Atlas Stone

The atlas stone lift moves a heavy spherical stone (typically 100-200 kg in competition) from the ground to a platform, over a bar, or to the shoulder. The movement has two phases: the lap (stone pulled up onto the thighs in a seated-looking position) and the extension (stone driven up from the lap and placed on the target). Tacky — a pine-resin adhesive — is used to make the stone grip the forearms during the lap phase, without which most competition-weight stones slip off the chest.

The lap is the part of the movement that has no analog in barbell work. The athlete starts with hands under the stone, forearms vertical, and rolls the stone onto the tops of the thighs by extending the hips and sitting slightly back. This is not a deadlift — the hands do not grip a handle, and the pulling force comes from the biceps and forearms holding the stone against the body. A failed lap ends the rep; once the stone is in the lap, the extension is relatively straightforward.

Programming atlas stones requires access to stones, tacky, and a trained eye. The movement has a nonzero injury risk: rounded-back extensions under a sphere that is trying to slip forward stress the lumbar spine, the biceps tendons are under high load during the lap, and tacky on the hands means the stone sticks and cannot be dropped mid-rep. Most strongmen start on light stones (30-60 kg) to learn the pattern, progress over months to training weights, and only attempt competition-weight stones with a spotter and a coach.

In LiftProof, atlas stones are tracked by stone weight, target height, and reps. Log each stone weight separately — a 120 kg stone-to-shoulder is a different rep than a 120 kg stone-over-bar, and the lift databases should reflect that. The stone lift carries over primarily to deadlift strength (posterior chain), grip work, and odd-object handling. It does not transfer directly to barbell lifts; the pattern is too different. It is a sport-specific lift that justifies itself within strongman training and rarely outside it.

• Feet behind the stone, not beside — the stone comes up the front of the legs
• Hands under the stone, forearms vertical — grip the stone with the fingers and forearms, not the palms
• Sit back into the lap — do not try to curl the stone up
• Drive hips forward hard to extend the stone to the target
• Tacky applied thin — a thick layer rips skin, a thin layer sticks reliably

• Rounding the back into the lap — predictable cause of lumbar injury
• Gripping the top of the stone like a rock — hands must go under for the lap to work
• No tacky on heavy stones — the stone slides forward, the athlete catches it with the lower back
• Rushing the lap — the lap needs a deliberate pause to set the lift before extending

• deadlift→
• farmer walk→
• zercher squat→