The Masters Athlete Survival Guide
We explore thriving as an athlete after 40. Each episode, we’ll dive into tips, hacks, and inspiring stories from seasoned athletes and our personal experience. Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a competitive pro, this podcast is your playbook for staying fit, strong, and motivated
The Masters Athlete Survival Guide
Stones, Stories, and Superhero Names: John "Rock Man" Johnson
John "Rock Man" Johnson shares his journey from childhood athlete to desk job worker to internationally connected stone lifter, revealing how this ancient practice transformed both his physical strength and mental resilience.
• Early athletic career playing baseball and football before losing interest in fitness during young adulthood
• Family connection to Hollywood through uncle Pat Johnson, martial arts expert and fight choreographer for films like Karate Kid
• The pivotal moment when seeing an unflattering photo prompted his return to fitness
• Discovering rock lifting by chance while hiking in the woods
• Finding mentors like Ross Enemayat, Bud Jeffries, and Scott Sonnen who shaped his fitness philosophy
• How stone lifting helped him develop mental toughness during challenging life transitions
• Connecting with a worldwide community of stone lifters through social media
• The various cultural traditions of stone lifting found across Scotland, Ireland, Asia and beyond
• His ongoing quest to discover a historic Erie Canal lifting stone during the canal's bicentennial year
• The technical aspects of approaching and lifting awkwardly shaped natural stones
Join us outdoors this spring to experience stone lifting firsthand and connect with this ancient test of strength!
@masters_athlete_survival_guide on IG
New episodes come out every other Thursday!
Welcome to the Master's Athlete Survival Guide, where we explore the secrets to thriving in sports after 40. I'm John Catalinas and, along with Scott Fyke, we'll dive into training tips, nutrition hacks and inspiring stories from seasoned athletes who defy age limits. Whether you're a weekend warrior or a competitive pro, this podcast is your playbook for staying fit, strong and motivated. Let's get started and we're back. Hi, I'm John, I'm Scott, and we have a guest in Aurora Studios today John air quotes rock man on air quotes Johnson. Hi, john.
Speaker 1:Hi guys, the first thing we're going to have to get into is the air quotes. Okay, no, no, no, no time out what?
Speaker 3:you actually are sitting there in an audio podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, making finger air quotes like moomin shots do you remember moomin shots when we were a kid? Yeah, yeah, with like the toilet paper eyes that they would spin off yeah I I'm sort of I'm approaching mime-ish. This is the worst Start, daddy podcast.
Speaker 3:Mine does not work in an audio podcast. It does. If I say it does, Alright it works.
Speaker 2:Let's get back to air quotes Rockman, I appreciate the air quotes, by the way.
Speaker 1:Thanks. Yeah, it was a visual aid for the guest. It's all about the guest here. I know If you look up to the third floor of aurora studios down that golden staircase past the coke machine, um, what I've done is I've laid out an assortment of charcuterie or uh, for our guests to have later excellent, yeah, I love the fact that this is audio only and we can just lie about what Aurora.
Speaker 3:Studios really looks like. Big fan and that you can actually say charcuterie.
Speaker 1:Ooh, yes, I can. Should we let?
Speaker 3:the guest talk a little.
Speaker 1:We should. He's a good guy. Ask him a question, Hi guest.
Speaker 2:Hello, how you doing Scott.
Speaker 3:All right, I'll BS aside how you doing, john. Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 2:It's my pleasure.
Speaker 3:Tell us a little bit about yourself before we get into the actual, the Rockman, side of it, please.
Speaker 2:Okay, Well, I was a personal trainer for 20 years. I've been into fitness on and off. Since my 20s played sports.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, that was awful. Then the guest ruins the podcast when he just got the notification that his feet pics went live on.
Speaker 2:Only fans we make sure all my volumes are turned down that's fine.
Speaker 1:You know, it's hard to be a mover and shaker, and I was just about to say, when he said he's been into fitness for 20 years, I gotta'm going to say fitness pizza in my mouth. That's exactly what was in my head.
Speaker 3:All right, let's start that again. Rewind a minute Hi.
Speaker 1:John.
Speaker 3:Welcome to Aurora Studios.
Speaker 2:Why don't you?
Speaker 3:tell us a little bit about yourself before we get into the Rockman side of you, please. Sure Air quotes Air quotes.
Speaker 2:We'll step back. I'm a husband, father. We will step back. I'm. I'm a husband, father. Um, I've, geez, I was a graphic designer for many years and a personal trainer for 20. Um, yeah, so I've been into fitness since my 20s, played sports, all the youth sports, and what is all the youth sports?
Speaker 1:let's not gloss over that what did you do?
Speaker 2:baseball?
Speaker 1:and well, I guess not all I did baseball and football, see, and I couldn't catch to save my life.
Speaker 3:You see, I was a catcher, but only because I was the fattest kid on the team by a mile that's what usually happened and they knew really is that a thing? No one was gonna. If they tried to charge home plate, even if I didn't have the ball, yeah, they weren't gonna touch home plate no, no in my head, just so you know, I have like a job of the hut in catcher gear kind of it wasn't quite, it wasn't quite that bad.
Speaker 3:That's literally what's in my head half a job, oh, half a job is that like a half calf, half calf yeah so yeah, baseball football I played.
Speaker 2:I was pitcher, first baseman and then eventually center fielder. So how that all worked out I don't know, but I enjoyed baseball. My dad was the coach for most of my my baseball career that's fun is that good or bad it? Was good yeah it was good my, my brothers played and it was cool having dad as the coach my, uh, my daughters played softball and the one team because they bopped around especially.
Speaker 1:They were both pretty good and they sort of got pimped out Like that's a thing now, like, oh, we're going to this tournament, can we borrow this player? And especially my daughter, caitlin, would go to teams that she wasn't necessarily on, but she had this one coach who the pitcher was and typically it's the pitcher, pitcher, right, the pitcher's the daughter, and he wasn't mean to her, but it was. It was a tenuous relationship. Let's go with that. I'll be polite. I've seen that. Yeah, but have my dad as a coach, that's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:So, and then I went on to play football and my dad found a way to become a football coach with me. Oh, wow. And that was horrible.
Speaker 1:My first, not him as a coach. You just let in it and then my dad went in it. That was the worst thing ever.
Speaker 3:Football was horrible for me because I didn't like exercise.
Speaker 2:back then I hated exercise.
Speaker 1:I always hated exercise.
Speaker 2:I liked play. Oh, but my first two years in football were horrible. They put me as a nose guard in the center was always the biggest, strongest guy. I got hammered.
Speaker 1:Should we mention the dimensionality of our friend John air quote rock man, un-air quote.
Speaker 3:Johnson, I'm going to let you describe that, mr Catalina.
Speaker 1:All right, we're going to go that John's 5'10", 5'9" Not even 5'6".
Speaker 2:Oh see, I lied 5'6 1⁄2".
Speaker 1:So you know what, when I look at you and dude, you're strong and we'll get into that part, but nose guard, Did you annoy somebody?
Speaker 2:I must have yeah.
Speaker 3:Let's go. His father must not have liked him. His dad was the coach.
Speaker 2:He wasn't the coach yet at that point.
Speaker 3:All right. All right, that'll help a little bit, so go murder my son.
Speaker 2:So I pretty much got my butt kicked every practice, every game. And then they put me at defensive tackle. Same story, it just got crushed. I was only 12, 13.
Speaker 1:Oh, so there wasn't the big disparity of sizes back then. Yeah, except Scott who was taking up all of home plate.
Speaker 3:And the left side of the offensive line At the same time. At the same time.
Speaker 2:Nice Wow.
Speaker 1:Disturbing is what that is.
Speaker 3:Not only did he take up a third of the offensive line and half of home plate.
Speaker 2:So yeah, anyway, not only only take up a third of the offensive line and half the ball plate. So, yeah, anyway, back back to the football. This is not going to be a linear conversation, just okay. So then they had me at offensive tackle and what I hated offense, because you couldn't tackle people, um. But eventually um, my third year, everything clicked and I suddenly loved football. They put me in as middle linebacker, where I thrived, became team captain, team player of the year. I loved it. I loved hitting people, I loved watching the play unfold, knowing where to plug the hole and then just nail somebody. It was a lot of fun, until I went against Lewiston, and it was a great game. I was feeling good and one of the plays I saw, the hole open up the running back came through. Next thing, I know it was on my back seeing stars. I got hit so hard and I pulled myself out of the game for a few plays just to gather myself.
