Underground Strength QnA: Tire Flips & Training With Injuries
Zach Even - Esh
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Got some cool questions that I wanna crank out via the Blog. Check em' below as these questions come in often. Enjoy!
Q: Hi Zach!
My Name is Mark and I live on Cape Cod. If you have a minute I wanted to ask you about tire flipping. 4 of us from my affiliate competed in a Crossfit Competition today and there was a 1000 pound tire-at least that's what they told us it weighed.
Any way no one from my team has flipped the tire before and we couldn't even get the thing off the ground. There were some scrawny dudes who were flipping it by themselves. We used 2 people at a shot and took a time penalty for the 100m flip. We went on to out deadlift everyone else there in a later event and ultimately won the competition.
I watched your video from the main site and liked it-thank you for that contribution. I am starting the hunt for large tires tomorrow but what gives? I am interested in what you have to say. Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Mark
ANSWER:
Mark, GREAT question brutha. Thanks for writing in as well. The tire flip does not simply require strength, it also requires speed - strength AND technique. If you get too close to the tire you end up deadlifting the tire and getting stuck. If you're a strong guy yet have NO horsepower (aka speed) then you will not be able to rip the tire up.
In essence, the tire flip is very much like a power clean, except rather than being in an upright position with your feet flat, you want to angle your body away from the tire, get on the balls of your feet, chest digging under the tire. You want to power clean the tire up and as soon as it passes your waist use your knee to aid in getting the tire up. Immediately switch your hands from a curl grip to a push grip to aid even more so in getting the tire into the "rack" position.
I have found that if you have a strong AND fast deadlift and clean and press you can have a great carry over to the tire flip. Often times it's a matter of getting the technique down pat. See the video below, and although the tire is light, I show two versions, sumo style with arms inside the legs, close stance style with arms wide and outside the legs.
Also, you can see below another video of me using a heavier tire during a circuit I called '5 Rounds of Hell'. Note the angle of the body when flipping the tire.
Onto the Next Question.... I am showin' the love, bruddahs 🙂
Question:
Zach, my son recently fractured his arm and is unable to play Football this season. He is an 8th grader. What can I do to help him stay in shape and keep his head in the game so to speak. He loves to play and work out and I want to help him.
Thanks for all you do, Zach.
- Ed -
ANSWER:
Ed, hey brother, thanks for the e mail and I dig your commitment. Your son WANTS to work out and often times I am in this very same scenario. Athlete gets hurt and the parent thinks they can't do anything. Well heck, we still got 2 legs and another arm! NO excuses.
For upper and full body we will perform the following drills using a Kettlebell or Dumbbell:
- Snatch
- Clean & Press
- 1 Arm Row
- Carries: overhead, rack, suit case
- 1 Arm Floor Press
For Lower Body we will perform the following drills using a Kettlebell or Dumbbell:
- 1 Arm KB Deadlifts while standing on 2 boxes for stretch
If the athlete only has a broken hand / wrist we can also do barbell zercher squats. I have found that keeping the athlete in training raises his self esteem AND dramatically speeds up the healing process. If the athlete sits around the house and mopes around he returns to his sport and the gym weaker, slower not just physically but mentally as well.
We also use a dragging sled, strapped around the athletes waist and perform drags and sprints moving forwards and backwards as well as lateral walking. We get our sleds from HERE, sometimes my Dad makes them when they have spare parts laying around his shop as well. As simple as they are to use they are one of the best tools for an athlete to use.
Thanks for the help Zach! We were definitely trying much closer to the tire and not pushing forward so much & there was no thought of pushing with the chest. We didn’t get far enough to switch to the rack and run it through but I know your advice is gonna work. I have already tracked down some monster tires in my neck of the woods and will send you an update soon! Again, thanks for the help!
Love the tire technique variations. I believe in variety. So, I noticed something that I have to ask about.
I believe you mentioned that you came to strength training via bodybuilding. In that discipline, bi-lateral symmetry is of crucial importance. I think it should be important in strength, as well. You want your left as strong as your right. Right?
Here’s the deal: In your tire-flipping videos, it seems that you always “kick” the tire up with your right knee. Wouldn’t it make sense to alternate the kicking leg? That way you give both legs work in all the stresses required for the exercise. You could either alternate on each flip or in each direction. You’ve said yourself: Start with the weak side to bring it up to the strong. Treat each side for its specific needs. (Of course, if you have an injury that precludes this, all bets are off.) Whaddaya think?
Thanks for the cool “old school” site! From an old school, old dude,
Love the tire technique variations. I believe in variety. So, I noticed something that I have to ask about.
I believe you mentioned that you came to strength training via bodybuilding. In that discipline, bi-lateral symmetry is of crucial importance. I think it should be important in strength, as well. You want your left as strong as your right. Right?
Here’s the deal: In your tire-flipping videos, it seems that you always “kick” the tire up with your right knee. Wouldn’t it make sense to alternate the kicking leg? That way you give both legs work in all the stresses required for the exercise. You could either alternate on each flip or in each direction. You’ve said yourself: Start with the weak side to bring it up to the strong. Treat each side for its specific needs. (Of course, if you have an injury that precludes this, all bets are off.) Whaddaya think?
