STONE LIFTING COACHING IN LONDON

PRIVATE 1-TO-1 NATURAL STONE LIFTING COACHING AT THE COMMANDO TEMPLE IN DEPTFORD, SOUTH EAST LONDON.

LEARN HOW TO LIFT STONES

Whether you're picking up a stone for the first time, want to improve your technique or you're preparing to tackle a particular historic lifting stone, sessions are built around your experience, strength and goals.

The aim isn't simply to get you through one successful lift. It's to teach you principles you can apply when you encounter a stone you've never lifted before.

WHAT WE CAN WORK ON

THE PICK & LAP
Getting close to the stone, finding purchase and bringing it securely into the lap.

STONE TO CHEST
Using the hips and legs to extend through the stone while keeping it connected to the body.

SHOULDERING
Moving a natural stone from the chest onto one shoulder.

CARRIES
Finding a secure position and moving efficiently under an awkward load.

LOADING
Taking stones from the floor onto platforms or over bars.

AWKWARD OBJECTS
Applying stone-lifting principles to sandbags and other irregular implements.

NEVER LIFTED A STONE BEFORE?

Perfect.

You don't need to be a strongman competitor — or even consider yourself particularly strong — to start lifting stones.

The Commando Temple has natural stones of different weights, shapes and sizes, allowing us to find appropriate challenges and build from there. Your first session is about learning the basic positions, getting comfortable with an unfamiliar type of lifting and discovering what you're capable of.

There's no minimum strength requirement and no expectation that you arrive already knowing what you're doing. That's what the coaching is for.

ALREADY STRONG? MAKE IT USEFUL.

A big deadlift gives you plenty to work with, but natural stones introduce width, changing centres of mass, poor grip, awkward starting positions and objects that rarely move exactly where you want them to.

For experienced strength athletes, coaching can focus on transferring existing strength to natural stones, improving efficiency on heavier lifts and identifying where technique rather than raw strength is holding you back.

COACHED BY EXPERTS

Sessions are coached by London Stone Lifting founder Ben Waters and Charlie Clay. Strength coaches with more than 15 years of coaching experience each and extensive first-hand experience lifting natural and historic stones across Britain and Ireland.

Their approach combines traditional strength training with the practical techniques needed to lift objects that were never designed to be lifted.

BOOK 1-TO-1 STONE LIFTING

Private 60-minute stone lifting session £80

  • Learn/refine technique.

  • Build solid fundamentals.

  • First hand experience from English Stonelifting forerunners.

BOOK YOUR SESSION

1-TO-1 STONE LIFTING FAQ

  • No. There is no minimum strength requirement for stone lifting coaching. The Commando Temple has natural stones and awkward objects of different weights, shapes and sizes, so we can find an appropriate starting point for you.

    Stone lifting is as much about positioning, technique and learning how to work with an awkward object as it is about raw strength.

  • Absolutely. You don't need any previous experience with natural stones, strongman or strength sports.

    A beginner session will introduce you to the basic positions and techniques involved in lifting stones safely and effectively, before progressing to more challenging stones when you're ready.

  • Yes. Being strong with a barbell doesn't automatically make someone efficient at lifting natural stones.

    Experienced strongman competitors, powerlifters, weightlifters and other strength athletes can use sessions to improve their technique, identify weaknesses and learn how to transfer their existing strength to irregular objects.

  • Yes. If you're planning to travel to attempt a particular historic or traditional lifting stone, we can tailor your training towards the challenge.

    Where information is available, we can consider the stone's weight, dimensions, shape and the required style of lift, then use natural stones and other equipment at the Commando Temple to prepare you as specifically as possible.

  • Sessions are tailored to your goals and experience. We can work on picking and lapping natural stones, lifting stones to the chest, shouldering, loading, carrying, extension, grip and positioning.

    More importantly, you'll learn principles that can help you approach unfamiliar stones rather than relying on one technique that only works with one particular object.

  • Private stone lifting coaching takes place at the Commando Temple in Deptford, South East London, home of London Stone Lifting, Stone Club and the Commando Temple Stone Gauntlet.

    The gym is easily accessible from Greenwich, New Cross, Lewisham and central London, with Deptford railway station and Deptford Bridge DLR nearby.