Over the last couple of years, you’ve probably seen truck or tractor tires popping up at health clubs, gyms, boot camps, races, and even in home workouts.
There are many reasons for the popularity of tyre exercises. Flipping a tyre is a great way to work the posterior muscles, like your hamstrings, glutes and back. Also, this is a terrific exercise for your core muscles.
This can be especially beneficial for those of us who sit at a desk or have a job that requires consistent sitting.
“It’s a full-body stimulator,” says top strength coach Jack Lovett from Spartan Performance gym.
“There isn’t a single muscle this exercise won’t recruit and strengthen – including your stabilising muscles – in a way that traditional barbell and dumbbell movements can’t.”
Nikhil Somani an expert in sports nutrition and dietetics adds that tyre flips work the core along with the posterior chain (back, glutes, hamstrings ) of the body.
“It works on numerous stabilizer muscles in the entire body. It is also a great strength and endurance builder. Although if this exercise is performed with bad technique (rounded back, losing tightness in the core while lifting/pushing the tire) just like squats and dead lifts, it can cause more harm by injury than any good to the body. So make sure your technique is top notch before advancing with this exercise,” says Somani.
Here are three tyre workout you can try:
Triceps Dips
Facing away from the tire, place your arms behind you. Rest the palms of your hands on the tire with your arms fully extended. Place your feet approximately half of your body length in front of the tire. This will be your starting position. Bend at the elbows into a 90-degree angle while lowering your body slowly until your bottom almost touches the ground. Return to a straight-arm position. This is one full repetition.
Pop Squats
If you want to target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core. Lay the tire flat on the ground. Stand in the hole in the centre of your tire. Bend your knees slightly and hop upward to land on the tire in a 90-degree squat with both feet on opposite sides of the tire. Hop upward again, returning to a standing position within the hole of the tire. Repeat.
Tyre Flips
Start with the tire flat on the ground. Place your fingers under the tire while it is in this position. Your hands and feet should be shoulder-width apart. Squat down deep, bending at the knees. As you return to a standing position, pull the tire up. Make sure to use your whole body—especially your legs—to avoid lifting solely with your back. The momentum you create should allow you to change your hand position from a pull to a push. Push the tire forward. Once it is flat, repeat the process.
Tyre exercises can be done or performed by anyone and can be one of the cheapest methods to stay fit. But be mindful of injury when trying it for the first time.
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