When you pick up an atlas stone, you will feel the full weight load onto your hips and lower back, not your shoulders or arms. Sit low with the stone between your feet, chest upright, and wrap your arms around it. Hug it tight to your body and drive your legs into the ground to stand. The stone should stay close to your body the whole time — the farther it sits away from you, the heavier it feels and the more your lower back must work. This is not an arm or shoulder movement; it is a hip extension under load. Some people can pull the stone to a platform or their thigh; the core skill is the hug-and-drive from the ground.