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Wasn't expecting to see this on Hacker News! I'm the creator of liftingstones.org - happy to answer any questions about the project!
by db39 3y ago
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 3y agoWhat should my main lifts be to carry the original hussafell stone?
- db39 3y agoDo you mean what lifts should you train, or what numbers you should hit?
- gadders 3y agoWhat numbers I should hit, to see if it is remotely achievable.
- db39 3y agoThat's a really difficult question because the Husafell is so different to a barbell - along with the fact you have to carry it 35m. There are aspects of grip and wingspan involved, too. I say this as someone who hasn't touched the Husafell in Iceland (yet), so take it with a pinch of salt: From what I've seen, if you haven't hit a ~200kg (440 lb) squat and a ~250kg (550 lb) deadlift, you might struggle with the Husafell stone.
- gadders 3y agoInteresting. I've done a 100kg loadable metal replica. I'm not sure I can see myself hitting those numbers outside of enhancements.
- wswope 3y agoBarring 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 3y agoThat'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 3y agoWhat 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 3y agoA bit like this in Scotland: https://www.thedinniestones.com/ https://www.thedinniestones.com/ For the Icelandic hussafell stone you can just drive up and have a go I believe.
- db39 3y agoThere 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 3y agoPerhaps 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 3y agoInconceivable! 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-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/you-keep-using-that-word-i-do...
- lemper 3y agobro, 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 3y agoI'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 3y agoIt'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 3y agoThanks! 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 3y agoHighly 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 3y agoStrava for lifting stones? This won’t end well.
- db39 3y agoThanks! 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 3y agoThanks for doing it. I saw this floating around other social media last week, and now it's here.
- db39 3y agoGlad 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 3y agoI’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 3y agoI'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 3y agoGreat work on this. Nice to see non-strongman competitors doing stuff like this.
- db39 3y agoThanks!
- harimau777 3y agoHow 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 3y agoMy 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 3y agoLike 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 https://youtu.be/CRaEALQSxTI?&t=434
- LanceH 3y agoThe 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 3y agoThere are novice strongman comps by weight class that you can enter that would scale the atlas stones and adjustable hussafell stones.
- tecleandor 3y agoI though it was going to be about harri-jasotzea for a second!
- db39 3y agoBasque stonelifters are the best in the world. I'd love to write more about them!
- pimlottc 3y agoIt'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.
- db39 3y agoThose are fair points. I guess the audience I wrote this article for is people who are already aware of stonelifting and who are planning to go and lift some stones. I've added a TODO to make it a little more clear in this article. >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? Exactly! A stonelifting tour is when you visit a place (often a country like Scotland or Iceland) to lift various historic stones on the same trip. Sometimes that's with other lifters.
- jl6 3y agoThe 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?
- db39 3y agoA bit of both. Scotland definitely has a concentration of stonelifters in the community. But there are plenty of stones that I haven't added to the map (in Iceland, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, and Japan especially). I try to branch out to other countries and cultures as possible.
- Kaibeezy 3y agoOP 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!
- db39 3y agoAwesome! I know of the stone the page mentions. Someone placed a stone there a couple of years back because it's such an amazing place.
- 1905 3y agoWhat backend is your site made with
- db39 3y agoIt's just a Jekyll static site.