Should You Use Atlas Stone Sleeves? The Complete Strongman Guide

There is a specific, visceral feeling that comes with lifting an Atlas stone. It’s the crushing weight in your lap, the grit of the concrete against your chest, and the primal extension of loading it onto a platform. It is arguably the most iconic event in Strongman.

But there is another feeling associated with stone lifting: the burning sting of torn skin, the deep, bone-level bruising on your forearms, and the agonizing ritual of scrubbing industrial-grade stickum (tacky) off your body for forty-five minutes after the gym closes.

If you are new to the sport, or even if you’ve been dabbling for a while, you’ve likely looked at your shredded forearms and asked: “Is this necessary? Should I use Atlas stone sleeves?”

The short answer is: You don’t have to, but if you want to train consistently without looking like you fought a bear, you probably should.

In this guide, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about stone sleeves—from why elite pros like Tom Stoltman use them to how they save you money (and skin) in the long run.

5 Key Takeaways

Skin Preservation is Priority #1: Sleeves prevent the “stone kisses” (abrasions) and skin tears that can sideline your training for weeks.
Tacky Management is Easier: Applying tacky to sleeves is more effective than bare skin, and cleanup is as simple as taking the sleeves off—no chemical scrubbing required.
Consistency Over Bravado: While you can lift bare-skinned, sleeves allow for higher training frequency because you aren’t limited by pain tolerance or surface wounds.
Alternatives Exist: Duct tape and vet wrap work in a pinch and are cheaper upfront, but they lack the convenience and durability of leather or hybrid sleeves.
They Don’t Lift the Stone for You: Sleeves improve grip surface and reduce pain, but they do not negate the need for crushing grip strength and proper posterior chain mechanics.

What Are Atlas Stone Sleeves and Why Do Strongmen Use Them?

If you walk into a standard commercial gym, you see knee sleeves and elbow sleeves. These are usually made of neoprene and designed to provide compression and warmth.

Atlas stone sleeves are a different beast entirely.

These are specialized forearm guards, usually made from heavy-duty leather, hybrid materials, or reinforced neoprene. They typically run from the wrist to just below the elbow. Their primary function isn’t compression or joint support; their job is to act as a shield.

Strongmen use them because Atlas stones are unforgiving. Unlike a smooth barbell, a stone is often rough concrete. When you lap a heavy stone, you are essentially crushing your forearm soft tissue between your radius/ulna bones and a concrete sphere. Without protection, the friction rips the skin, and the pressure bursts capillaries.

As noted by training resources like Lift Big Eat Big, sleeves were developed to solve the “durability” problem. You might have the muscular strength to lift the stone, but if your skin tears on the second rep, your session is over. Sleeves bridge the gap between your muscular potential and your skin’s structural integrity.

The Top Benefits of Wearing Stone Sleeves for Training

You might see World’s Strongest Man competitors sometimes lifting without sleeves, usually taped up or even bare-skinned for maximum friction. However, for the vast majority of training, sleeves offer undeniable advantages.

Training Consistency

This is the biggest factor. To get good at stones, you need volume. You need to practice the pick, the lap, and the extension repeatedly. If you lift bare-skinned, you will likely lose skin. Once a callous tears or your forearm is raw, you cannot put a stone on it again until it heals, which could take a week. Sleeves allow you to train stones on Tuesday and still be able to high-five someone on Wednesday without wincing.

Enhanced Performance

Tom Stoltman, widely considered the “King of the Stones,” has emphasized that protection reduces the strain on the arm muscles. When your body senses acute pain (like skin tearing), it naturally inhibits force production as a defense mechanism. By removing the sharp pain of abrasion, you can squeeze harder and commit to the lift more aggressively. (Source: MyProtein)

The “Mental” Game

There is a hesitation that occurs when you know something is going to hurt. It’s subtle, but it slows you down. Wearing sleeves removes the “pain variable” from the equation. You stop worrying about your skin and start focusing on your hip extension.

How Stone Sleeves Prevent Skin Injuries and Abrasions

Let’s get graphic for a moment to understand what we are preventing.

Abrasions and Tears: Even “smooth” competition stones act like high-grit sandpaper under heavy load. As you row the stone into your lap, it slides up your forearms. Without sleeves, this strips the hair and the top layer of epidermis.

Deep Bruising: The pressure of a 300lb stone compressing your forearm muscles against the bone causes deep tissue bruising. While sleeves don’t eliminate pressure, the layer of leather or thick neoprene disperses the force over a wider surface area, reducing the severity of the bruising.

Infection Prevention: Gyms are dirty. Atlas stones are covered in old tacky, dust, chalk, and the sweat (and sometimes blood) of other lifters. Opening a wound on your forearm while hugging a dirty sphere is a recipe for a nasty infection. Sleeves keep your blood inside your body and the dirt outside.

Applying Tacky to Sleeves vs. Bare Skin: A Performance Comparison

If you have never applied tacky (the pine-sap-based adhesive used in strongman) to your bare skin, consider yourself lucky.

The Application Surface

Tacky is designed to stick. On bare skin, it pulls arm hair and feels like you are being waxed slowly and painfully. However, tacky loves leather. When applied to high-quality stone sleeves, the tacky bonds aggressively to the material, creating a friction surface that is often superior to bare skin. This allows you to “lock” the stone against your forearms more effectively during the pick and the load.

