I am presenting our variant Kenneth Jay’s VO2 max kettlebell protocol its simple to follow and very effective.  Basically you will snatching a kettlebell for 20 to 45 minutes.  You will first need to find your cadence once you have that cadence you are ready to go

Cadence:  When finding your cadence you swing for 5 minutes uninterrupted at increasing cadences.  You will rest with the kettlebell over your head never setting it down

• Minute 1: snatch once every 10 seconds
• Switch hands
• Minute 2: snatch once every 8 seconds
• Switch hands
• Minute 3: snatch once every 6 seconds
• Switch hands
• Minute 4: snatch once every 4 seconds
• Switch hands
• Minute 5: snatch as fast you can getting as many reps as possible 1 minute

Record your max cadence and multiply it by 0.6, this number will be your goal cadence each set.  If you get 40 reps in your last minute then you would have a cadence of 24 reps each set.

40 x 0.60 = 24

Performing the protocol:

You can do this protocol for anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes.  If you are doing it as standalone conditioning with no other training that day I recommend 45minutes.  20 minutes represents the minimum amount of time one should be active to elicit a cardiovascular response.

This protocol follows a 36:36 pattern that is thirty six second of work followed by thirty six seconds of rest. You will switch hands after each break.

Work:

You will use the cadence you found above as your goal.  Above you got 40 reps in the last minute so you will do doing 24 reps in 36 seconds.  If you finish before the 36 seconds is up then you will wait with the kettlebell over your head.  So this tells you that cadence is important at 15 seconds you should be at 12 reps.  The goal is to finish your last rep right at 36 seconds.

Rest:

After your 36 seconds of work is done set the kettlebell down and rest for 36 seconds.  When you resume your next work set your will start with the opposite hands

Summary:

So you will go for 36 seconds on and 36 seconds off alternating hands for the 20-45 minutes.  Your snatch cadence should be with long enough pauses at the top of each snatch to evenly space your reps so that your last rep will be at exactly 36 seconds.

When you tell people you are a stone lifter they look at you shake their head in agreeance.  Then something happens it sinks in what you just said so they pause for a couple of seconds and say

“Now what?, You lift stones???…what kind of stones like rocks or something?”

At that point you have their attention you have said something totally different than anything they have heard someone say in a long time, boarder line completely original. They are intrigued and kind of shocked and dismayed, they want to know more…a lot more.  You now have two options you can Scare the holy crap out of them with story of near failures and horrible accidents you “nearly” survived in an effort to make yourself look “very cool”.  In 98% of cases thes near death experiences are greatly embellished or you can choose to take a different route, a route that is rich in history, rites of passage, and thousands of years of human culture.

To site the origins of stone lifting would be impossible I am sure it predates written history.  I am going to attempt to tell some of the more recent stories.

The most basic stone lifting story goes back to Norse sailors, stones were use in a very important way the first was to verify that you were actually well enough to be a Sailor if you could not lift a stone in the neighborhood of 100lbs then you were deemed unfit to be a boatman, If a prospect or boatman could lift a stone around the range of 200lbs then they were given or moved to the second pay grade.  If Boatman or prospect could lift a 400lb stone then they received the highest pay grade and were given the position of a rower on these massive vessels.  My personal theory is if the ballast (made of stone) of the ship was somehow disrupted the captain and crew of your ship had to be sure you could aid in repositioning it to keep the boat from capsizing at sea.

The Next popular lifting stone of history are referred to as “The manhood stones” These stone mostly reside from Scotland and areas around it.  I personally had the great pleasure this year of spending an evening with David Webster and listening to his stories of these stone.  They range of every purpose, from test to see if you were capable to be a part of royal guards to simple test of physical prowess amongst men.  These contest ranged everything from throwing, carrying, shouldering, pressing and hoisting onto high platforms.  In carrying events a stone is usually carried about 100 feet (30meters)

Some of the more popular stones of history are

• Inver stone
• The blue stones of old daily
• Dinnie Stone

So as you can see Stone lifting is a very large part of our strength culture and do to current technology of molding and fast setting concrete anyone can create their own stones.  We have them in the gym and I even have one that stays in my backyard all year for anyone brave enough to try.  In a modern world of organized and recreational athletics I find it hard to believe that stone lifting has been pushed to the way side.  I would love to see popularity rise again when adults and young men gather at local parks to show off their strength, gauge themselves against each other, and practice their skills.

Stones are easy and inexpensive to make they require very little to no maintenance, one mold can make many stones (upwards of 40 to 50) I have provided links below to the finest molds in productions today.

Strongman Equipment

Slater 18" Atlas Stone

Ready to start lifting stones!! Get your Slater Strength stone molds and start makinig your own stones by clicking right here.  If you are interested in buying already made stones please contact us for pricing!!

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