[HN Gopher] Stonelifting Etiquette
___________________________________________________________________
Stonelifting Etiquette
Author : Kaibeezy
Score : 195 points
Date : 2024-02-20 11:19 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (liftingstones.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (liftingstones.org)
| db39 wrote:
| Wasn't expecting to see this on Hacker News! I'm the creator of
| liftingstones.org - happy to answer any questions about the
| project!
| gadders wrote:
| What should my main lifts be to carry the original hussafell
| stone?
| db39 wrote:
| Do you mean what lifts should you train, or what numbers you
| should hit?
| gadders wrote:
| What numbers I should hit, to see if it is remotely
| achievable.
| wswope wrote:
| Barring really clean technique, 1200lb+ combined total club
| is when I'd expect it to be practical.
|
| (Basing this off having visited the stone and toyed with it -
| but I'm not an experienced stonelifter speaking from
| expertise.)
| gadders wrote:
| That's not too extreme. At my age though I'd probably need
| to hop on the Secret Juice to be able to do it.
|
| I've always wanted to be Fullsterkur.
| michaelt wrote:
| What a fascinating sport!
|
| What should I be picturing for a lifter going for one of these
| stones? Should I be picturing a lone man stalking across a
| scottish moor, to test his strength with a single lift, alone
| and with no witnesses? Groups of athletes in lycra wearing
| lifting belts? Organised competitions with cheering crowds?
| gadders wrote:
| A bit like this in Scotland: https://www.thedinniestones.com/
|
| For the Icelandic hussafell stone you can just drive up and
| have a go I believe.
| db39 wrote:
| There are some competitions with crowds. They're effectively
| strongman comps but solely with stones, and they're getting
| more popular.
|
| Generally, you're alone or in a small group. So your idea of
| a lone man stalking across a Scottish moor isn't too far off.
| Usually no lycra though.
| ourmandave wrote:
| Perhaps a giant in a holocaust cloak lurking in an
| outcropping waiting to hit you in the head with a small
| boulder.
|
| Which doesn't seem very fair.
| vijayr02 wrote:
| Inconceivable!
|
| Edit: the parent post references the movie The Princess
| Bride and my reply follows:
|
| https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/you-keep-using-that-word-i-
| do...
| lemper wrote:
| bro, i heard you enjoy lifting stones. but are you strong
| enough to lift stone cold steve austin?
|
| anyway, is there any events related to lifting stone in south
| east asia? thanks.
| db39 wrote:
| I'm don't know of any events in South East Asia - although I
| wouldn't be surprised if there were some. Japan, China, South
| Korea, and India all have stonelifting cultures, so it
| wouldn't be odd to see it elsewhere in Asia.
| ubiquitination wrote:
| It's a lovely website - I have bookmarked it for future
| reference! I have been to the Potarch cafe many times, for some
| reason I never noticed the stones...
| db39 wrote:
| Thanks! You'll definitely notice them now. If you go on the
| first Tuesday of the month, you'll see a group of lifters
| attempting to put themselves in the history books.
|
| There's also a whole day event in August on the green with
| some stonelifting competitions! In the last few years, it's
| attracted some elite strongmen and strongwomen too.
| kriberg wrote:
| Highly interesting read!
|
| Have you considered adding a highscore board or something
| similar? Athletes can add a profile, then post an image proof
| that they've lifted certain stones. It won't be fool proof, but
| could further increase interest by adding a progress bar and/or
| achievements :)
| Temporary_31337 wrote:
| Strava for lifting stones? This won't end well.
| db39 wrote:
| Thanks!
|
| The original idea for the site was something along these
| lines (a log of people's lifts). I may have something in the
| pipeline...
| jfengel wrote:
| Thanks for doing it. I saw this floating around other social
| media last week, and now it's here.
| db39 wrote:
| Glad you like it! I've loved creating it over the last four
| years.
|
| Awesome! Where did you see it? One of the articles hit the
| front page of reddit late last year, so that was cool.
| nojs wrote:
| I'm curious how this happens, did you just see it by browsing
| HN or was there a spike in traffic that made you search for the
| thread?