Speaker 1:I probably had a mild concussion or more so, but that was back in the day. We're just yeah, get back in there, kid but I found out years later my dad.
Speaker 2:He says remember that time you got hit really hard playing against lewiston? Said yeah. He says you know who time you got hit really hard playing against Lewiston? I said yeah. He says do you know who that was? I said no. He said when we were watching a football game. Oh, I knew who it was. Dwayne Johnston went on to play for the Cowboys.
Speaker 3:Really yeah. Or Daryl Daryl, daryl Johnston, yeah, the Moose.
Speaker 2:He hit moose. He's a big mother. Wow, I never in my life ever been hit that hard, and yeah it was.
Speaker 1:It was quite a wake-up call, so you just need to learn how to spin that story. Yeah, so I was playing against future hall of famer and you know, things happen nice but yeah, so that was, that was my football career.
Speaker 2:I did it for one year in high school and didn't like it, didn't like the coach. Where did you go to high school, lasalle?
Speaker 1:Walmart, walmart, I was going to say. I know somebody that went to Walmart, yep.
Speaker 2:It was a wonderful school experience. School lunches were great there.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, it was such a good experience. They tore it down. Yeah yeah, Nice there.
Speaker 2:Yeah right it was such a good experience, they tore it down. Yeah, yeah, nice, so okay. After high school after high school, I well, yeah, I during high school, sports became a thing of my past, and partying and girls became a thing of my future so yeah so no, no, uh sports for a while after that and then, out of high school I moved to California.
Speaker 2:Fitness and all those things were not in my game plan whatsoever, just having fun and enjoying life. When I moved back, I got back into fitness, being a single dad. When I came back I realized I wanted to be in shape for my kids.
Speaker 2:That's cool and then for my grandkids, Because I watched you go to sporting events and stuff with your brothers and you know their kids and you see the parents that were on the sidelines that couldn't participate with anything, they didn't play catch with their kids, Some because they just didn't want to, Some because they just weren't in shape to be able to do it. And I thought I'm not going to be that dad. I will never be a sideline dad.
Speaker 1:Cool, cool, cool, cool. How many years, pat? How long were you in California? Six years, oh okay. How many years, pat, how long were you in California?
Speaker 2:Six years, oh okay, which I could go into a big story about that. My uncle was a Hollywood fight choreographer martial artist.
Speaker 1:You do know it's a podcast and we tell stories, right All right. So this is a good story.
Speaker 2:That's kind of how it works, absolutely so. My uncle, pat Johnson he was the captain of the Chuck Norris fight team, that's a thing yeah, oh, back when martial arts were just and Chuck Norris was kind of a thing, chuck Norris was, yeah, at that time my uncle. I don't know how we met Chuck Norris, but they became friends through martial arts.
Speaker 2:My uncle got involved when he was in Okinawa with the army. So at some point him and Chuck became fast friends. Chuck told him you know, anytime if you want to come out to California, I have a place for you, and you know so. And then he was opening up at all his martial arts studios and things, and then from there they became really good friends. My uncle went on to um be the captain of the chuck norris fight team. A record of 119 wins, one loss or one draw? Oh and um, in what discipline? Uh, tang sudo? Oh, I have no idea what that is.
Speaker 1:It's, it's nokinawan karate is that like an actual fighting thing, or is that like doing your positions, kind of thing?
Speaker 2:Back then it was an actual fighting thing, Just like martial arts has become very soft. Now a lot of them Because it's a money. You know it's a huge money grab.
Speaker 1:I would just like to put aside here now If you're a ninja and you think you want to come to Aurora Studios and murder me for?
Speaker 3:Please feel free in exactly two hours.
Speaker 2:No no, no. So from there, of course, Chuck Norris became Hollywood. Chuck Norris and my uncle was involved in some of the movies. He didn't like being in front of the camera, he liked being behind the scenes guy, so he became a fight choreographer. That's cool. And he's been with Bruce Lee. He was friends with Bruce Lee. What His best friend was, Steve McQueen and Chuck Norris.
Speaker 2:So I mean you have, I mean right there, the trifecta, yeah, I mean you really do so some of the stories if they're really awesome about those guys and they're funny. But so he went on to become a fight choreographer and he did a lot of different movies with Chuck Norris, bruce Lee, jackie Chan, the Big Brawl, ultimate Warrior with Yul Brynner.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then from there the Karate Kid movies came up and my uncle not only was the fight choreographer, he was also the referee in the last fight.
Speaker 1:So wait your uncle choreographed the crane technique, I think. Oh no, we're just going to say yes, yes, absolutely. Wow, dude, we're not worthy. We have the Forrest Gump of strength sports with us today. Like he's got like. Oh, I was you know. So I was talking to Arnold one day and he mentioned Lou Ferrigno and the next thing I know, I'm training at Muscle Beach and that's how it went. We could just end right there.
Speaker 2:That's my story. Thank you for coming.
Speaker 1:I'm literally gobsmacked. Yeah, so wow. Yeah, that's a good word. No that I took a big pregnant pause for to the acknowledgement of, if anybody wanted to google, uh isn't that a band.
Speaker 3:I think so with its godsmack. Oh, I'm so close. Yeah, similar, whatever that's glenn yeah.
Speaker 2:So when I graduated high school, I had a chance to go establish myself in california live with my uncle, and my mom had dreams of grandeur that I'd get into the movie business and all that you're a handsome dude.
Speaker 1:I could see where she went with that. Yeah, yeah, I can see that see I can see.
Speaker 2:My mirror kind of says the same thing. But um, so I went out there coming from niagara falls, a small little town. All of a sudden I'm in this, this vast environment, with everything at my fingertips in, in no control. Were you? Were you in like la hollywood area? I was in Los Angeles County, san Fernando Valley, okay, okay and yeah, it took me two years to adjust to life out there.
Speaker 2:It was mind-blowing and I had trouble making friends and then when I got into a friend group it became similar to the kind of friends I had here, so that drifted off into a whole different lifestyle that was not conducive to a healthy life, I get you.
Speaker 2:So, um, which ended up me becoming a father of two wonderful children excellent.
Speaker 2:And then, um, because of how everything shook out out there, I moved back here and I was able to bring my kids with me. But through that, because of my uncle, even though I was rebellious and didn't allow that kind of control over my life where I should have the lessons I was learning through my uncle and watching him be a trainer and go through the whole fitness regime that had a deep impact on me and not only that his integrity, there were just so many things about my uncle that resonated with me that I would have never admitted back then or shared with anybody. But it resonated very deeply and it carried on when I moved back here. Very deeply and it carried on when I moved back here. So I started getting into fitness slowly, you know, just building myself up and doing some little research and whatever and I really got into fitness, enjoyed it, and then at some point I got away from it, became a graphic artist, as one does yes and yeah. When I got promoted to the desk job, things really changed.
Speaker 1:Nice when we were talking how old were you when you did the desk job thing? Let's see.
Speaker 2:I would be. I was in my 30s, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's my, that's John's, theory of the arc of the master's athlete. You do stuff when you're young. You do something maybe in your 20s because you can just kind of join a bar league thing, do a thing, train not at all and go do a thing. Then life happens, it's either kids or work or something, and you get semi-sedentary. And then we, we blossom as we age, absolutely. Yes, scott's looking at me like I am blossomed. See this? This is blossom. You're welcome. That's a weed. And for our listeners, scott is a bit like he's coming out of a cold. He's cranky.
Speaker 3:Scott's not cranky, scott's just honest. Today for Mr Catalanus, aren't you always honest?
Speaker 1:Wait, I'm running a dishonest podcast, oh no oh my god, that's the worst. You know one thing I did gloss over, john how old are you? I'm 58 yeah, right, dude looks great I am so annoyed that there's so many people that come on this podcast that like are holding it together way better than blossoming me, all right, so you're in your 30s, you're at a desk job.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir.
Speaker 3:You've sort of dabbled a little with fitness, you know going back.
Speaker 2:Before that, I went back to school. I went to college in my mid-20s to be a fitness professional. I wanted to be a gym teacher, trainer, nutrition, and I really got into fitness there and met some you know the gym bros and the mean heads and learned all kinds of cool stuff, but I never deadlift. I was afraid because I listened to older people say you shouldn't deadlift, it's bad for your back, and I used to to do this. So, um, which that'll connect later, um, but I ended up having to drop out because, being a single dad with parents going through a divorce, and I had to take stock of where I was at and figure things out, went to school for graphic design. A couple of years later, went to Rochester, worked in a print shop, got promoted to the desk job, which was great because the pay was a lot better, but I was sedentary, yeah, but you needed the pay more.
