Well, I am still energized from the 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic and it did not disappoint. Thor returned with an earth-shattering performance on the deadlift, Mitch Hooper proved himself as a Strongman yet again and Angelica Jardine went from being the new kid on the block to winning the women’s division outright.
I love strength sports and the Arnold is my Superbowl. Elephant bars, timber carries, stone medleys, and Dinnie stones just plain excite me. During watching, I noticed some comments from spectators comparing past athletes to the present and I couldn’t help myself. While this was in the context of the elephant bar deadlift, I wanted to focus today on the carrying of the Dinnie Stones, which proved once again to be one of the toughest events for the men and the women.
What are the Dinnie Stones?
The Dinnie Stones are historical stones of strength, originating in Scotland and named after Scottish strongman and athlete Donald Dinnie. The two stones have a combined weight of 733 pounds. According to legend, Dinnie picked up the stones and walked the length of the Potarch Bridge in Scotland, which comes to about 5.22 metres. For many years the stones went undisturbed, before a relative increase in popularity from the 1970s onwards.
The wonderful liftingstones.org has currently recorded 273 individuals who have managed to LIFT the Dinnie Stones. It is important to note that the number who have lifted and carried the stones is much less. Just to raise the stones (or give them ‘wind’) is an achievement. Carrying them is otherwordly.
Part of the reason for this comes down to the mechanics of the lift. Unlike a timber carry or even a farmer’s walk, the Dinnie Stones are incredibly cumbersome to carry. They are bulky, have uncomfortable candles and, to put it bluntly, are a pain in the ass because of how regularly they bump into the lifter. I suspect the handles are possibly the worst bit given how many lifters complain about them.
Nevertheless, the Dinnie stones are iconic and, thanks to the tireless efforts of Sir David Webster, they became a staple in the Strongman world. While some may believe that the Dinnie Stones have only been used in competition at the Arnold, the truth is much richer than that. Owing to Webster’s connections, they appeared as early as 1982 in an Britain’s Strongest Man contest!
The Original Dinnie Contest
This, admittedly quaint video, is so fascinating to me primarily because of the differences between then and now. At the recent Arnold, lifters had to carry both Dinnie stones. Here, in 1982, they only had to carry the smaller stone. Aside from being funny – the duck walks are a thing to behold – there inclusion here speaks to the transformation of Strongman as a sport. While we all know that the athletes are stronger, they are also, I would argue, much more specialised than in previous generations.
As we have discussed elsewhere on this site, the early years of Strongman saw a largely mismashed groups of powerlifters, bodybuilders and strength athletes compete against one another. Individuals did not train for Strongman but were rather strength athletes who threw their hand at the sport. Now strongman is undoubtedly a sport, the athletes train specifically for the events, have access to materials in advance and, through a regular competition schedule, have become privvy to how to lift odd objects.
This specialization does, I believe, also extend to the kind of bodies we seen in Strongman and Strongwoman events. Those elite athletes who compete in shows are now far more uniform in that they tend to be taller and bulkier at the highest levels. Just as certain body limbs and proportions favour athletes in powerlifting or bodybuilding, the same is true for strength athletes. This brings me back to the 1982 Dinnie Stones.
When we compare 1982 to 2024 we are not just comparing strong moderns versus weak ancients. What we are seeing is an incredible and undeniable professionalization of strongman and strongwoman. This professionalization, which has occurred in other major sports, has meant specificity in training, competition techniques, and the kinds of bodies that compete.
For someone like me who studies the history of strength, such an observation points to both the growing popularity of this sport, but also the great strides made in such a short period of time. We have to remember that, as a sport, Strongman effectively began in 1977. Outside of CrossFit it is still the baby of the strength world.
Can We Compare Different Eras of Strongman?
This is the question that largely pre-empted this post. And it was certainly the point raised by some fans I spoke with during the live-streaming of the Arnold. Strongman fans can be, generally speaking, somewhat so-so on the history of the sport. But for those die-hard fans who know their Kaz from their Karlsons, the answer is undoubtedly no.
Putting aside the very big benefit that modern athletes have when it comes to anabolic steroids and also access to these kinds of events, the biggest leap has undoubtedly been the specialization of athletes. Those from the 1982 contest, which I know was not the World Strongest Man, were presented with a single Dinnie stone. While some modern fans may scoff at this challenge it was, for the time, a largely unknown event.
Compare this to the modern day wherein athletes are typically presented with the same event every year (with one or two notable exceptions). Strongman has become a legitimate sport and, with that, athletes are now strongmen and women rather than powerlifters, wrestlers or bouncers who are simply trying their hand at something. It is the difference between the first truly dominant World Strongest Man competitor Bill Kazmaeir who was faced with different challenges each year at the WSM versus someone like Thor who left the sport for several years and has returned to largely the same events. This is not to criticize modern athletes but simply to celebrate the fact that the certainty of the modern age, which allows athletes to train and test themselves on events, has allowed for some largely jaw-dropping feats of strength.
Just imagine going back to 1982 and telling the men that the smaller Dinnie stone would be joined by its larger sibling. How many would flinch? Fast forward to 2024 and athletes carry two stoically in competition. So rather than compare old and new, celebrate what the evolution of Strongman and Strongwoman has brought – bigger, faster, stronger!
As always… Happy Lifting!
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