| db39 wrote:
| I've been (mostly lurking) on Hacker News for about a decade,
| so I visit pretty often. I only caught it this time because
| of a traffic spike notification.
| brodouevencode wrote:
| Great work on this. Nice to see non-strongman competitors doing
| stuff like this.
| db39 wrote:
| Thanks!
| harimau777 wrote:
| How accessible is stone lifting to genetically smaller people?
| I strength train seriously but I'm never going to have the
| build or strength of the much bigger men who I usually see
| doing powerlifting and strongman.
| troupe wrote:
| My experience with stones seems to indicate that they come in
| an almost unlimited variety of sizes. There are boulders that
| are so large no human can lift them all the way down to
| stones that can be lifted by a small child or even a dog. You
| shouldn't have any trouble finding a stone with a weight
| appropriate for whatever level of difficulty you want to
| target.
| db39 wrote:
| Like the other reply, stones range in sizes and weights. Even
| if you're not massive, there are plenty of more accessible
| historic stones. You obviously tend to hear about the
| heaviest and most challenging ones that giants lift.
|
| One of the most inspiring (and insane) feats of strength I've
| ever seen was Chloe Brennan's lift of the Replica Dinnie
| Stones (weighing 333kg (734 lb)) in 2022. She weighed ~64kg
| (140 lb): https://youtu.be/CRaEALQSxTI?&t=434
| LanceH wrote:
| The historic stones are probably out of reach. I've heard of
| a range of stones (don't remember the name/location) where
| the lighter ones may be possible. With those it the claim is
| "X lifted all 7 forgot-the-name stones".
|
| As a sport, strongman has atlas stones (cement spheres) going
| down to sizes that most people could lift to shoulder.
| However, as a sport, the bulk of the training to get strong
| enough to lift a stone doesn't involve actually lifting a
| stone. It's a very welcoming group, though, with most
| competition directed inward toward the self rather vs against
| another person.
| gadders wrote:
| There are novice strongman comps by weight class that you can
| enter that would scale the atlas stones and adjustable
| hussafell stones.
| gadders wrote:
| This is an example from a UK gym that I know holds lots of
| comps. Scroll down for the novice/beginner comps.
|
| https://www.kaosstrength.co.uk/strongman-comps
|
| Note also that is not unheard of for people to "blank" i.e.
| not complete any reps of a particular event. It's often
| said that if you don't (particularly at the lower levels)
| you're not challenging yourself.
|
| It's also bad form to enter a novice comp if you already
| have a 300kg deadlift.
| UniverseHacker wrote:
| Strongman (which stone lifting is related to) is an extremely
| accessible and welcoming sport. We have men, women, and
| children of all ages and sizes, and stones (and other
| implements) appropriate for everyone. Not everyone completes,
| but in competitions there are classes, so you can compete
| against other people your own age, size, gender, level of
| experience, and even level of disability if applicable. There
| are also historic lifting stones of all sizes, not just
| massive ones that require a giant to lift!
| tecleandor wrote:
| I though it was going to be about harri-jasotzea for a second!
| db39 wrote:
| Basque stonelifters are the best in the world. I'd love to
| write more about them!
| pimlottc wrote:
| It's a good article but it could use a bit of background as to
| what "stonelifting" is, exactly, for those who aren't already
| familiar. From what I gather, this is more about lifting stones
| in public places than, say, using stones in your own personal
| gym? With an emphasis on historic stones? There's mention of a
| "stonelifting tour" as well, would love to understand more of
| what that's about.
| jl6 wrote:
| The map shows a concentration of stones in the UK, particularly
| in Scotland. Is that representative of the stonelifting
| community? Or maybe just an artefact of it being an English-
| language website?
| Kaibeezy wrote:
| OP here. My kid is a new Dr Who fan. An old photo of the cast
| of Local Hero popped up in one or another of my feeds, with a
| 1982 photo of an impossibly young Peter Capaldi. Kid loved the
| photo but had no idea about the movie. I found a good photo of
| Pennan on the Wikipedia page, amazing place. The article
| mentions lifting stones, which was unfamiliar. Google brought
| me to your site, which is very appealing, as many have noted.