Thanks for the cool “old school” site! From an old school, old dude,
i noticed you wrote for the guys son with the broken arm that he could do clean & press ,1 arm rows , and various othersmovements using his non hurt arm . now this may sound like a stupid question but i gotta ask it .working just one side will that make you uneven?
Mark, my pleasure brutha, get the technique down, improve your strength on squats, clean and press variations and pull ups! Those are a BIG help for the tire flip!
Acie, reps are kept to 5 and those movements are primarily full body, except the rows…. Rather than do all lower body work, we’re able to engage the entire back and almost entire body and it’s way better than not touching the upper body
when they’re back in action, as always, everything we do unilaterally matches the non dominant side
so if left side gets 5 reps w/44 lb clean and press then strong right side does the same, never more
all workouts are flawed but training is way better than sitting home and sulking
awesome tire variations zach! with the weather going south quick up here in central new york i’m definitely going to have to get as many of those in within the next month as i can before the tires are officially retired for the winter (yes, it often snows in october up here…lucky us!).
Great info and great videos! I have done a variation of your 5 Rounds of Hell several times since first viewing the video. Only thing is, I have never used a tire. I was wondering if you could recommend a place in Central Jersey where i could pick one or two up. Thanks for all the training info.
STRONG Life Podcast ep 493 Lessons Learned from SORINEX Winter STRONG 7 RESOURCES: SORINEX OUTDOORS SORINEX It’s impossible to put into words what happens and
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11 Responses
Thanks for the help Zach! We were definitely trying much closer to the tire and not pushing forward so much & there was no thought of pushing with the chest. We didn’t get far enough to switch to the rack and run it through but I know your advice is gonna work. I have already tracked down some monster tires in my neck of the woods and will send you an update soon! Again, thanks for the help!
Zach,
Love the tire technique variations. I believe in variety. So, I noticed something that I have to ask about.
I believe you mentioned that you came to strength training via bodybuilding. In that discipline, bi-lateral symmetry is of crucial importance. I think it should be important in strength, as well. You want your left as strong as your right. Right?
Here’s the deal: In your tire-flipping videos, it seems that you always “kick” the tire up with your right knee. Wouldn’t it make sense to alternate the kicking leg? That way you give both legs work in all the stresses required for the exercise. You could either alternate on each flip or in each direction. You’ve said yourself: Start with the weak side to bring it up to the strong. Treat each side for its specific needs. (Of course, if you have an injury that precludes this, all bets are off.) Whaddaya think?
Thanks for the cool “old school” site! From an old school, old dude,
Jim
Zach,
Love the tire technique variations. I believe in variety. So, I noticed something that I have to ask about.
I believe you mentioned that you came to strength training via bodybuilding. In that discipline, bi-lateral symmetry is of crucial importance. I think it should be important in strength, as well. You want your left as strong as your right. Right?
Here’s the deal: In your tire-flipping videos, it seems that you always “kick” the tire up with your right knee. Wouldn’t it make sense to alternate the kicking leg? That way you give both legs work in all the stresses required for the exercise. You could either alternate on each flip or in each direction. You’ve said yourself: Start with the weak side to bring it up to the strong. Treat each side for its specific needs. (Of course, if you have an injury that precludes this, all bets are off.) Whaddaya think?
Thanks for the cool “old school” site! From an old school, old dude,
Jim
great ideas about keeping the weight training up while injured Zach! It’s always possible to work around an injury unless your in a full body cast.
Even then…..
i noticed you wrote for the guys son with the broken arm that he could do clean & press ,1 arm rows , and various othersmovements using his non hurt arm . now this may sound like a stupid question but i gotta ask it .working just one side will that make you uneven?
Mark, my pleasure brutha, get the technique down, improve your strength on squats, clean and press variations and pull ups! Those are a BIG help for the tire flip!
Jim, very true, on the tire flip, you can prob do with a lighter tire, but w/the heavier tires, i just go what feels natural.
in total, i don’t hit more than 15 or so heavy reps and do tons of unilateral leg work that it doesn’t make a difference at all bro
–z–
Acie, reps are kept to 5 and those movements are primarily full body, except the rows…. Rather than do all lower body work, we’re able to engage the entire back and almost entire body and it’s way better than not touching the upper body
when they’re back in action, as always, everything we do unilaterally matches the non dominant side
so if left side gets 5 reps w/44 lb clean and press then strong right side does the same, never more
all workouts are flawed but training is way better than sitting home and sulking
–z–
awesome tire variations zach! with the weather going south quick up here in central new york i’m definitely going to have to get as many of those in within the next month as i can before the tires are officially retired for the winter (yes, it often snows in october up here…lucky us!).
Nice Zach,
Love the tire a great tool to have. Nice variations also.
Great info and great videos! I have done a variation of your 5 Rounds of Hell several times since first viewing the video. Only thing is, I have never used a tire. I was wondering if you could recommend a place in Central Jersey where i could pick one or two up. Thanks for all the training info.