Ryan Stewart's interview with Gregg Ernst.
Gregg is a Canadian beef and dairy farmer in Nova Scotia, Canada. A man of varied hobbies and prodigious strength. He writes music, and plays several musical instruments.
He also holds the Guiness world record for the greatest weight ever lifted by a human being. This is 2,422.18 kg (5,340 lb) for two cars with drivers on a platform backlifted , performed and notarized at South Shore Exhibition, Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 28 July 1993.
Ryan:
Hello Greg, thanks for talking with me today. Very excited to talk stones and stone training with you. I have written that you are 60 years old now and you still live on your farm in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. I believe your height and body weight in your prime was 6’ feet, 345 lbs. Is that correct?
Gregg:
Thanks for having me. All that is correct except for 345 lbs was my winter weight. Heaviest I competed at was about 330. And yes, I have lived outside Lunenberg on the farm my whole life.
Ryan:
I have your best gym numbers at a 750lb squat, 510lb bench and an 800lb deadlift.
Gregg:
Yeah that sounds about right.
Ryan:
I understand all those numbers were all done drug free as well as your strongman career?
Gregg:
That’s right. When I was competing guys were putting on about 50 lbs of muscle and now days it’s even worse with guys putting on 100+ of muscle. Its way worse for you now days. I think the guys wished they could be drug free, a lot of them, but they knew someone would cheat and they were gonna lose and they couldn’t live with that. I always wanted to compare my strength with history. You get it with the lifting historic stones. I wanted to compare my strength with guys like Louie Cyr. I want to do it the same way they did it. For me I was looking at a more historic timeline. These guys now days can’t compare themselves to anyone else but themselves. That’s the disadvantage for them.
Ryan:
I can completely understand being a lifetime drug free guy myself and wanting to lift Historic stones under my own power the way they did back in the day. Even comparison.
Gregg:
You are not worthy to touch those stones if you take drugs. You are not worthy. Just keep your hands off of them. You didn’t lift that stones, so it’s like a desicration.
Ryan:
I agree completely
Gregg:
Guys should just come out and say hey I’m on drugs. Just be upfront, but don’t compare yourself to the greats.
Ryan:
What was your favorite of the lifts?
Gregg:
I loved stones and the back lift witch I still hold the record in today. Stones I loved because I was a farmer. We were always moving stones when we are breaking land. My father was a very strong man and could lift big stones. When I got to the point that I could lift a bigger stone than my father it meant a lot. Because he was a legend around here. You’re into Historic stones so You’re in the sweet spot. When you grab one of those things you’re stepping back in time and comparing yourself man to man with those men. The other thing was the back lift. I loved the back lift because that is how I could lift the most weight. I could back lift a ton at 15 years old. I would back lift the sheet metal for the cattle stalls that my dad had stacked in the barn. I asked my dad “ well how much does that weigh” and he looked at the shipment slip and said “that’s about 2,000 lbs”. Then I built myself at table and started training that.
Ryan:
How often did you train the stones when you were training for strongman?
Gregg:
I trained them a couple times a week.
Ryan:
Did you practice stone carries?
Gregg:
No just the distance to load them. Around 10 yards.
Ryan:
Do you have a favorite stone you have lifted?
Gregg:
Yeah there was a stone that my dad pointed at and said that stone was a stone I could lift in my prime. Of course I marked that stone out. That was the stone I called the family stone, it weighed 455 lbs.
Ryan:
What was the heaviest stone you ever lifted in training?
Gregg:
It's back by the foundation by my cabin. I weighed it on a beam scale. The way old farmers used to weigh meat. The stone weighed about 530 lbs and I would lift it to my knees (lap). That was my peak summer of lifting stones. I after that I got busy doing other stuff and never really got back at it. Now you know because you have lifted the Husafell stone, it wouldn’t have been that hard to pop that up to your shoulder.
Ryan:
O man hahaha, You are on a whole different level of strength Gregg. Because there’s no way in hell I could shoulder Husafell haha.
Gregg:
Husafell is a very dense stone and is much smaller for the weight. So yeah I feel it would be an easy thing to just pop it up there. I don’t know why the Icelandic people don’t do it that way.
Ryan:
I don’t think they can. I think you’re in a class all by yourself on that one.
Ryan:
Obviously setting the record with the Husafell stone at WSM in 1992 is gonna be a great memory for you. Are there any other great memories from that trip?
Gregg:
I was impressed with the Politeness and Intelligence of the people there. And the food was wonderful. Also the women were good looking too.
Ryan:
hahahahahahaha I can agree with all of these things.
Ryan:
Any tips for new or young stone lifters?
Gregg:
Yes, I have an article that I wrote about 25 years ago that still sits in my desk. I’ll send it to you.
Ryan: Is it ok if I release it to the public?
Gregg:
Definitely
Ryan:
Anything else you would like to add about stones or stone lifting?
Gregg:
Yeah you know the stuff that the Basque have going over there. That is seriously cool. It’s insane. The idea of putting a 300kg rock on your bloody shoulder. To me that’s about as manly of a sport as you will find in the world.
Ryan:
I completely agree. Even the endurance of the guys lifting the smaller stones is impressive.
Ryan:
Well Gregg thank you so much for talking stones with me I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
Greg:
Thank you!