| I'm a non-tech in the tech industry, so I like to contribute
| outlier things here, usually resulting in crickets, sadly, but
| in this case it resonated. Huzzah!
| melagonster wrote:
| This is cool, I never heard about this haha.
| h0l0cube wrote:
| I first heard about it on the Blindboy Podcast. His meandering
| takes through culture and history are always worth a listen
|
| https://shows.acast.com/blindboy/episodes/the-lost-irish-tra...
| OJFord wrote:
| They all look manageably sized until you see the photo/video of
| an enormous dude holding them!
| brodouevencode wrote:
| > Return the stone
|
| Cannot be stated enough. I hate gyms that turn a blind eye to
| people not replacing weights. I was recently visiting Orlando and
| went to a sort-of-well-known gym there (owner is a professional
| body builder) and was amazed at how many plates were on the
| floor. The equipment was as high-end as you could get (the best
| Rogue/HS) but plates EVERYWHERE to trip over. It was pretty
| disappointing.
|
| Leave the rack in better shape than when you found it. That's a
| metaphor for life.
| MOARDONGZPLZ wrote:
| I have a gym nearby that's very expensive and focused on
| lifting. I am always so impressed by how the weights are always
| where they should be. The culture is amazing. In addition to
| people having respect for this, the weights there are colored
| which helps spot it visually. So the 45lb is blue, 55lb is
| orange, 35lb is yellow, 25lb is green. In my very anecdotal
| opinion this and well labeled racks go a long way here.
|
| Compare another gym I use when I'm working from home: weights
| everywhere, no weight where it should be, and the weights
| themselves are inconsistently sized even at the same weight. It
| frustrates me to no end to have to pick through weights to find
| the ones I need for a lift.
| stefs wrote:
| the colored plates come from olympic weightlifting.
| 0.5kg / 5kg white 1kg / 10kg green 1.5kg /
| 15kg yellow 2kg / 20kg blue 2.5kg / 25kg
| red
|
| makes it easier to count the weight on the bar quickly (the
| metal collars are also 2.5kg each). the green 10kg plate is
| the first full size plate (ignoring youth/beginner plates).
| brodouevencode wrote:
| I love oly weights but there's something deeply nostalgic
| and satisfying about metal Yorks clanging each rep.
| daniel_reetz wrote:
| resistor color codes, but for mass
| shrubble wrote:
| Another word for it is "resistance training", so...
| jerlam wrote:
| That's the big difference between a "weightlifting gym", the
| first gym; and a "gym with weights", the second gym. The
| people going to the first go regularly and treat it like
| home, and the owners have to charge accordingly to buy and
| maintain good equipment, making it a place where the users
| choose to go. In the second, the preferred customer is
| someone that pays for a long contract but never goes to the
| gym and there's no point it making it other than surface-
| level nice. Then again the second gym costs half or a third
| of the first gym.
| spaceheater wrote:
| Cool website and notion, but, I mean, it's a fucking stone.
| There are like a billion of them, just laying around, older
| than all humans. I wish my life was this carefree. I will start
| my own stone lifting club, everyone is welcome, lift till you
| drop.
| UniverseHacker wrote:
| A lot of these stones are important cultural and historic
| artifacts with hundreds of years of history and culture
| behind them, and people traveling long distances to see and
| lift them. Destroying it is irreversible since each stone is
| unique.
|
| It's fine if you go out in the forest and drop a random
| stone, but don't travel to Iceland or Scotland and destroy a
| stone with hundreds of years of history.
| cfeduke wrote:
| We pour concrete to make Atlas stones for specific weights
| knowing that these artificial stones will eventually be
| ruined by accident by the people who have a new interest in
| stone lifting. We also collect natural stones which may get
| ruined by mistake so people in the club can get used to
| lifting irregular shapes.
|
| But when it comes to the historical stones, all the prep work
| above is so these stones are not ruined. It's a privilege to
| try to lift a stone that Irish or Scottish men would lift to
| become huscarls for their lord and breaking one out of
| carelessness is a loss for everyone in this hobby.