Speaker 1:And it's funny, I was thinking, as you're talking, because I'm 57, right, so I kind of can put where I was at 30. Like when I and as you're talking because I'm 57, right, so I kind of can put where I was at 30, like, like when I was a collegiate athlete there was no internet, so there was no awareness. Like when you went to california you really didn't know what you're getting into, because it wasn't as easy as popping on instagram and going oh, oh, so this is what it's like out there and this is this guy and I'll follow this guy and I'll figure it all out. Right in our, when we were 30, like, fitness culture was belly matrix, fancy, glitzy aerobic gyms right, but if you had money, it was golds well, yeah but,
Speaker 1:what I'm saying is it wasn't as prevalent. You know, grandma wasn't going to the gym uh, there was no pickleball, there was pickleball. Yeah, so yeah anyway I.
Speaker 1:I apologize for interrupting, but I think, I think it's important to frame your story a little bit too, because you're kind of on the bit of the bleeding edge when it comes to fitness. I mean, you know you're no chuck norris, but no, no, I don't even think chuck norris is chuck norris anymore. But you, you sort of stumbled through like ahead of like, where a lot of people were, yeah, even when you were sedentary it was but before the sedentary part.
Speaker 2:Before that, we as a graphic designer, we had access to computers and the internet was still kind of a new thing, but I did some research because I was still a little bit into fitness at the time, before that point, and I found these three guys that changed my outlook on fitness forever, just outside of the box thinking, because I was never even though I liked Arnold and the bodybuilding and powerlifting and I loved watching that stuff I never, ever, did a deep dive on the history of any of these guys or their bios and followed them and wanted to emulate them. I just thought it was cool. It was more of a surface thing, so I didn't know all the big names. So somebody can mention names. I'm like yeah I don't know well, you're similar.
Speaker 2:You know you do this. I have no idea because I just didn't go that route. So I found this guy named Ross Enemayat. He's a boxing coach. He was a boxer, damaged his hands boxing, became a coach and all of his stuff was so outside the box. It was for conditioning and strength and he had this thing. I ended up buying some of his books Never Gymless. He did a few other ones, but everything was so outside the box and it resonated with me like training outdoors. Okay, making your own equipment, not allowing, not having all the pretty shiny things affect how you do fitness. I'm like this is pretty amazing. I love this. So there was him and I found this guy, bud Jeffries super strong guy.
Speaker 1:Why do I know that name?
Speaker 2:He passed away after about with COVID.
Speaker 1:I had nothing to do with it, but why do I know that name? I do know that name.
Speaker 2:He has a lot of things to his name.
Speaker 1:Was he just a big author?
Speaker 2:No Lifter, he was a performing, strong man. He um ran, uh, anti-bullying seminars, schools. He did a lot of things. He was also one of the first guys to do an anderson squat, which is the bottom up squat a thousand pounds oh, that might be why.
Speaker 3:Oh, we may have heard his name through the heavy just incredible.
Speaker 2:So when I first found him, um, he was, he was. He was big, 400 something pounds so and and you'd look at him and think you know he's, he's an obese guy. But here he is lifting this, these ungodly amounts of weight, and he's doing splits and somersaults and all this other crazy stuff. I'm like, well, this guy's pretty amazing. So I bought some of his stuff and did a deep dive on that. And then I came across another guy called Scott Sonnen who created this thing called TACFIT and Club Bells and had these different programs, a lot of it based on recovery, mobility, movement while you're strength training so that you're not getting the achy joints and the achy body parts. You're staying mobile while you're getting strong.
Speaker 2:So I call those guys the trinity of my fitness coaches. So I call those guys the trinity of my fitness coaches. They were like that, those guys that kind of formed my fitness outlook. And then that's where we get into rock lifting too, because that's kind of where it started. But then I hit the promotion, the sedentary life. I saw a picture of myself, the photographer, I was the graphic designer and the photographer was testing out a new camera and he said can I take some pictures of you and so he snapped the pictures and I thought I looked all studly. I was all dressed up and had my beautiful long flowing hair and a ponytail and just looked like a stud.
Speaker 1:You do realize you're talking to two bald men, I feel hair shamed I do too which kind of enhances the enjoyment for me.
Speaker 3:You're welcome the grind is gonna be.
Speaker 2:I know this weekend's workouts gonna be horrible ouch looking forward to it so, um he didn't have digital, he went to go develop the film so photo man, yeah so so he comes back with the photos.
Speaker 2:He goes oh I got your photos, you want to take a look? And I looked. I'm like who's the fat guy? Oh, and I didn't. It shocked me that how fat I look because you you can look in a mirror and you think you look great and you feel like, because I was doing fitness up to this point I'm still that guy, but I saw the picture. I'm like what happened? You know, I had been at the desk job maybe a year at that point and I just couldn't believe how much I blew up On my small frame, being over 200 pounds and soft it just I looked awful. So I got back into fitness immediately after that and I did a lot of outdoor stuff with my kids, hiking and all of that. So that's where the rock lifting started, before I ever. Well, they call it stone lifting. I call it rock lifting because I didn't know the history of it. So rock lifting call it stone lifting.
Speaker 2:I call it rock lifting because I didn't know the history of it. So, rock lifting, I was out hiking and I would do pushups and whatever running up the hill. And one time I said I really want to add something different. So I'm at the bottom of a hill in the middle of the woods and I saw a rock. I picked it up. I'm like, oh, this is kind of cool, I'm going to carry that rock up the hill. And it wasn't anything you know like what I lift now, but it sparked something. So I picked up this rock, I carried it up the hill and I thought, well, that was really cool, I'm going to do more with this rock. So and it just kind of grew from there. But because of the rock lifting, it felt weird, though. Like I'm like if anybody sees me picking up a rock in the middle of the woods and doing exercise with it, they're going to think there's some kind of freak having a bad drug trip and he's playing with his pet rock. Wilson, wilson, it was a volleyball, wasn't it?
Speaker 1:Go with it. I don't know Similar vibe I'm trying to figure out who had to push the rock up the mountain forever. Was that Sisyphus? Sisyphus? No, look at me. Wow, karen, look, I pay attention when you talk about mythology. Shout out to.
Speaker 3:Karen. Shout out to Karen for putting up with you.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow.
Speaker 2:So going back to the rock lifting, and going back to the webpage with Bud Jeffries, I saw he had an article about rock lifting. I'm like wait, what is this? But he was lifting this massive rock and he was describing how cool and the benefits of rock lifting. And I thought I'm not the only one. I found my person, yeah, yeah. So then, of course, seeing him lift those giant rocks, the rocks started becoming larger and more challenging and more fun. And then Facebook we're jumping ahead now. And then eventually, facebook came out and I met my tribe of people because all of a sudden, here I am just posting videos of me rock lifting, right, and I had this guy reach out to me. His name is, he's passed now, but I have this thing. I've connected people. They pass away. Sorry, guys.
Speaker 3:Scott, we've made a horrible decision.
Speaker 1:I think so. Y'all can't see the shock in mine and John's face right now. Tune in next week when Air Quotes takes over the Master's Athlete Survival Guide Ouch yeah, but he saw me rock lifting and he invited.
Speaker 2:We started forming a relationship and come to find out he had a page on Facebook, which I now run, called Edgerton Stone in stone and through him, um, I started meeting other stone lifters from around the world, particularly scotland, because that was it's a huge thing there, um.
Speaker 2:And then I was invited on eric's podcast a few times to discuss stone lifting and whatever we talk, you know, just the manly rites of passage and stone lifting and things like that. So now all of a sudden, from there I'm meeting people from all over the world that are stone lifters and connecting and making friends with people in Scotland, ireland, norway, and now it's expanded. I've got people in the Middle East, china, japan, because they all have stone lifting cultures that have been there for years and, you know, because they all have stone lifting cultures that have been there for years. So I came into this kind of organically to come to find out that there's a worldwide tribe of stone lifters and cultures that have been doing this for various reasons for thousands and thousands of years, and which was never my intention. I just wanted to lift stones because it was different, unique.
