maratoolAtlas Stones
How to do the atlas stones
- Begin with the atlas stone between your feet. Bend at the hips to wrap your arms vertically around the Atlas Stone, attempting to get your fingers underneath the stone. Many stones will have a small flat portion on the bottom, which will make the stone easier to hold.
- Pulling the stone into your torso, drive through the back half of your feet to pull the stone from the ground.
- As the stone passes the knees, lap it by sitting backward, pulling the stone on top of your thighs.
- Sit low, getting the stone high onto your chest as you change your grip to reach over the stone. Stand, driving through with your hips. Close distance to the loading platform, and lean back, extending the hips to get the stone as high as possible.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the spinal erectors running either side of the lumbar spine, which hold the spine extended instead of letting it round under load.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders; the adductors steady the thigh against the pull away from the midline; the biceps add force at the elbow.
The calves, forearms, glutes, hamstrings, middle back, quadriceps and traps take a share of the work as well.
Every exercise for:Lower backAbdominalsAdductorsBicepsCalves
How this movement works
The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.
It is filed under strongman, where the load is deliberately awkward rather than balanced. Most of the difficulty goes on holding on and staying braced.
What you need
These train the lower back too, using equipment this one does not:
- Back Extension on Stability Ballexercise ball
- Barbell Dead Liftsbarbell
- Dumbbell Dead Liftsdumbbell
- Hyperextensionsbench
- Hyperextensions With No Hyperextension Benchbody only
Difficulty
Listed at expert level. It asks for range, stability or speed that takes time to build, and it punishes a rushed set-up much harder than an easier movement would.
Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 4 are listed at expert level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.