Stonelifting Etiquette

[brodouevencode]

> 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]

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.

[stronglikedan]

> 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.

[maxglute]

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.

[berkes]

> Leave the rack in better shape than when you found it. That's a metaphor for life.

And applicable to many areas. E.g. the famous book "refactoring" by Martin Fowler hinges on this idea. Where we refactor a little bit, every time we visit a class, function or file.

[wrycoder]

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.

[theragra]

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?

[spaceheater]

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.

[db39]

Wasn't expecting to see this on Hacker News! I'm the creator of liftingstones.org - happy to answer any questions about the project!

[Kaibeezy]

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!

[pimlottc]

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.

[michaelt]

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?

[harimau777]

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.

[ubiquitination]

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...

[kriberg]

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 :)

[brodouevencode]

Great work on this. Nice to see non-strongman competitors doing stuff like this.

[jl6]

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?

[gadders]

What should my main lifts be to carry the original hussafell stone?

[nojs]

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?

[jfengel]

Thanks for doing it. I saw this floating around other social media last week, and now it's here.

[tecleandor]

I though it was going to be about harri-jasotzea for a second!

[1905]

What backend is your site made with

[lemper]

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.

[gillesjacobs]

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]

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.

[spacebacon]

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!"

[seoulmetro]

This entire thread/post just feels like an excuse for these people to keep lifting stones and it is no doubt going to lead to more idiots traveling and lifting stones. For some reason Japan is a hub for people being obnoxious.

[_yb2s]

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.

[scruple]

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 or strongman gym, that night have stones, 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.

edit/ Sean has some detailed information on the site about his training.

[db39]

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.

[JasonFruit]

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.

[NoboruWataya]

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]

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.

[kayodelycaon]

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]

Found this comment while trying to figure out if this is a joke.

What an amazing sport.

[wlonkly]

If it wasn't for Wikipedia then I would still be unsure. It feels like the kind of put-on that anyone in the know tries to maintain, like Morning...

... er, I mean, entirely unlike the classic London subway game, Mornington Crescent.

[db39]

>I read the entire article and really thought this was satire.

Can I ask what made you think it was satire? Just disbelief that stonelifting is a thing?

[joenot443]

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

[spacebacon]

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.

[melagonster]

This is cool, I never heard about this haha.

[mikestew]

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...

[OJFord]

They all look manageably sized until you see the photo/video of an enormous dude holding them!

[Aaronstotle]

I really want to lift a stone now

[harimau777]

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]

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.

[hnbad]

Besides the obvious(?) social reasons this is a pointless endeavor, you're also forgetting that stones are not homogeneous crystals but complex minerals, especially at this size. You could try to find the exact type of rock and chisel it into the right shape but it would still be very different and likely also have noticeable differences in weight distribution and grip not to mention appearance.

[maxglute]

Are there any precast "standard" stones? preferrably something symmetric and rubber coated. Maybe why I prefer flipping big tires.

[wlonkly]

Atlas stones are the "standard" stones, but they're concrete spheres, not rubber-coated. Lifters use pine resin, "tacky", on their hands to make them easier to grab. Or less hard to grab, at least.

(Note that the linked article talks about not using tacky on natural stones.)

[TimesOldRoman]

Kettlebells may be what you seek.

[Geisterde]

What hes trying to say is, WE GO GYM, WE GO NOW!!!!