Speaker 1:You're a weirdo and I'm a weirdo. Yeah Well, it's funny because and I know you know of Sean I don't know if you met Sean Urquhart, an amazing human being. The one factoid of talking to him on one of the previous episodes was the fact I don't know why, I guess because it's where it's most portrayed, but I thought of stone lifting as sort of a British Isles, Eastern European, Scandinavian discipline, but apparently Middle East Asia, yeah yeah, it's kind of some. It's basically a part of most cultures. It's Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands Shout out to the Faroe Islands, where we are the top masters athlete podcast.
Speaker 3:Amen to the Faroe Islands. I love you guys.
Speaker 2:I have a friend going out to the Faroe Islands Actually I think this month to lift there.
Speaker 1:Oh well, according to Sean, if you look at my Instagram, there's the picture of the waterfall where there are two stones that you have to hike, like a kilometer to get to um. Right there, it's a beautiful spot. It's like the spot that they put on all their postcards, but that's pretty cool. How does one you know, I, I how does one get to the faroe islands? Is is blows my mind, says the guy who's trying to get his butt to Iceland. I believed him there for a heartbeat. By the way, we can fly to Iceland.
Speaker 1:I'm like I am afraid to canoe in the Atlantic. No kidding.
Speaker 2:Whatever, yeah. So, unlike a lot of these other guys that have the history of it, it was. You know, I just go out in the woods, I find stones, I pick them up, but you know, but Native American culture, they also have some lifting stones that have been found. I don't know the exact location, but they're there. I guess it's in grizzly and polar bear territory, so it's kind of dangerous to get to.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's up in Nunavut and all that. Yeah, tuktuk Thanks. You're welcome um, and we've talked offline about you know, we live close to the erie canal and, uh, you suspect that there's some irish or gaelic lifting stones, based on the fact that there was a large contingent from there and they probably would, considering all they were mostly doing was sort of carving out the erie canal from a bunch of stone yeah there's probably was a stone out there that like do you want to be on a crew or b crew?
Speaker 1:can you lift that? Or? That, yeah, exactly because that that that seems to be like a recurring theme in stone lifting is that it's a differentiator for a lot of reasons yes, yep, so.
Speaker 2:So yeah, they stones were for various reasons, but a lot of times it was a rite of passage or um employment. So there's different levels, like in the in iceland, the full sterker, half sterker, and I don't know what the last one's called. But basically you're a weakling, you're not a man at all because you can't lift it.
Speaker 1:They call that the catalinus flash forward to 2016, when I will prove that theory to be correct flash forward to 2016. Huh oh flash back to 2016, while I remind myself that I'm going to do this in 2026.
Speaker 2:Oh well, back to the future.
Speaker 1:Oh, I want to lift rocks, leave me alone or stones, or pebbles.
Speaker 3:All right.
Speaker 3:So I love the story you're weaving so far and sort of how it's like with most of us, I think and we've seen this when we talk to our uh, to other guests that we've had on the show it's that sort of smack in the face moment.
Speaker 3:In your case it was that picture when and I do this with the college that I work at with some of the students I tell them you've got to get somebody else to give you the picture, because you see what you want to see, you see what you've convinced your mind is there and you know somebody else took a picture and they showed it to you like, oh damn, that's not me. So you know you talked about your, your trinity of sort of that got you going into lifting and as soon as you said you know the outdoor, create your own, I knew that's where your link was going to sort of jump in for, for stone lifting or rock lifting, like you call it. How has it changed you from you know self-described who's the fat guy? To what john and I know right now is air quotes.
Speaker 1:I blame Cheetos Still not a sponsor. I had to blame him at some point.
Speaker 2:So I know you didn't go.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, that's that's a big question because I'm a big guy, being at that point in my life and a lot of things I've gone through up until that point. When I look back, I consider myself kind of soft-minded, soft-bodied, soft in a lot of areas of my life. When I started rock lifting, that started to change. Because of the challenge of it you had to become tough to do it, like when you first start and lift a rock and you you scratch your arm. You're like, oh my gosh, this, you know I could hurt myself doing this. Oh the stone kisses are brutal, they're brutal and uh. But because I enjoyed it, I toughed it out. So it created this mental toughness, this different me, I guess the me that was there when I played football and loved hitting people that was starting to come out again Because up to that point I've been through so many different challenges in my life being a single dad, going through all these relationship things so I started having a different opinion of who I was and it wasn't a good picture it was.
Speaker 2:It was a weak man and I just there were a lot of things going on. So when I started coming out into my own, I started to become a different person. With the stone lifting, I was also getting out of another bad relationship. I moved out with my two kids At this time. I had three kids now, so I moved out, my two kids came with me and I became a part-time dad to my third child. But I was coming into myself. Because of the promotion, even though I was fat, I suddenly was finding myself stone lifting, getting out of a bad relationship, having a promotion where I started having more money, and all of these things kind of came together into this life changing I don't know what to call it, but just life changing. So in the stone lifting fit in with that. So here I'm, building myself stronger mentally, emotionally, I'm a dad. So it's me against the world, me and my kids against the world, kind of thing, and it just created a different, more tenacious version of me, a more forward-looking, positive-feeling person, and the rock lifting was a huge part of that and it just I don't know it continues today.
Speaker 2:It's the challenge of growing through something and then kind of finding your tribe, even though most of it was virtual, just people I never connected with in person, but they resonated with me and I saw the path they were on and I would listen to their stories and you know they would write blogs and stuff and I would read those things and suddenly I realized I don't have to be weak. I can be strong and doing these things. Now that puts me outside of the norm. You know fitness, going to a gym and going through the motions I'm doing something where I have to be cognizant of how I'm lifting. I have to be aware of what my body's feeling. I have to be aware of how I'm lifting the stone and how I'm going to get it up to my chest or shoulder. There's a lot of things that you need to be aware of while you're doing it.
Speaker 2:It's not walking up to a barbell. I know how to grab this. It's a straight bar. I grab it. I know what the weights are. Everything's balanced. Suddenly it becomes something that you have to really pay attention to what you're doing, what your body's feeling, how you're breathing, how all these little things that go on when you're lifting. And yeah, it just. It transformed my life and, eventually, the way people looked at me. You know the name Rockman. You forgot air quotes. I forgot the air quotes. That's fine.
Speaker 3:He doesn't have to use air quotes, it's his name. Oh, good point that's fine, good point.
Speaker 1:I don't want to get sued.
Speaker 2:But the name Rockman came because of my facebook post lifting a rock and somebody who I'm still connected with on facebook. He called me rock man and I'm like what a stupid name. I thought what a stupid name. It's like a b-grade superhero name. It's silly, um, but I, I connected that. I thought you know that's kind of cool. My name is John Johnson.
Speaker 1:It doesn't stand out, although that sounds like a superhero, like your everyday person. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But there's a lot of stories with that name and all the jokes that came with it. But it helped me differentiate myself. But I also connected to my faith because Jesus Christ is called the rock, the rock of ages, and I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. So I'm like rock man, man of the rock, man of Christ, nice, and so that resonated with me. I'm like, okay, it's kind of a cool nickname now.
Speaker 3:So you'll take the B-level superhero.
Speaker 2:I'll take the B-level superhero'll take the b level super.
Speaker 1:No, but you know this is an important thing to interject right here. Um, like, I know you're very strong because I've seen the videos. You don't present as very strong, but I know you are, but what you do present as is one of the more centered, more gregarious, chill people I think I've ever met like I. I've not known many people like you that are super approachable, but not me, not blah, blah, blah, blah can't shut up um, amen, hey, no, but you know, to your credit, I it now. It makes sense because you, just you, radiate that inner strength that you believe in yourself. So kudos to you. I still don't complete. I like, when I was 30, I walked by some rocks, some stones, lots of it. I picked zero of them up. Um, but you know, to your credit and again, I don't mean to to even kind of make fun of it because you present yourself as like in this era of where people talk about being a man and how it's kind of rare you are definitely in that category 100%.
Speaker 1:Yeah, am I blushing? I don't know. Take your pants off, my wife. Oh my God. Okay, we'll be back after a short word from the fcc. Um, okay, we're gonna move on. No, because here's what I'd like to talk about next. I'd like I am I'm befuddled by rock lifting, stone lifting all of it great term, thank you you're because it's, and you said something in your description where you know it's not just picking up a barbell.
