For millennia, stone lifting was an important part of cultures around the world, and its significance went far beyond feats of strength. Stone lifting was part of weddings and funerals, used as a job interview to assess someone's fitness as a farmhand, and included in rites of passage and tests of all-around manhood.
Much of the world's ancient stone lifting culture has been forgotten, and rocks that used to be hoisted regularly in town squares and cemeteries have been sitting untouched for hundreds of years. David Keohan, an Irish world champion kettlebell lifter-turned-amateur folklorist, has set out to change that. In the last couple of years, David has been on the hunt for Ireland's legendary lifting stones; he uses oral and written history to search them out and learn their stories and then hoists them himself, once again putting wind under stones that haven't been picked up for centuries.
Today on the show, David shares the significance of stone lifting around the world and specifically in Irish culture, the practicalities of lifting a 400-pound stone off the ground, and what stone lifting has taught him about being a man.
Resources Related to the PodcastHow to Get Better at Anything
Of Strength and Soul — Exploring the Philosophy of Physical Fitness
The No-BS Secrets of Success
How to Eliminate the Two Biggest Sources of Financial Stress
The Secret World of Bare-Knuckle Boxing
Why Your Memory Seems Bad (It’s Not Just Age)
Grid-Down Medicine — A Guide for When Help Is NOT on the Way
Skills Over Pills
The Power of Everyday Rituals to Shape and Enhance Our Lives
Walden on Wheels — A Man, a Debt, and an American Adventure
How to Create a Distraction-Free Phone
Want to Be Happy? Give Yourself Reasons to Admire Yourself
Tips From a Hostage Negotiator on Handling Difficult Conversations
Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town
Get More Done With the Power of Timeboxing
How to Shift Out of the Midlife Malaise
The 3 Musical Geniuses Behind the Most Popular Jazz Album of All Time
A Butler's Guide to Managing Your Household
Down With Pseudo-Productivity: Why We Need to Transform the Way We Work
The 5 Factors for Crafting Simple (Read: Effective!) Messages
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West