Getting Fit - An Ages old Method that is only a Stones Throw Away

This is one method which adventuress Vic Challenger uses to stay ready to deal with bad guys and monsters. It is a method used throughout recorded history and probably long as people have been people. It’s called stone lifting. It’s a sport where you lift a stone. Pretty complicated, huh! Fair notice: I am no expert. I’ve done some reading to feel comfortable mentioning it in the Vic Challenger novels. If you are an expert, please be forgiving. I do not know all the correct terminology but will try to give non-experts a decent intro. If you don’t know anything about stone lifting you are about to be exposed to some neat info.

Stones for lifting are portrayed in Egyptian hieroglyphics and in stone reliefs from ancient Rome and Greece. Evidence shows weight training was being done in China, 1,000 years B.C. From my research it seemed to have an especially strong tradition in the British Isles. Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales all have a long history.

Vikings also used stones to gain strength. Though they were and are thought of as fierce and strong, the day to day activities for Vikings were farming and fishing. To earn your way onto a boat bound for war and plunder you needed to prove yourself. Even to get a position or move up to a better position on a fishing boat you had to prove yourself. This was done by lifting stones. A village would have a series of stones of increasing weights. Each position required you lift a specific stone in the series. Seems logical. The leader/captain (manager?) would automatically be the strongest guy in the group and best able to put down (literally) any grumblers.

Stone lifting was also practiced in Japan where it was called, Chikaraishi. It has been practiced for well over 1,000 years in Shinto rituals and strength competitions, Over 300 stones have been named as important items of Japanese heritage. One source pointed out why Chikaraishi became so popular. It was free. Anyone could do it. Walk around until you find a big stone and start lifting. I would wager that was also an impetus in some other cultures.

Stone lifting doesn't get a lot of press but it is still around, So, what are some of the exercises included in stone lifting competitions or other strong man competitions which feature a stone lifting component? Here are those which I saw mentioned most often:

1. Press. Just like with a barbell - lift the stone overhead.

2. Carry. Various. Lift very heavy stones fitted with metal handles. Usually very heavy. Lift off the ground and carry for a specified circuit. Or,, lift to chest or shoulder and carry over a circuit,

3. Lift to chest and hold with weights greater than used for press.

4. Didn’t catch a name for this but saw a video - lift very heavy and heave over a rail.

5. Speed lifting, which can be done by multi competitors at one time. Lift stone to shoulder. Sit it back on the ground. Lift to shoulder. Sit back on ground. It’s timed and person who lifts the most times is winner.

Stones can be a wide range of weights. Current champion lifts for an Atlas Stone (round, like the world) is 560 pounds for male and 327 for female. Could you get either of those on your shoulder? Maybe not champion weights but with practice you can lift more than you think. Time for a personal story.

My first job out of high school was driving delivery for an industrial chemical company. To be fair, I must acknowledge that I lifted weights some. I owned a 100 pound barbell. The things I routinely lifted on that job ranged from 50 pounds to over 500 pounds. Most days I spent half driving the other half lifting. It was not easy the first day. Or week. Or month, It got easier. Within a few months I could sit 2 drums of chlorine, 100 pounds each, in the back of a van; lean over and wrap an arm around each; stand and carry them typically for a hundred yards or more (to a back yard pool shed); squat; sit one down and put the other on top. It was easy. I could also get a 55 gallon drum into a van. Tilt it and hold top with one hand; grab the bottom with my other hand; lift it just above waist level and roll it into the van. That became easy. BTW, nowadays I’m a 5 gallon bucket guy.

I witnessed something even more astounding. I was doing an audit for a job related to a client being injured on the job. He worked for an extermination company and fell from a roof and hurt his back. On of my tasks was to determine if he could return to his customary work.

During the audit I witnessed workers lean a ladder against a two-story home; throw a 300+ pound tarp on a shoulder; climb the ladder and walk across the slanted roof; and appeared to be un-phased.

What does this have to do with stone lifting? As hinted in the paragraph about Vikings, stone lifting was often associated with work and grew into a sport. Ancient Egyptians lifted bags of sand - prep for work on the pyramids, I guess. In Chikaraishi, all contests were not to lift stone, but different size bags of rice and kegs of sake. Wow! Guess how they celebrated after.

When you see someone really strong, chances are they are not the son or daughter of Zeus and were born that way, The worked at it, I suspect there are still today dozens or perhaps hundreds of occupations which naturally build great strength in the workers. The same can be said, too, for any ability. Work, exercise, practice. As Hippocrates said way back, “that which is used develops, and that which is not used wastes away.” One of the posters on Vic’s website has a quote by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Paraphrased, he says there is no shortcut to getting fit. It’s reps, reps, reps. That’s why Vic Challenger trains several times a week You can, too. Be an adventuress, weight lifter, artist, bow hunter, pilot, snow boarder - you name it. Even if you have never done what you wish to do, you can, It just takes the decision and those reps, reps, reps.

Here is a quote I found in one of the references. It’s by a man lifting the Inver Stone (224 lbs). It’s another way of saying the reps work. Roger Davis of England: “Humbled 10 years ago, victorious today, the stone hasn’t changed – I have.”

So, go find your rock or whatever it is you need and get started on your change. Reps. Reps. Reps.

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(I’m a newbie; no habit for regular posts yet, but working on it)

Here are some references about stone lifting:

– https://barbend.com/strongman-stone-history/Michael Gill (no relation as far as I know)

– https://www.verywellfit.com/the-history-of-weight-training-and-lifting-3498501

- http://www.oldmanofthestones.com/

Has lots of references and links to specific historical lifting stones in the Scotland, England and vicinity. Many stones have names and rich history and you can make an appointment and try to lift one.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikaraishi

- https://physicalculturestudy.com/2017/02/28/history-of-the-barbell/

- https://www.livestrong.com/article/275029-the-history-of-weightlifting/Ancient History

Haven't started the Vic Challeger series yet? Book one digital is .99 cents on Amazon and Google play.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FVMG1SC/ref=abs_add_sc_

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