Speaker 1:It is the most awkward and it's got to be surprising how, where the center of mass is on some of them, you just can't tell. Walk me through, walking up to a stone you've never lifted and bringing it to your chest. Okay, where are you in all that? Because that interests me in a way. Again, if this is all historical and I'm trying to prove that I belong on the fishing boat, or I can be the best farmer, or I am now a man, they didn't do that accidentally either. That was a very mindful exercise, right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Yeah, walking up to a rock for the first time, it's you. It's kind of a weird thing. Well, the whole thing is a little weird.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all right, we're weird people we accept you, we are part of it. We're like ancillarily in the tribe we're like tribe adjacent ancillarily weird.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know about ancillarily weird, just generally weird yeah basically so you see a rock of a, you know a certain shape, or you see something cool about you and you're like I wonder if I could lift that. So you walk up and I know some guys will walk up and they just they'll just grab it and instantly have it up. I kind of feel it out. I I think it's. I need to kind of feel where the balance is.
Speaker 1:Well, I'll roll it, yeah they're making like honking boobie space like with their hands my wife's gonna love this. I am you know when I'm the adult when I'm the adult in the room, things have gone south oh boy, yeah. So all right, so I walk up, so you walk up, I will help you so when you feel out I mean, are you actually like semi lifting it and flipping it and I'm.
Speaker 2:So I kind of rolled a little bit to see where the weight's gonna shift, kind of um, and I'm looking for where I'm. So I kind of rolled a little bit to see where the weight's going to shift, kind of um, and I'm looking for where I'm going to grip it. Okay, all right. So once I find where I think I'm going to grip it, I'll I'll grab onto it. Um, just pull it up, squat into my lap. And that's a story too, because I had to learn about pulling it into my lap too. When I first started, when I was first doing it, I was just lifting like a deadlift, just like rowing it to your chest and and I was wondering, why aren't the rocks getting bigger?
Speaker 2:right, I couldn't, because just that it was tough and it's hard, hard on the back doing it like that. So I would just um, pick it up and bring it up. And I finally had a guy from canada who I became friends with, mitch and he shared a video. He says you might. Who I became friends with Mitch and he shared a video. He says you might want to try lapping these and he showed me the technique and all of a sudden I'm like oh, okay, that makes sense.
Speaker 1:So it's kind of like an Atlas stone in strong man where you're, you know if it's a big stone, you're bringing it to your lap and then dealing with it there. Yep, absolutely it there?
Speaker 2:yep, absolutely, because, yeah, it's like the atlas stone. You get your re-grip, so, um, you get a better purchase and you pull it up but it's um, it's neat because you know again sometimes. But when you get up to your lap you realize there's that weight distribution that you thought you had figured out. You don't have it figured out. There was a stone it um in lockport that I would lift and I call, I call, I named it the the mighty tree stone. Stone it um in lockport that I would uh lift and I call, I call. I named it the the mighty tree stone because it's in front of this old, this really cool looking like fantasy image stone or a tree. This is gigantous, it's dead, but it's cool looking.
Speaker 2:So when I first tried to lift that stone, I couldn't figure it out and, uh, I would grab it and think I had it and it would roll. So then I tried a different position and it would roll the other way. Like this is a tough one. So it took me a long time. So then I figured out. If I stand it up, there was a nice groove. It was almost like two stones stuck together. It's um oval, but it the way it. The stone came together. There was a point where I could reach in and get my arm around the stone. I know I'm physically showing it.
Speaker 1:But no, you're fine, it's uh everybody in the faroe islands is with you yeah, absolutely with their canoes.
Speaker 2:Yep. So I found that I could grab around it and lift it, um, and I could stand up with it, but I couldn't bring it to my lap because it was just an awkward long stone. Uh, eventually, um, I figured out how to lift it the long way and pull it into my lap and and now I can lift it up the chest. And then my buddy, um, from buffalo he lives in illinois, he's, he's kind of a world famous stone lifter. Now, um, john john segleski, he came with me lifting there and he threw it up on his shoulder like it was nothing and I'm like, oh, interesting.
Speaker 1:I struggled with it forever first time he grabbed it.
Speaker 2:He's got it up on his shoulder.
Speaker 1:I'm like, all right, that's cool now, when you identify something you want to lift, is it like immediately, like in your like portfolio of, I am going to lift it, or have you ever like said, yeah, I'm never lifting that, I'm gonna leave that behind?
Speaker 2:that changed when I went out lifting with with john, there were stones that I would look at and I'm like I absolutely not going to be able to lift that. And when I would lift with John, he would look at his stone and I'm like there's no way anybody can lift that. He goes, I'm going to lift that and then he would lift it.
Speaker 2:And it would just blow my mind, and so that allowed me to expand how I looked at some of the stones. But he's shorter than me, he weighs at least 20 pounds less than me and he's probably half my age, half our age. But it helped me see that, to look at certain stones differently. So I would try larger stones. It becomes a technique thing. It's definitely a technique over just brute strength. I mean, you need the strength obviously to move that kind of weight, but, um, I find it at 58. Some of the stones I'm lifting now are larger than when I was, when I felt stronger. Um, and it's because my technique has gotten better.
Speaker 3:That's cool but to that point I mean two things I've said to john. You know, within the last year or so I'm stronger than I ever was, and you know it's technique. But I think one of the things to sort of transition a little bit is, you know, recently you've started come training with us, with the old guys, on Sunday at the compound and your strength again for a shorter guy, smaller guy, slighter guy, really is unbelievable to see some of the things you're moving and some of the stuff like that. Like we put what was it? 500 on the sled the other day. I think it was 700.
Speaker 1:He's a guest, be nice to him. You're right, 950 on the sled the other day.
Speaker 3:And you started pulling it. And that's the thing, the way that sort of when I was a kid they used to call it stupid strength, Because it's that sort of functional strength outside of a weight room Translates and your ability to use the physics of how to use your body to move the weight is unbelievable.
Speaker 1:I mean that's where I got the whole, like his inner strength shows because you have walked up to challenges that Scott digs out and you know Scott was a silver medalist at the know strongman nationals. I've never seen you balk, there's never been a moment.
Speaker 1:I mean you've tried it and failed, because that's how that goes, but you've never not tried and 100 that that's a huge step and I and I guess that speaks to I mean I'm sure a lot of people listening are like you. You know I go to the gym, I do 5-3-1, you know I do the cube method, I do whatever, and it's very, you know, it's very regimented. Picking up a rock, the amount of variables, I mean it's not even the rock, like, think about it. What are your feet on when you're lifting it? You might be in scree or pebbles or mud or Wow, your scientist is showing through, is it?
Speaker 3:I should have worn longer pants.
Speaker 1:Do you do I mean other than hanging out with us on the weekend? Do you do any other fitness anything I do?
Speaker 2:I enjoy deadlifting. I don't follow. I think I've always approached it more organically. I've never followed specific programs. Everybody has these specific regiments. That was always more organic how I approached it, again, probably because I never followed how Arnold lifted or any of these other guys. I just lifted. For some people that doesn't work. For me it just worked out. It made going to the gym fun as opposed to here.
Speaker 1:I am following this routine and I got to stick to that. I get that. I mean that's sort of how Scott programs the stuff I do with him. It's not. I mean, in the back of our mind there's a bit of progressive overload. Like you know, we did this before. We should probably go forward, but it's more about well, this seems like a challenge this this translates to these things in the real world, that kind of stuff, and I enjoy that a lot.
Speaker 3:Yeah, quite often you will go in there. And what was it during covet when we were doing, uh, the month of grind for december, it was who could design the more hellish grind to finish it up, and we would go back and forth. And you're right, you don't always have to be conventional. And you know, I get picked on by my quote, huge, massive air quote, friends, for having OCD with following certain plans and steps and stuff like that. But in the same vein, you know, yes, you've got to. You know, as John always says to me, when I go up to a deadlift, if it's, if it's a big number, do your steps in your head. You know, make sure you're following your same patterns and you talk about the same thing when you talk about rock lifting you up. You know, make sure you're following your same patterns and you talk about the same thing when you talk about rock lifting you up. You feel it, you sort of physics out in your head. This is what I need to do. But those outside things, those non, okay, I've got a yoke carry coming up in this year's nationals. Okay's, it's a pretty decent number.
Speaker 3:So most people think, all right, I've got to carry the yoke. How do I get better? I got to carry heavier yoke. That's not always necessarily true, right, you know? I mean like when, when tony does my programming, it's okay, you're going to be doing backward sled drags and I want them to be glued to the ground when you're trying them. You're going to be doing front squats so you can get a nice vertical base. All of these sort of ancillary things that translate into it, these out of the box things, and that's what you're talking about and I think that's kind of what we've hit on very often is this idea of do something. You know, you were out in the woods and you saw a rock, like, hey, I'm gonna pick that thing up and I'm gonna carry it. That was your thing then, and now it really is your thing scott, are we gonna lift rocks with this little fool?