| stronglikedan wrote:
| > gyms that turn a blind eye to people not replacing weights
|
| They almost all do, because calling people out will lose you
| more customers than you'll lose from patrons being annoyed by
| the practice. It's just good business to ignore it and make the
| employees clean up at closing time.
| brodouevencode wrote:
| This is true in almost all of the commercial gyms I've ever
| been to. In the more specialized gyms I've never seen this
| problem until this particular occasion.
| wrycoder wrote:
| A cheap 45# plate with square edges lying flat on a concrete
| floor is quite challenging for ordinary (or older) mortals to
| pick up that first inch. So, please rack 'em or at least leave
| them leaning.
| maxglute wrote:
| Extra annoying when people half ass clean up, i.e. stack plates
| on wrong pins, makes cleaning up for others even harder. The
| only weight storage I've seen people reliably use (and not
| well) are bumper racks on the ground, but it gets people to do
| something since it's already on the ground in the first place.
| theragra wrote:
| I don't understand, honestly. Never seen this in any gym in my
| country in Europe (which is poor). How is the difference so
| big?
| NoboruWataya wrote:
| There is a documentary called Strongland that explores the sport
| of stone lifting in three different cultures: Basque Country,
| Scotland and Iceland. It's worth a watch, very interesting and
| well made.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxEAK5-2Leeul8idnGCE...
| db39 wrote:
| Stoneland, Fullsterkur, and Levantadores are many people's
| introduction to stonelifting. They're wonderful documentaries.
| Martins Licis (2019 World's Strongest Man) also produces some
| great documentaries related to stonelifting and other obscure
| strength sports with "Strength Unknown" that I recommend to
| anyone interested.
| gillesjacobs wrote:
| Common sense, really. I got angry with my beefcake friend when we
| were are at an anthropological history site in Japan and he
| decided spontaneously to lift the ancestral lifting stone.
|
| Edit: I recall the name: Hida Folk Village (Hida no Sato). There
| is a historic lifting stone on the side of a path, which you
| obviously are not allowed to pick up or would require permission.
| Exact location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oxKc4M2djkk76s8y5
| db39 wrote:
| Funnily enough, I went to Hida no Sato in May to visit the
| stones (the museum itself is great too)! They're going to be
| the subject of one of my future articles. The stones at Hida
| folk village are lighter than most, but the setting makes them
| wonderful. I got permission to lift of course. That's the key
| really - especially with Japanese stones when they're often in
| shrines.
| gillesjacobs wrote:
| You're really dedicated to the sport. They're not on your
| site yet, do you regularly add new ones or are monuments like
| these not in-scope?
|
| Know any in the Benelux? The region seems pretty empty on the
| site, can't say there is a strong stone lifting or strongman
| culture here.
| db39 wrote:
| I do add some monuments. For Japanese stones, I'm a little
| more conservative about adding them, generally. I'll be
| adding the Hida no Sato stones to the map alongside the
| article though.
|
| As for Benelux, I'm not aware of any historic stones. There
| is one person who set up a stonelifting challenge in
| Belgium. Feel free to email me (via the contact email on
| the site) and I can share more info if you want it.
| spacebacon wrote:
| Could it be that your friend champions the inaugural campaign
| to liberate stones from their purgatory?
|
| I wonder if the stone sensed his exuberant freedom and
| exclaimed, "Yes, this is the life!"
| UniverseHacker wrote:
| Stone lifting has been a life changing thing for me. It got me
| through a really difficult time in my life, helping me restore my
| mental and physical health. I'm surprised to see it on Hacker
| News.
| db39 wrote:
| You have no idea how many times I've heard that. And it's not
| far from my own story. The stonelifting community is fantastic.
| scruple wrote:
| Interesting to hear. I've recently pivoted hard towards
| sandbags and naturally I'm seeing more and more about stone
| lifting.
|
| How does one get into this sport? There are no historic stones
| near me, in SoCal, and I'm not really able to get to a
| powerlifting gym due to my professional and personal life /
| obligations. I mostly lift out of a garage gym but I'm
| fascinated to keep seeing this sentiment over and over again as
| I've pushed more into sandbag training.
