Ok. Brace yourselves. I just received my new balls in the mail. Actually, they are molds of balls but I still find myself whispering: Be still my beating heart.
For as long as I remember, I wondered how I could get my hands on said balls seeing that they are not easily purchased. In fact, one cannot purchase balls, one needs to make them from scratch; with concrete.
Terrible word play aside, I began CrossFit, functional training, research, writing, Paleo eating for one primary goal. I want to be a strong woman (not like Jim Carrey from In Living Color.)
I ordered from Slaters Hardware a 10 inch Atlas Stone mold which should yield a 43 lb stone. Steven Slater who delightfully answered a very non-feminist email from me, explained that I would need an 80lb bag of Quikcrete to make my first ball. Slater and his brethren Lou and Jackie now run the family biz which has been manufacturing Strongmen/Strongwomen equipment for over 60 years. And, their Atlas Molds have been featured in high profile competitions and have been part of breaking worlds records. I feel like I am in good hands and greatly appreciate Steven for taking the time to figure out how much concrete this nerdy librarian needs before making her first stone.
Hats off to my CrossFit London’s hunk Steven Shrago for giving me some impromptu advice about mixing cement:
Hi Amanda,
I have not made an Atlas stone before, but now that I know that it is possible, I think I will be giving it a go.
Mixing cement and sand: Hire a mixer! Seriously, there is nothing sexy at all about mixing cement (as Andrew and I discovered when reinforcing the floor to the gym). It is hard, boring and messy work. A mixer for £24/week (umm…$36?) is a bargain. You can make many balls!
As for the cement/sand mix, you may need to be guided by the instructions that came with the mold
That said, there do seem to be a few useful guides on the matter scattered across the dusty corners of the internets
http://www.bodyresults.com/S2stone.asp
http://www.purepowerathlete.com/files/Everything_You_Need_to_Know_About_Making_Atlas_Stones.doc
http://www133.pair.com/iain/vault/house/stones/stonemaking.html
Good luck! I’d like to see pictures when it is done!
Steven
I will be video taping my Atlas Stone creation so fear not. After I pass…er…make my first stone, this is what I will be doing with it:




February 6th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Ok Amanda, enough of the teasing:
“Show us your balls!”
(sorry: impuse control issues. The lure of the pun was too great…)
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Amanda Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Steve
There is a video coming!!!
I even mention you in it!
AB
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April 21st, 2010 at 7:36 am
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August 30th, 2010 at 11:52 am
In this case your doctor is right ( i consider myself a self natural healer). But where i am focused on right now is the fact that as you smoke weed, tar will buildup in your head( you know like the resin you scrape out of your pipe). Your body will then have to take that extra burden cleaning all that tar out, while it repairs itself, needing that time to recover. You won’t stop recovering, you will just slow or delay your recovery. Your body is the one being taxed out at your expense. If you smoke now you are only asking for a lesser degree of healing when you want to be whole.
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