Flippin' tires is not just for strongman competitors. Tire training can significantly impact your strength and conditioning program. And just about anyone can do it! Regardless of your lack of experience or athletic skills, tire training is a tool you can use to build some muscle and make new gains. It also enhances your daily functions for all activities, especially because it looks like one of those situations when you are forced to move furniture around, or help a friend move his stuff out of the way. So, it's good practice in case such a situation occurs.
This type of exercise has strength and aerobic benefits that can enhance your overall sports performance. One one of the best things about it is that you can do it outdoors and still get a total body workout out of it. When you flip the tire, for example, you use your entire body to make the move, which puts a high metabolic demand on you. Plus, it's a cost-effective exercise. All you need is a tractor tire!
Where do I get a tire?
Of course, the most obvious question: where do I get one? You can purchase it from a local shop or online. It can cost you up to 100$. You can also dig around farms or your local dumping place, to maybe get it for free. To find out your tire's weight, simply ask the seller. If you've got yours for free, try to get your tire's make and model number, and call the manufacturer. You can get a good estimate of the tire's weight from them.
If you are new to tire training, you can get a tire anywhere from 100 to 300 pounds. You can even get a lighter one if you plan to hit it with more reps. The lighter weights are enough to help you strengthen and condition your body for a variety of sports, from weightlifting to volleyball. However, if you are doing tire training for a strength contest, you might want to start with a heavier tire of 650 pounds or more. Most of the tires used in strength contests are somewhere around 700-800 pounds. But if you simply want some strengthening and conditioning, a 300 pounds tire will do the job.
TRACTOR TIRE FLIP
This one's a classic tire exercise that helps you develop explosive power. It is a great training tool for wrestlers and football players because it enables them to exert force quickly in order to face heavier opponents. It looks like a simple move, but it's a move that requires technique. You can't simply go to your tire and flip it. That would increase the risk of injury and accidents, so unless you want something like that to happen, you need to master the technique involved in performing this exercise.
In order to achieve that, you need to think of the tire flip as similar to a hack squat, not a deadlift. You generate movement from your lower body and only lock your arms onto the tire. If you try to lift and move the tire with your arms, you set yourself for serious injury, so don't do that. Focus on lower body strength. Make sure you bend your arms slightly and keep your feet back and away from the tire, with your chest against it.
Keep your spine neutral, hips low, and drive through your legs to extend your ankles, knees, and hips. Make sure your hips are propelling the tire upward and forward at the same time, and stay close to the tire at all times until you flip it. If you want to develop your strength and power, go for a heavy tire. But if you want more volume for endurance and conditioning, a lighter tire is enough to do the job.
Tire Flip 101
This exercise will work your core, shoulders, arms, back, and legs. It's a total body workout that demands you keep your core engaged at all times, especially when you lift and push the tire. If you need to start with a lighter weight, do it. If you start heavy and force yourself too hard to move the tire, you risk serious injury, especially if you use your back and hips instead your legs to move it. Incorporate tire training into your workout routine once or twice a week. You can train your strength and speed one day, and focus on strength and conditioning for the next tire training workout.
Instructions
- Stand by a flat tire on the ground.
- Place your hands under the tire. Make sure your hands and feet are shoulder-width apart.
- Descend into a deep squat, bending your knees.
- Pull the tire up as your return to your standing position. Use your whole body to perform this move, driving through your legs, not your back.
- Create enough momentum to allow to quickly change your hand position. From a pull position, quickly rotate your hands to a push position.
- Push the tire forward until it falls flat.
- Repeat!
You can use this exercise to create various tire flip routines. For example, you can flit the tire over a 70-meter course and time yourself as you do it. This way you can measure your progress and enable yourself to complete the 70-meter course faster each time. You can also try to achieve a higher number of reps within a set. So if you plan for 3 or 4 sets, try to increase each set with more flips to enhance your endurance. Additionally, you can time this exercise as well, and see how many flips you can achieve over the course of 2 minutes and increase the time period with 30 seconds each time you do it.
CONCLUSION
Once you get comfortable with tire flipping, you can increase the difficulty of the exercise by adding new movement to it. For example, after you complete a flip, you can jump in the middle of the tire and repeat the movement to jump out of it. You can also get a sledgehammer to perform a few sledgehammer swings. It's a great exercise to great creative with once you've mastered it. Make sure you wear a good pair of workout gloves to protect your hands from the rough tire surface and a pair of calf sleeves to keep your lower leg muscles warm and compressed to withstand the movement.
Incorporate this exercise into your training program if you want to develop explosive strength, endurance, and increase your power output. Tire training is especially significant for total-body conditioning, working pretty much all of your major muscle groups. Just make sure that you drive through your legs during a tire flip, and avoid using your back and arms to push the tire, so you wouldn’t set yourself for serious injury. As long as you master this technique and remember to engage your core, you’re going to be amazed at the power level you’re going to achieve!
