Heavy Tire Exercises

I’m sure many of you have seen the tire flips made popular by Strongman competitions, but a good size tire can be used for an entire crew’s full-body workout.

The basic crew or “team” within a fire department is the company you work on, whether it’s an engine, ladder or rescue. No matter which team you’re on, I’m sure you’ve had incidents that forced you to fight your way to success. This is why we need to train for fighting back physically against our opponent. Our obvious opponent is fire, but we have other opponents that affect our physical performance, such as time of day, heat and humidity, the number of previous calls we’ve run that day (i.e., cumulative fatigue), nagging injuries or illness, poor nutrition and dehydration. In short, we have a lot going against us, so we must make every effort to stand ready and be prepared.

When we physically train as a team, it teaches us to work through challenges and difficult incidents together. Training also allows us to test ourselves in situations that we can stop and control. The heavy tire is a perfect team and individual training tool. It’s readily available, and it’s really cheap–as in free–in most cases.

Try the following exercises using a large tire. You won’t be disappointed! Note: For the purposes of this article, a full team consists of four members.

The Tire Carry
When your team places a tire overhead and then carries it, the group will either gel or fall apart. First, it’s physically taxing to the core muscles because everyone must keep their backs straight and abdominals tight in order to keep the tire properly balanced. The team must also be good at communicating in order to safely position the tire overhead and then walk with it to a predetermined stopping point.

Keep in mind that we all have different strengths and weaknesses and we’re all different heights, so figuring out the team dynamics of the tire carry is crucial to safely and successfully completing the carry.

My bread-and-butter exercise with the tire carry is to place it overhead and walk 100 meters, then set it down and sprint back 100 meters to the starting point. The team repeats this up to five times or more, if you desire. Things to remember: Use a tire that’s either the same size as a ladder truck tire or larger. Arms should be in the overhead press position while moving. The tire can rest on the shoulders, but movement should stop when in this position. Note: If you’ve never performed this type of exercise before, you must work up to this level of physical activity. Never use your head as a means of carrying the weight.

The Tire Press
Another great team builder and physical exercise is the overhead tire press. To begin, your team gathers around the tire just like they do for the carry, but this time everyone faces in toward the tire. Next, pick it up as a unit and raise it to shoulder level. Press the tire overhead as far as is appropriate for the tire size/weight and team members’ heights.

When you get comfortable with that lift, you can have two members drop off and do a two-person press. You may continue alternating the teams of two. When you’re feeling ready, you can start from the ground for each rep.

The Tire Squat
The team tire squat is done in two ways. The first is as a front squat in which the team brings the tire up to their shoulders, then slowly squats down and then returns to the standing position. Remember: When working as a team, you must account for the various strengths and weaknesses of all the members. This means that everyone works together to accomplish the task. At no time should the team put any one member at risk of injury by doing too many reps. When your team gets really good, you may add a press to the front squat, so it goes squat, press, squat, press, etc.

Another variation is to face away from the tire, grip it in an underhand fashion and bring it up to waist level. As a unit, squat down to parallel and return to the standing position. Tip: It’s best to push into the tire to make this difficult task easier. Also, you won’t be able to see each other, so constant communication is paramount.  

Tire Hits
Now it’s your turn to get back at the tire. The sledgehammer has long been a standard in the fire service and now it’s a favorite fitness tool for elite athletes. For us, it’s a good functional training device to simulate forcible entry and ventilation movements.

When utilizing the tire for forcible-entry training, simply secure the tire against a wall or tree and hit it in various positions while you’re in a standing position. To simulate ventilation, just drop the tire on its side and hit it with the same stroke you would use with an axe.

To build better hand/eye coordination, place some markings on your tire and practice hitting them. Switch off between them during each set.

Tire Drags & Pushes
There are many variations of tire drags and pushes. All of us have probably put a hose through the center of a tire and dragged it either forward or backward. This is great for building the same muscles that we use in hose deployment.

Another good method is to get on all fours to simulate a rescue in a fire situation and drag the tire from the front or push it from the back. Tip: Don’t always do this exercise in a straight line. Try doing it in a large square-shape to simulate going around corners.

Push-ups, Sit-ups, Planks, Squats & Lunges
The tire is also a perfect multi-station workout device. Your team can do push-ups, sit-ups, planks, single-leg squats and lunges in a stationary position or they can carry the tire a predetermined spot, drop it on the ground and then do the exercises. You can also do 10 presses or squats and then drop and do the other exercises. Tip: Make sure each crewmember gets to each exercise in the rotation.

The Tire Flip
The standard and probably most well-known exercise for the large tire is the tire flip. This is a good exercise because it forces the individual to be in a somewhat awkward position. They have to utilize their legs and their gluteus maximus to turn the tire over while keeping their core tight. It’s also a great exercise for overall body control, which is important to the firefighter because of the many positions in which we find ourselves working.

To safely accomplish this exercise, it’s imperative to use proper lifting technique. Proper form for tire flips starts with your head up, chest out, back straight and butt down. Then bend at the knees while keeping your core (trunk muscles) tight. Next, reach underneath the tire, raise it up and flip it over. Repeat this up to 10 times. I also like to put a sledgehammer on both ends of the tire flip and get some hits in after each set of flips.

A Final Word
Using tires in a functional workout program is a great idea for any athlete, but it really lends itself to firefighting in a big way, because there’s such a wide variety of exercises you can perform that mimic the movements/tasks we perform when firefighting.

Try adding a tire evolution to any of your workouts. When you’re feeling up to it, try these exercises in your turnouts as well.