here, I will reposition my hands more towards the top of the stone maybe about 1/3rd of the way up but not all the way on top or the stone will drop down. Your palms will not be facing each other any longer. They are now angled more towards the ground. I squeeze the stone again and press it against my chest so my chin is as far over the stone as possible. Then I will dip forward and down slightly to get a stretch reflex and pull back explosively with my upper body, forcefully standing up and driving my hips forward.

If I am just lifting the stone to the high chest and then returning it to the floor, I try to keep the center of the stone directly over my feet and lean back slightly to keep my balance. If I am loading the stone to a platform or over a marker, then I will propel it upward and forward, as shown in the image above. If loading on the platform, I also quickly reposition my arms just in case I don’t quite make it and I have to push it fully onto the platform.

BEGINNER WORKOUTS

You now have an idea on technique. Let’s look at how to train with the stones.

For a beginner workout, I suggest you work with a light stone and focus on reps so you get used to the proper technique as well as conditioning your muscles for something they are not used to doing.

Even if you are a very strong athlete, I suggest that you keep to a stone around 200lbs or under to start with. If you are in good condition and you are new to stone lifting, try not to exceed a stone that is anything above 70% of your bodyweight. In other words, if your bodyweight is 100lbs, use about a 70lb stone, or if you weigh around 180lbs you would use about a 130lb stone, plus or minus a few pounds.

Take this stone and load it for 2-3 sets of 5-8 reps and 2-3 times per week for the first three weeks so you work on technique and conditioning. You may be tempted to go heavier, but just remember the best is yet to come so take it slow. Just try to improve your technique with the lighter stone.

For a stone workout that is centered on hardcore conditioning, you might try the following variations. Pick out a lighter stone and break the stone lifting technique down into segments. You will do the following stone lifting segment work for 3 sets of 10 reps.

The first 10 reps will be the LAP, SQUAT, DROP drill. To begin, pick up the stone, LAP it to the SQUAT position and stand up driving hard with the hips, pushing the stone upward and forward as high as you can. Then, DROP the stone on rubber mats and repeat.

For the next 10 reps, try the LAP, SQUAT and RETURN drill. In this drill, you will LAP the stone, SQUAT it up, and then this time RETURN the stone under control to your lap. Do this for 10 reps but DO NOT drop the stone.

Rest again and for the last 10 reps, do the LAP AND DROP drill, lapping the stone and then dropping it back down between your legs. Repeat this for 10 reps.

If you still have some gas in the tank, you might also finish off with 10 reps of bent over rows with an even lighter stone.

Start light with this series of drills because this can leave you exhausted and sore for days.

REVIEW

As you can see, Atlas Stone lifting can be a very beneficial practice that can quickly have you building muscle, burning calories, and becoming more powerful. This is particularly helpful for power and combat athletes that need to drive with the lower body, and also certain professions such as Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers who have to be able to subdue perpetrators.

With all the benefits of stone training, there are some risks involved, but the benefits far outweigh the risks. As you train, start out light and use caution. Also, condition yourself to the stresses of stone lifting. As you progress, you can add equipment into the mix such as loading platforms, hanging targets, and drop areas, and before you know it you will be performing drills for speed, explosiveness, and conditioning. In time, you will be extremely rugged.

For more information on Atlas Stone training and many other types of Strongman Training events, please check out my Strongman DVD, Introduction to Strongman Training. Loaded with technique and safety tips, I can show you how to correctly train like a Strongman or Strongwoman. And whether you ever enter a competition or not, you will definitely be a stronger version of yourself in no time.

Steve Slater
Click here for the Introduction to Strongman DVD