Speaker 3:we are my friend once, I mean unfortunately it's going to be coming soon because the snow we can actually see ground now.
Speaker 1:No, but why is it coming soon?
Speaker 3:I don't understand, Because the rocks won't be frozen to the ground.
Speaker 1:No, I know but let's talk about John Catalinas for a minute. I get chilly. I am delicate and I get chilly. I said soon.
Speaker 2:I didn't say tomorrow, okay, I'm just concerned here.
Speaker 3:We do have a stone at the compound. Yeah, it weighs like a trillion pounds. No, it's only half a trillion.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm going to be able to do it yeah.
Speaker 3:I got a guy with rock man in his name saying it's a monster, yes. But our dear friend sean urquhart, yeah, looked at it online. I said hey, sean, what do you think he goes? Oh, I can't wait until I blow through buffalo that looks so cool.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be so much fun to lift I've seen video of him like basically like lifting stone refrigerators.
Speaker 3:So yeah, he doesn't count um sean, just for the record, that was john that said that and not air.
Speaker 2:Quote john, oh yeah because I haven't met him yet he'll love him.
Speaker 3:He is truly a great, great person. But I mean and no, this is not the natural end I want to point two things out that you sort of said, because I don't want it to get glossed over, without any prompting, without any sort of coercing on our part, you went to that idea of community.
Speaker 2:And how there's a community out.
Speaker 3:You know you said you got friends from Asia, you've got friends from you know Indonesia, you've got friends from Europe, from all over, and it sort of builds that community and you sort of learn from each other. And we've talked about that on every damn episode, how important it is to have your tribe.
Speaker 1:And it's funny because I noticed this, because John Odden is going to be like our next guest, and I noticed that you interacted with him online. And I noticed that you interacted with him online and, as you were talking about being outside and doing things like indian clubs and mobility, like I I mean, he was lightweight world champion in highland games, um, amongst other things, and I stole half his youtube videos to learn how to throw highland um, that's his thing. Like he, he has the same mentality as you, it seems, and I can't wait to talk to him about it. But be outside, maybe shirtless, winging around indian clubs doing deep lunges, you know, very natural kind of thing. So, scott, I think we're part of this weird tribe what?
Speaker 3:unfortunately, I agree with you because we like doing stupid things like that. I know the other point that he brought up him him.
Speaker 3:Okay, quotes, air quotes. Well, you talked about a goal and I don't know that you saw it as such. But you said you went and you weren't going to be the parent who was on the sidelines because they couldn't do something with their kids. All parents love their kids. All parents do Sometimes things get in their way that they can't do and help their children with things. But you were going to do something so you could take those steps and have those advantages and have those sort of experiences with your children. You know, and sometimes we lose sight of our goal because nobody takes that picture for us, but somebody took that picture for you and your goal sort of got jumpstarted again. So I mean those two things to me, just speak volumes.
Speaker 1:Do you have a goal right now, like? Do you have a a goal right now, like do you have a stone nemesis right now, like is there something out there that just keeps you up at night?
Speaker 3:it's a stone sitting in front of the compound that weighs 326 is that what it weighs?
Speaker 1:326, okay, yeah that's that's.
Speaker 2:That would be awesome if I could lift that. I'd like to. Um right now there's a stone. I have an area by um the reservoir uh state park in lewiston and I have a bunch of stones that I've named the reservoir dog stones which as one, as one does at our age, yeah so, um, there's one stone that last summer I was able to get to my lap.
Speaker 2:It's a cool video the monsters. The monster is huge stone. I have no idea how much it weighs, I just know. When it got into my lap I couldn't go any further with it and I was shocked that I was able to get to my, into my lap, big stone. So this year I'd like to get that up to my chest. So that's a goal, that's a stone I'd like to lift.
Speaker 1:In the stone lifting community. Do you ever learn how much these things weigh? Or is it all relative Like wow, that's really heavy, that's kind of heavy, that's super heavy?
Speaker 2:A lot of it is eyeballing and guessing.
Speaker 1:But some of the guys bring scales out to actually get weights yeah, okay, I wondered the lift scales or whatever, but they'll they'll get weights on them.
Speaker 2:um, I weighed some of my stones that I trained with in my driveway and, uh, I was anywhere from 10 to 25 pounds off on all of them, usually in the wrong way, like, yeah, this has got to be like, but still I would probably be 100 pounds off because I know I'd be like oh Scott, that weighs 400 pounds and I lapped it. I'm an animal.
Speaker 1:I'm an animal, so that is my other question. So the differentiator between lapping to chest and to shoulder, like is the goal, as improbable as it probably is sometimes to get everything to shoulder? No, okay, in some of the historical stones, each one of them, the challenge was different okay but so how do you approach some native stone that basically you're naming because there's a dead tree there?
Speaker 2:right like what how do you?
Speaker 1:How do you set the goal? I'm going to shoulder this or I'm just going to take it to chest. Do you ever walk with them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I haven't done that in a while. I should start doing it again, man, that feeling on your chest. It's so hard to breathe when you carry a stone.
Speaker 1:He's freaking me out about Iceland La la, la, I can't hear you.
Speaker 2:Just don't let any air out of your chest while you're carrying it, because you'll never get it back, because you're not getting it back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I understand that, all right.
Speaker 3:So I'm sorry to interrupt you.
Speaker 1:No, you're not.
Speaker 2:I'm never sorry to interrupt you.
Speaker 3:Oh okay, you saying. Oh okay, you saying that you know, don't think about it. We were at oktoberfest a couple years ago in columbus. He's up on stage holding, uh, hercules hold, he's trying to rip him apart at the shoulder. This story needs to die? No, it doesn't everybody else is doing something and trying to put your brain somewhere else. Right, he starts singing a polka it was playing across the park.
Speaker 1:It is not my fault. Now what's going to?
Speaker 3:happen is next year in Iceland. John's going to absolutely shock himself. He's going to get the who's up, he's going to stand up and he's going to start walking. Now he's going to have this look of consternation on his face and I know that he can do it because I have faith in my friend. But what I'm going to do, oh boy. I have faith in my friend, but what I'm gonna do, oh boy, is as soon as he takes his first step this is what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 1:Here comes folks. I'm sorry, you can, you can leave the episode now, if you choose folks but now I'm gonna do, do, do, do. Nice. I thought he was gonna say he was gonna do like icelandic throat singing or something, yeah, but no, he went straight for muppets, right for the heart nice I am that guy. I don't know if you guys are this way. I used to have two co-workers that would do that. You, I, you want to put an earworm in me?
Speaker 1:oh, I'll throw an throw an earworm, oh my God. And then, oh, when we were competing at the Arnold the stupid crash test. Dummy song oh.
Speaker 3:God, I hated you guys so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, over and over and over and over, when you're at a concert and you cheer your song and yell up to the band. What do you do with that one when you want the band to play that song?
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm, I don't know Exactly.
Speaker 1:You can't yell, I just yell Freebird.
Speaker 3:That's basically all I ever want to hear he's at Metallica and he's yelling Freebird. They might play it Every concert.
Speaker 2:you've got to yell it out there.
Speaker 1:I've done that more than twice.
Speaker 3:That quiet. Yeah, right, I've done that more than that quiet moment. Yeah, I'm sorry, all right, sorry, we took you a hard left there, I know right, so stone carrying.
Speaker 2:So before stone carrying, yeah, well, we were discussing lifting before you rudely trying to connect all the dots and eventually we'd like to get back to the historical stone okay, yeah, absolutely but, um, yeah, usually I'm happy to get to my lap and up to my chest, um, and that's the goal.
Speaker 2:If I can just I mean certain stones, if you can just get some air under it, you're thrilled. Um, but getting it up to my chest is generally that what I enjoy doing. Certain stones, um, they're like they get up to my shoulder. You know there's just a certain flow to it and you feel it and you roll it. Some of these guys, they lift stones and throw them up on their shoulder. I'm like, how are they doing that? I have seen awkward.
Speaker 1:Two things that impressed me are just lifters like you, where they literally just hitch it up their body. That terrifies me. I only assume that that's a good way to lose an areola or two. But the basque stones, those big rectangle things where they basically flip them up their body and at some point it must be the most mechanically disadvantageous thing I've ever seen.
