I was wondering what youall think would be some good gym lifts to translate into picking the stone. I have trouble with it slipping out of my arms. Any advice is appreciated.
I’ve been wondering this myself, as not too many gym in my area have acess to stones. Although nothing can ever really imitate stone lifting like actually lifting stones, heavy sandbag lifts or perhaps Zercher DL’s may be able to replicate the lift best.
I’m starting to think buying a stone mold and making my own is the best way to go. I’ve done some research, but they all look pretty expensive. Anyone know where I can purchase a relatively cheap one?
If your having trouble with it slipping out of your arms before you can get lapped then you need to work on movements that help you squeeze your arms together. Chest Flies, hammer Curls, and grip work will really help strengthen the muscles used to squeeze the stone. Also use tacky. If it’s a weight you could load and your using tacky not to be a douche but your probably being a puss and not committing to the stone. With tacky I can load 240 with barely any effeort at all from my arms.
As for the molds nope there all expensive. Best bet is the bit big bouncy ball and plaster of Paris method works great and you can make 3-4 stones for the price of one mold.
Anything in particular stopping you from making your own stones a-la beachball + cement method? Seems to me that there is no substitute for the real thing in some circumstances.
My problem with making stones is no where to put them. I live in a small one bdroom apt. Theres opportunity to train them where I live. I just normally have work conflicts. I could have weak biceps I never do any isolation exercises so that could be it. Or i could just be a puss lol. Ill give some biceps and chest isolation work a try. Thanks for the advice.
Nothing can really replicate the stones. Have seen 700lb deadlifters that struggle with 300lb stones the first time they try them.
You can make your own pretty easy, I made one when I was first getting started. Not a super hard process.
Go and buy a large beach ball. Make strong mold out of beach ball. Cut hole in top of mold and pour concrete into it. Will not be perfect but it will get you started.
If you google “make your own atlas stone” or “homemade atlas stone” I’m sure you will find what you are looking for.
Deadlift480- Homemade Atlas Stone Part 1 - YouTube
This is a step by step how to make your own Atlas Stone with Plaster of Paris and a big bouncy ball. There are two parts which the second is just as easy to find but this should really help you out
gym lifts - i would think zerchers, loaded carries, grip work, and bicep work would help supplement stone work.
unscrew the end of a barbell and put bumper plates around it, wrap your arms around the sides and squeeze (don’t grab the lip of the plates it defeats the purpose) do 3 sets of 8-12 of working on the mimicking the loading portion extending as much as possible and maintaining the grip the whole time. Don’t need a lot of weight
[quote]Kalle wrote:
unscrew the end of a barbell and put bumper plates around it, wrap your arms around the sides and squeeze (don’t grab the lip of the plates it defeats the purpose) do 3 sets of 8-12 of working on the mimicking the loading portion extending as much as possible and maintaining the grip the whole time. Don’t need a lot of weight [/quote]
That’s a great idea, Kalle. I’m going to try this. Thanks for the idea!
And Reed- Thanks for the vid, bro. That’s exactly what I was looking for!
Thanks for the thoughts on gym lifts for stones.
As for the OP, could it be that you simply aren’t gripping in the middle of the stone during the pick? If I understand right, you’re just saying that the stone rolls out forward or backward as you go to pick it off the floor. This shouldn’t happen if you get your hands in the middle. When I say middle I am talking about from a front back perspective. Grab too far in front of the stone and it will roll backwards. Too far to the back and it rolls forwards. There isn’t much to do from a strength perspective for this.
Thanks for the great responses!
@Silyak, The problem I am having is that I can’t squeeze the stone hard enough. I can handle the 275 stone at my buddys place but once I get to the 315 stone that he has with a wider diameter I can’t seem to squeeze the stone hard enough and it just slips out of my arms. I have not been using tacky. I am waiting for my order to come in. I only get up to my the guys house with sm equipment twice a month if I’m lucky so Im trying to get in as much work as I can in the gym.
Dude if you haven’t been using tacky that’s your problem right there. I can barely load a 240 without tacky but with I can make 360 my bitch.
Yea I know but I haven’t had any tacky so I figured if I could load the 315 without tacky I would be able to load a 365 or more with.