Safety Bar Squats & 250lb Atlas Stone…

5x10 @ 120lbs

Safety Bar Squats...

*Red Bar is 70lbs

Cash Out:  250lb Atlas Stone - lapped it! 

Grip the stone as tightly as possible, as if you were performing a chest flye. Pull the stone up to your hips and then sit back, so the stone is in your lap. This is known as “lapping the stone.” Adjust your arms, so they’re more over the top of the stone, at the two and 10 o’clock positions. This allows you to create a shelf on your body for the stone to sit and not fall out from under you when you stand.

Stage 1 – Getting it off the floor

This portion of the lift is going to involve physically moving the stone from the floor and onto your knees.

Once the stone has been lifted to just past your knees, you’ll want to push your hips back into a position similar to that of the bottom portion of a squat.

From here you can re-adjust your grip, take in some more air and get ready for the second part of the lift.

At the start of the lift, your goal will be to get a good grip of the stone, tucking your hands right under the centre of the stone while keeping your arms as straight as possible.

Once a good grip has been established, the lift is similar to that of a stiff leg deadlift.

You’ll need to tense your arms and chest, almost trying to crush the stone with your upper body to keep that thing as close to you as possible.

This will cause tension in all the muscles in your hands while trying to maintain a grip of the stone, as well as your forearms, biceps, Front Deltoids and chest (Pectoralis major and minor).

From personal experience, I’ve found atlas stones are a game changer for bicep size and strength and overall grip strength.

Upon bracing your arms and chest around the stone, you’ll (hopefully) start the lift from the floor to your knees.

Your upper back muscles, including your traps (trapezius) and your Lats (Latissimus dorsi) will be engaged while you lift the stone and stabilise your body.

The lower back muscles including the flexors, erector spinae and the glutes (gluteus maximus) will be working as you leverage the stone up as well as your Hamstrings just below the glutes.

So for stage 1 of the stone lift the muscles worked include –  

Arms, muscles used for grip in the hands, forearms and biceps

Shoulders – Front deltoids

Chest – Pectoralis major and minor

Upper back in its entirety – trapezius and latissimus dorsi

Lower back – flexors, erector spinae, gluteus maximus

Legs – Hamstrings

*Iron & Strength 

AVG HR - 119

MAX HR - 147