Speaker 2:And yet fascinating to watch. Oh yeah, Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I think any of the those kind of like stone lifty things I've seen completely fascinating well yeah, tim out at east ave.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he's put some video up of him doing basque neckties taking an atlas stone, rolling it across his shoulders behind his neck.
Speaker 1:Wait, wait, wait. Well what? First of all, I never heard that term before. I thought it was like where you cut his throat that's columbia?
Speaker 3:no, it's columbia.
Speaker 1:You're watching too many movies, but no, I have a question.
Speaker 2:You go to t3 training and you've got videos of him doing a basket, so you roll it like he takes the stone up to his shoulder, he'll drop his head.
Speaker 3:He'll roll it behind his head.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't. I don't have enough lats for that. That would just drop it and it would hit my delicate tailbone. Um, where do the basque people live? Where? Where is it? Do we know this? Spain? Yeah, that, the basque country.
Speaker 2:Okay and that style of lifting just came from the farming community because of um moving awkward implements and then eventually came into. You know the specific shaped stones that they do, do, do women lift stones?
Speaker 1:because this feels very much like a boy like, well, can you lift this big stone? Because I can lift this big stone and you are less of a man than me. There are women that do it.
Speaker 2:Yep, I have some on on the Etch and Stone page on. Facebook. A lot of them, like the Denny style lifts. Yeah, my wife, before her traumatic brain injury she used to go out rock lifting with me. Yeah, and the challenge with that is I don't think I encourage women to roll a stone up to their shoulder Because you know the boobies are in the way. Oh, I hate when boobies are in the way, what's your wife's name, carolyn?
Speaker 1:Carolyn, I am personally sorry for the fact that he drug you out into the middle of nowhere to lift some rock that was frozen to the ground.
Speaker 2:In July.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that he probably named like the gray stream stone or the yeah, the oh.
Speaker 2:this has goose shit on it. Overgrown burn stone? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:The booby stone the booby stone. But yeah.
Speaker 1:It always comes back to boobies with you, guys, it kind of does, yeah, it does.
Speaker 3:What do?
Speaker 1:you wear, do you?
Speaker 2:gear up. That's the cool thing. Like my whole fitness career, I've never wanted to wear gym gear okay it's people they get into their fitness routine and they go out and buy all this shiny new wait, wait.
Speaker 1:do you like greco-roman stone lift, like, is this a nude, like grecian kind of thing? Oh yeah, because you know that's way worse than boobies, my friend.
Speaker 3:I am not laughing. We will not be going with you if we're Greco-Roman, stone lifting.
Speaker 2:No, no, greco-roman. Okay, fair enough. Certain areas you just don't want to be chafed at there are. He's not wrong. All right, I'm sorry. So what? So? You just wear clothes, I wear whatever I in these. You know what I used to make fun of skinny?
Speaker 1:jeans. Yeah, I love these things.
Speaker 2:Look at they stretch, they also show off your thighs, really wonderful yeah and but I can, I can lift in these. You know, if I just get a hankering after work, I'm like I want to go lift a stone, I just go take off and lift a stone, but I I wear shorts I sweatpants, whatever I'm wearing, at the time that I decide I want to lift up a stone, do you?
Speaker 3:have like leathery calves and forearms from all this no, I'm quite supple, oh god, quite supple jesus, we got supple air quotes delicate john at least they didn't name him John Supple Johnson.
Speaker 1:That would be way worse, although it would make for a better.
Speaker 2:OnlyFans.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, it would.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I have videos of lifting logs and somebody said what are you a woodman? Now I'm like yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, you got to be careful, right Certain things don't.
Speaker 2:And your wife is just going. Why don't you be?
Speaker 3:grocery man and bring this stuff in from the car.
Speaker 1:Absolutely that's what she's looking okay, before we go too far off the rails let's circle back to the historical part. Yes, because I think that's a, that's a key that's both interesting and I think makes it all accessible and also kind of puts it in place as to the why of stone lifting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and now that I understand the historical context, eight years ago now I started a quest to find a local historical stone somewhere in the US, but then I'm thinking more so here because of the cultures that have passed through here.
Speaker 1:We've had Irish Scots, we have, you know, buffalo still has Irish quarters and you know there's all these areas and Buffalo for a long time was the gateway to the West, so probably anybody that emigrated that direction came through here, sat here for a while, came through Buffalo, yeah, absolutely. And came through here, sat here for a while, came through Buffalo, yeah.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I never thought about an Erie Canal connection until I started talking to historians. But during my search I would hit dead ends everywhere. I reached out to so many of the local historical societies in Niagara and Erie County and even further out, and they're all like oh yeah, that sounds fascinating, it sounds really neat. We never heard of it. I'm like, well, is there any way we could do some research or find out? Nope, yeah, you know, maybe try this person. So eight years of just almost always dead ends. And, as a matter of fact, andy Ward, you guys know, yeah, I know Andy.
Speaker 2:He connected me with I think it's his cousin, who is a historian for Niagara County. Is that Montgomery Ward, Montgomery? Is it Montgomery Ward, Montgomery Ward? Yeah.
Speaker 3:No, they own a store.
Speaker 2:Thanks, and that's so. He told his cousin about the stone lifting and yeah, he was interested, you know, fascinated enough about it and we connected and he started giving me hope that we could find something.
Speaker 2:He said there's there's a rumor of one and he's going to search for it. Um, since then I've been on uh, I was on wben talking to tom bowerly about just odd things that people do and of course I thought was perfect for me. He connected me with a friend of his who is an amateur historian but a very good historian. Um, joe, joe biscaglia, I hope I pronounce your name right, joe, because I always mess it up, but Is he the radio guy Joe.
Speaker 1:Buscanglia.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I know there is one, but I believe he has that in his history as well. So we've gone on a deep dive and we may have hit on where there's a location of one. That's cool, but I won't say where until I actually find it all right lift it, yeah, and then you might tell the world exactly please name it the.
Speaker 1:Please name it the johnson stone, although it could be shaped, unfortunately, in which case might come out wrong.
Speaker 3:Don't name it the johnson stone but, name it the air quotes yeah the air quotes.
Speaker 2:But um, oh, I just lost my train of thought. That's okay. Um, yeah.
Speaker 1:So we're talking historical and you trying to find it's gotta be the age thing. I was gonna say it's definitely, you know, and if it's not the age thing, we're still gonna call it the age thing because I'd love using that as an excuse, absolutely, absolutely. But so what is the? Is there a close known historic stone Like what's the closest one you could think of? The?
Speaker 2:closest one, and I was made aware of it by a guy named James Cram from Scotland, because early on in my quest I was reaching out to people that may know and at the time he told me not to tell anybody about this stone until he finds out more about it. He was going to write. It was going to be a part of a book he was writing. That was years ago. Now More people know about it. There's actually a website about this stone. It's called the Sir William Keith Stone, which was an employment stone or there's some other thoughts on it that not just an employment stone, but there's some other thoughts on it that not just an employment stone but a way for him to choose his slaves that worked on his land. But that's not confirmed so, but definitely an employment stone and where?
Speaker 1:is this? You don't have to tell me exactly, because you guys are big secret people.
Speaker 2:This one's good. It's in Graham Park in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Graham State, I think it's a state park. Where's that like eastern, western, central, I think it's more east, okay, but um, okay, I was all set to go lift that stone and then and I was preparing for the trip until my wife were taking a trip to pennsylvania I'm gonna go lift.
Speaker 1:You were going to drag your wife to some random park to go lift my poor wife. She's the sweetest I've not met her and I love her.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we go hiking and she said can we just walk this time?
Speaker 2:I'm like sure honey.
Speaker 1:And then I see a stone. I'm like, just this one, I'll be back, I, I'm coming back.
Speaker 2:Just this one, I'll be back. I'll be right back. So I called up the people running the park whoever I talked to, I forget the lady's name and asked her about the stone. And I told her my reasons for wanting to know about the stone and she said we would love to have you come. I guess there's a little plaque under it that says Sir William Keith Lifting Stone.
Speaker 1:So they know it's a thing. So they know it's a thing. Okay, that's cool.