| JasonFruit wrote:
| I love to see people doing things I've never even thought of that
| embrace history and culture, and that they take pride in doing.
| This is exemplary of the respectful attitude we ought to have
| toward more of our activities.
| harimau777 wrote:
| I wonder if a project could be started to 3D scan and precisely
| weigh traditional lifting stones as a backup if they are ever
| destroyed? Of course conservation is the most important part but
| it would be nice to have a fallback.
| hosh wrote:
| While I can see this idea coming from good intentions, it also
| misses the point. Stonelifting isn't just a physical
| discipline, it also cultivates other aspects -- honoring the
| stones, the land, to receive the legacy of all the others who
| have tried lifting that stone, and to pass on the legacy for
| future generations of stonelifters. Your strength is developed
| within that context, and these ethics become intimately
| entwined with the personal journey. You not only feel more
| physically capable, but you also know it was grown as part of a
| larger legacy. That, in honoring the land and the stones to get
| stronger, some of the stone's and land's own strength has
| become a part of you. That is huge.
|
| I never lifted stones, but I'm involved with other disciplines
| which also cultivates its own set of ethics. That character-
| building aspect is often stripped out in modern practices. No
| 3d replica will ever restore something like that.
| UniverseHacker wrote:
| Exactly. An another aspect of this respectful attitude and
| character would involve accepting the loss if one is
| destroyed rather than replacing it with a fake.
|
| However, precise replicas to already exist for the most
| popular and widely known lifting stones- the Husafell and the
| Dinney stones have been carefully copied and replicated, to
| allow people to train for the real thing from a distance, and
| to allow for their use in strongman competitions when
| removing them from their historical site isn't appropriate or
| allowed.
| joenot443 wrote:
| One of the sites linked is for the Dinnie Stones in Potarch,
| Scotland and I thought it was quite marvelous. [1]
|
| "Lifting will normally commence around 4.30pm to allow judges
| time to get there from work etc."
|
| https://www.thedinniestones.com/Set%20Up%20Your%20Lift.html
| Geisterde wrote:
| What hes trying to say is, WE GO GYM, WE GO NOW!!!!
| Aaronstotle wrote:
| I really want to lift a stone now
| kayodelycaon wrote:
| I read the entire article and really thought this was satire.
| Even reading all of the comments here didn't quite make me
| believe it... but it's real.
|
| The Wikipedia article has some interesting history behind it:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_stone
| erisinger wrote:
| Found this comment while trying to figure out if this is a
| joke.
|
| What an amazing sport.
| maxglute wrote:
| Are there any precast "standard" stones? preferrably something
| symmetric and rubber coated. Maybe why I prefer flipping big
| tires.
| spacebacon wrote:
| I often ponder if the stone ever yearns to revert to dust. Once a
| part of bedrock, it endured the transformative journey of
| glaciation, traversing thousands of kilometers to acquire its
| polished sheen. Originally a substantial presence in its natural
| habitat, it now finds itself in unfamiliar terrain, where it
| seemingly rests undisturbed--or does it? Perhaps the stone
| harbors a silent longing to reunite with its geological origins,
| quietly enduring a life of indifference, yearning for the day it
| can disperse into the wind. Yet, humans, imbuing it with cultural
| significance, have forever arrested its journey, keeping it fixed
| in place for their own entertainment.
| mikestew wrote:
| I took this to be a metaphor for courteous use of gym equipment.
| Then I read the HN comments. "Boy, HN sure is leaning into the
| joke." Then I went back to the website. Then I saw the video an
| HN commenter posted about the 140lb. woman lifting 733lb. of
| stone. Oh, this _is_ for real.
|
| And for real it is. Man, what a sport. I'm just a scrawny, ultra
| marathoning trail runner with boney little runner arms. But I
| have to admit to having shed a tear when that woman in the video
| lifted those two stones. I might never lift even a third that
| much, but I can appreciate the work it takes to get to that
| point, and the unmatchable joy of accomplishing a goal.
|
| Wow, TIL...
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-02-20 23:02 UTC)