The Cleanup Factor

This is the practical reason most amateur strongmen buy sleeves.

Without Sleeves: You finish training. You are tired. You now have to spend 30 to 45 minutes scrubbing your arms with baby oil, WD-40, or special tacky remover. You will lose hair. You will be red and irritated. Your car steering wheel will be sticky for days.
With Sleeves: You finish training. You peel the sleeves off. You put them in a plastic bag. You wash your hands. You go home.

The time saved in cleanup alone is often worth the purchase price.

Atlas Stone Sleeves vs. Duct Tape and DIY Alternatives

Are sleeves the only way? No. There is a hierarchy of protection in the strongman world, often discussed on forums like Reddit’s Strongman community.

1. The DIY Classic: Vet Wrap + Duct Tape

This is the most common alternative. You wrap your forearms in “vet wrap” (self-adhering bandage used for horses) and then wrap duct tape over it.

Pros: It’s cheap upfront. You can customize the thickness.
Cons: It takes 15 minutes to apply properly before every session. If you sweat too much, it slips. It’s a recurring cost (you throw it away every time).

2. Athletic Tape / Hockey Tape

Some lifters just tape their forearms.

Pros: Better feel than thick duct tape.
Cons: Expensive over time. Tacky can sometimes rip the tape right off your skin if not anchored well.

3. Bare Skin

Pros: Maximum “feel.” Zero cost.
Cons: Pain. Skin loss. Tacky cleanup nightmare.

4. Sleeves (Leather/Hybrid)

Pros: One-time purchase. Consistent feel. 10-second setup time. Best protection.
Cons: Higher upfront cost ($40-$150). You have to remember to bring them.

Are Stone Sleeves Worth the Cost? Investment vs. DIY

Let’s look at the math. A decent pair of stone sleeves costs between $50 and $100 depending on the brand (such as Cerberus Strength or BTB Sleeves).

If you use the Tape method:

Roll of Vet Wrap: ~$2.00
Roll of Duct Tape: ~$5.00
You go through supplies every 3-4 sessions.
Over a year of weekly stone training, you might spend $60-$80 on tape products.

The monetary cost is roughly break-even over a year. However, the time cost is where sleeves win. If you value your time at all, saving 15 minutes of wrapping and 30 minutes of scrubbing every single session makes sleeves a massive return on investment.

Furthermore, consider the cost of missed training. If you tear your forearm skin and can’t train stones for two weeks, you are losing progress. Sleeves are an insurance policy for your consistency.

Can You Train Atlas Stones Without Sleeves?

Is there an argument for going without them? Sure.

Some “old school” lifters believe you need to deaden the nerves and toughen the skin. The idea is that if you rely 100% on sleeves, you will be helpless if you ever lose them or have to compete in a contest where they (rarely) disallow them.

If you want to harden your skin, do it gradually. Do your lighter warm-up sets without sleeves to build up some tolerance and callus. But when you move to working weights—the weights that actually tear skin—put the sleeves on. This gives you the best of both worlds: skin conditioning without injury.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I have to use Atlas stone sleeves? No, they are optional. Many pros compete without them, and some use tape. However, for the average lifter, sleeves are highly recommended to prevent injuries that can derail training cycles.

2. What’s the difference between sleeves and taping? Convenience and consistency. Sleeves are “plug and play”—you slip them on and lift. Taping requires purchase, application time, and removal time every single session. Sleeves also generally offer better impact protection against bruising than a few layers of tape.

3. Can I apply tacky to sleeves? Yes, absolutely. In fact, that is what they are designed for. Tacky adheres incredibly well to leather or neoprene sleeve material, often providing a stronger grip than tacky on sweaty skin. Plus, you don’t have to scrub the tacky off your arms afterward!

4. How painful is tacky on bare skin? It is significant. Removing tacky from bare skin feels like a very aggressive wax job combined with rug burn. Many beginners quit stones not because of the weight, but because of the pain of the tacky. Sleeves eliminate this problem.

5. What do sleeves protect against? They protect against three main things: superficial abrasion (skin tearing), deep tissue bruising from the crushing pressure of the stone, and potential infections from dirty stones entering open wounds.

6. Are there cheaper alternatives? Yes. The standard cheap alternative is wrapping your arms in Vet Wrap (first layer) and Duct Tape (second layer). This costs a few dollars per session but is time-consuming.

7. Do sleeves affect grip strength development? Sleeves do not do the lifting for you. You still need massive crushing power to hold the stone. While they make the friction part easier (by holding tacky better), they allow you to train heavier and more frequently, which actually helps you build grip strength faster than sporadic, painful sessions on bare skin.

Conclusion

If you are a professional Strongman competitor looking for that 1% edge on competition day, you might experiment with tape or bare skin. But for everyone else—from the weekend warrior to the serious amateur—Atlas stone sleeves are a no-brainer.

They turn a brutal, skin-shredding event into a trainable, repeatable lift. They save you hours of cleanup time, protect you from infection, and allow you to focus on what matters: moving heavy stones from the floor to the platform.

Don’t let a skin tear be the reason you miss a PR. Get the sleeves, load up the tacky, and lift big.