Speaker 2:So she's like yeah, we would love to have you. Except, so many years ago the state bought the property and they, in their divine wisdom, decided to cement the stone to the wall Because you don't want anybody to steal it, right? So it's a really cool looking. If you get a chance, look it up the Sir William Keith stone. It's a mushroom-shaped stone. It looks like it would be a really fun one to lift. But yeah, she said, yeah, it cemented the wall. I'm like can I chip it off?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's immediately where my head went to is like sawzall.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe I'll just sneak out there and knock it off. Oops, my chisel keeps running into this stone, but yeah, it's a very cool looking stone. So during a couple of years after finding out that it was cemented and I wouldn't be able to make the trip during COVID, my wife and I I we would do walking tours of all these different areas. You know just something to do, sure, we we'd go to scotland and france oh, oh, you didn't do walking tours.
Speaker 1:I thought you were talking about like no one on youtube oh, we would do okay. Youtube walking tours because you're stuck in the house, there wasn't much you could do, were you like, standing on a treadmill at the time.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I would do the treadmill or the bike.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, absolutely.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, Scott. He's a nut job.
Speaker 3:I heard it the voice is in my head yeah, right.
Speaker 2:But I said, well, geez, why don't I just do a walking tour around Graham Park? So I did. This guy had actually a bicycle tour around it and he's riding, he's describing all these things. I'm like, oh, that's all well and good, but let's get to the house that's over there. So he eventually goes to the house and he goes around the back and he's describing the history of the house. And on this wall that juts out from the house, I'm like my wife. I'm like, look, that's the stone, that's the stone. And then he cuts away from like no, no. So eventually he comes back around and I get a better view of it. I'm like that is a beautiful stone. I would love to just knock that thing off the wall and lift it, but it's not going to happen. So that's the closest one I know about the.
Speaker 1:Master's Athlete Survival Guide does not condone vandalism, even in the pursuit of strength.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know Whatever.
Speaker 1:All right, so where's the second closest?
Speaker 2:stone. I know there was one discovered in Connecticut, but it's on somebody's private land, so I don't think he can lift it.
Speaker 1:I got to believe Sean Urquhart knows about at least one in Ohio. There's probably 30, but he definitely probably has one.
Speaker 2:I'm sure I know there's some other guys in Ohio that I know that are out there lifting in the woods.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's something wrong with those Ohio people. I mean, we know a lot of them Barefoot.
Speaker 2:They're a tribe too In the winter in the creek, lifting stones out of the water, Bryce.
Speaker 1:What's his face? Yeah, Bryce.
Speaker 2:Nichols Bryce Nichols.
Speaker 1:I've competed.
Speaker 2:Oh, you've met him Okay.
Speaker 1:I've not competed with him what would be the correct term. I have been in a competition. I've competed adjacent, adjacent, okay, competition, adjacent, awesome. Yeah, he's really strong and a good dude yeah, I'd like to meet him in person.
Speaker 2:We were. I'm actually going to, uh, connect with him and I'm going to forget, like mark I can't think of his last name right now, but they're in ohio and I'm going to go lift with them one of these days, probably when spring or summer breaks. I'll be barefoot. We have weird friends Shirtless in the creek. He's excited.
Speaker 1:You know what the best part of this is Right now, if his wife is listening, she's going. I am not going to that. I'm busy that day, I'm busy.
Speaker 2:We talked about travel plans. I said let's go to scotland. We're gonna go there just so you could live right right, you know I want to go somewhere tropical, without stones right?
Speaker 1:well then, I mean, that's the thing that that sean said on faroe islands, yeah, faroe islands. There you. Sean came right out and said he takes two vacations a year. One is with the fam and one is to go lift the Dungeness stone that's on this wall. That's a seven-mile hike up a mountain and down a ravine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah See that sounds like fun. Yeah, Weirdos, Sounds like fun Weirdos. But back to the local historic stone and this is going to tie this in and I'm hoping that this summer I did lift a stone in the one area. It may or may not have been the stone, it was super heavy and it took me a lot of attempts to get it, but it was a fun stone to lift, Perfect shape to be a lifting stone Not that there's ever really a perfect shape.
Speaker 1:Wait before we leave that, what is a perfect or what is the perfect ish?
Speaker 2:you know, there really isn't, okay, I know, but some of the historic stones are more. They're almost atlas stoneish. So they're round yeah, or a little oval, but yeah but I'm finding out now like, like a lot of the Icelandic stones and the Irish stones, they don't fit into the mold of what you would say is a normal lifting stone. Some of them are flagstones. They're big square, oh really yeah, they're incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there's never a. Even the Asian stones, they're more oblong. There's a different technique they like lifting them when they're standing up. It seems like in wrap.
Speaker 1:Oh, I've seen that where they kind of like, like, like you would lift like a pole or a tag or something. Yeah, exactly, just kind of stand up straight with it, yep.
Speaker 2:So, um, then you know the middle eastern stones. Those are different, and they use a leather, leather thong and they reach around and grab it and pull it up. So there's all these different cultures, different techniques, different reasons for lifting. So, um, but this year is the bicentennial year of the completion of the Erie canal. Oh, I knew that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I knew that cause it used to be a lock tender and do the recreation of the things I did. Know that actually.
Speaker 2:So my of finding a stone is even more so for this year because that would be really cool to tie it into something historic, because obviously the Irish did most of the grunt work for the canal and the rumor is that the Irish had lifting stones at their camps. And to be able to tie that in on the bicentennial and finding and lifting that stone, that would you know I just get shivers just thinking about that. That would be to me like bucket list super life goal kind of thing.
Speaker 1:that would just be amazing for me did I give you a name because I sat on that board for a while. The the lockport locks board you said you would. No, we haven't when we're done, I'll give you a couple names, okay, that at least we'll be able to point you in the right directions, because they're very passionate about the locks. Uh, the one woman whose name eludes me because I'm old, um, she was instrumental on there's.
Speaker 1:There's a bit of a museum that they set up at the bottom of the locks okay um, she's very knowledgeable on the history but, like you said, she might know more about the textiles than she does a rock, right? Because? Because, um, but yeah, when we're done I'll give you some names, because that that is cool and that is also the kind of thing that uh I think they would applaud and they love like they. They spent all that money to do. Have you seen the? The recreation of the lock tenders sitting on the stairs, all in brass?
Speaker 2:I have yes, yes, that's pretty impressive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, yeah, so remind me of that. Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Oh, scott said we have to wrap it up. Would that be called the? I don't know if he has to sneeze pee or what's going on, but usually that's it, because when he gets quiet and he gives me like the wrap it up signal.
Speaker 2:He shows you his natural end, yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, did he just show me his natural end, what? Okay, so what didn't we touch on that we should have touched on, and I'm really apologized, I used the word touched after natural.
Speaker 2:I think we covered a lot, no, I appreciate that and we will.
Speaker 1:We will have you back um. I here's what. Here's what I foresee, and I hate that I foresee this two times, go ahead, no, go ahead, no.
Speaker 3:I'm going to go to the one that I don't think you're thinking of. Okay, when air quotes finds that stone and lifts it. Oh yeah, the air stone.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I didn't think of that.
Speaker 3:You're right. What's the other?
Speaker 1:one. You're a better person than I am After we go out and live with him.
Speaker 3:That's the one I knew was coming.
Speaker 1:Yep, it's going to be like the post-action report, Like okay.
Speaker 3:John has no skin on his forearms. Air quotes and Scott left John by the creek.
Speaker 1:But I was shirtless and had no shoes on, so I'm part of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that'll be a lot of fun. I've got a couple locations in mind already. Excellent.
Speaker 1:I need normal friends. Johnny, I really appreciate your time. This was. This was really great. It was super informative. It was just fun to sit down and shoot the breeze with you. Um, I I can't thank you enough and I also kind of hate you a little bit. Um, like, what does your wife do when you're out lifting stones? Maybe I can hang with her. Does she like crochet? Or something I've always wanted to learn to crochet. She plays pickleball.
Speaker 3:She can play pickleball. You're terrible at pickleball. Oh wow, Shots fired.
Speaker 1:I just want to hang out and, like, eat snacks Cheetos.
Speaker 2:Not a sponsor.
Speaker 3:Or Pop-Tarts.
Speaker 1:Or Pop-Tarts. All right, fine enough, john. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I enjoyed this very much, as always I am john, without air quotes, without air quotes, and I'm still scott. Okay, thanks everybody. Bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post it on your social media or leave a review. To catch all the latest from us, you can follow us on Instagram at Masters Athlete Survival Guide. Thanks again. Now get off our lawn, you damn kids.