Claire-what size tire is it that you use? What would be a good beginning tire, lol, not too heavy but challenging!
I don’t think I’m ready for tractor tires 
You’d be surprised how light a 400lb tractor tire feels. You aren’t flipping all that weight, you are leveraging some of it. It’s great fun!
Nice work on the bench! Lol, next time test your max before you’re tired out, you’ll probably get an extra 10-15lbs on the bar.
[quote]mominmaine wrote:
Claire-what size tire is it that you use? What would be a good beginning tire, lol, not too heavy but challenging!
I don’t think I’m ready for tractor tires :P[/quote]
I think my tire is only 215lb which is why I do a ton of reps. It is great for HIIT. We have a 550lb tire but I can’t flip it:( I only tried once. I would have to work on my technique to flip it.
Claire
Sic-thanks, lol…there’s always tomorrow!
I don’t know what I was thinking, I was just following the list. I really challenged myself today, so I guess thought I wasn’t going to be as tired as I was by the end…
Ok Claire- what KIND of tire is it? Do I just call around junk yards asking for 200lb tires? lol…
[quote]mominmaine wrote:
Sic-thanks, lol…there’s always tomorrow!
I don’t know what I was thinking, I was just following the list. I really challenged myself today, so I guess thought I wasn’t going to be as tired as I was by the end…
Ok Claire- what KIND of tire is it? Do I just call around junk yards asking for 200lb tires? lol…
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I am going to send c. over to give you tire advice:) Mine were presents from the guys at the gym.
Claire
c. here:) Did someone mention tires???
Like Sic and Claire said, they’re an awesome tool for strength and endurance training.
I got mine from a commercial tire place. Just look some up in your area. They’re happy to get rid of them, and amused at the prospect of you flipping them 
Make sure you look up how to flip them correctly. Like Claire said, they’re mostly a leg exercise. If you try to lift it with your arms you’ll rip your biceps in two.
Good luck and have fun! But be careful. Once you flip that baby one time, your hooked.
c.
Here’s a video of my favorite flipper, Kalle:
You really push your chest right into the tire, and explode with your legs. Get under it, then push it over with your arms.
I may have to flip mine now. All this talk and everything…
c.
Thanks C., I was checking out your vids, and was going to PM you!
I’ve also seen some people go up on there toes to start?
You really use your hips/butt as the tire is going up, huh?
I’ll make some calls around next week, but we are also in the process of moving, so…
Hey Sic- where’d you get your tire?? you wanna come over and do some tire flipping sometime…not the average thing mommies do when they get together, lmao 
Where do you ladies live that you can just run around flipping tires? I would like to do that. I guess I can look for a field somewhere…But it ain’t gonna happen in Manhattan next year.
I didn’t buy the tire, my gym had a couple in a back parking lot. I’m not sure where their tires came from (some kind of agriculture-related junk yard) but I can PM the owner and find out.
I’d love to hang out and do strongwoman stuff with you.
Js- I live in a pretty quiet neighborhood in Maine(military housing). I guess it would look pretty funny to most to see me flipping a tire around! We also have a decent side yard and backyard. We’re moving at the end of next month though!!
Sic- cool! I gotta stronger first though! lol
Today I did BB Benchpress- 3x8- 85lbs!! I almost failed at the last rep, so it was certainly challenging! But I wonder why I can’t go that heavy with the dbs? hmmm
Ok, so I don’t want to be a bodybuilder or a figure competitor…Aside from my fat loss goals, I think I would fit in more with power lifting folks, and hopefully compete in something one day… What’s the difference in training between everything though? I still want to be lean and have girl muscles, lol…
My question is, how do you train your body to be lean and muscular while your training power lifting moves? Does it happen naturally?
Is any of this making sense? lol
Basically, powerlifters train to be progressively stronger. A lot of powerlifters just eat a caloric excess so that they know they are getting enough food in. No weighing and measuring required. This makes it easy to eat enough to gain muscle, but it also results in extra fat gain if you are eating a seriously hypercaloric diet.
You could train like a powerlifter without eating like a powerlifter if you pay a lot of attention to your diet and make little changes until you find exactly what works for you. Muscle gain might be slower, but you wouldn’t worry about excess fat gain.
I want to train to progressively get stronger, but you are right, I don’t want to eat like a powerlifter, lol
I was just wondering if there are certain programs to train to get stronger, or is just practicing the moves and adding weight little by little? Are there exercises that compliment the big moves, to give you more power? For ex: training tris, to give more power at the bottom of a benchpress…stuff like that…
I’m wondering how a body builder’s training differs from a powerlifters…or does it?
Check out cvb’s log, she’ll be able to give you some really good info. Also look into any “Westside” training articles you can search for on this site.
There is a program called Westside for Skinny Bastards. http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459321
If you read through this it will probably give you an idea of how this type of training differs from training for “pretty” muscles.
Westside’ll definitely get you stronger. Train the big lifts and functional movements(squat, deadlift, bench/pushup, pullup, dip, OH press) between 1-6 reps keeping total reps below 30-35.
Look for articles by Cressey, Robertson, and Boyle to learn how to fill in the gaps on these lifts (for instance, quad dominance needs to be gotten rid of ASAP…single leg training, soft tissue work, and changing your warmup around can help this).
To stay lean, think lean, eat lean. And I’d really recommend the Paleo diet for optimal health and strength. Eat for maintenance MOST of the time…not for gluttony.
And vary EVERYTHING.
My goal is also to be able to do a pull-up. Then 10. And wide-grip at that.
My first goal though is a chin-up. Neutral grip, since that’s what my gym has. (The way a chinup utilizes the bicep makes it easier than a pullup for almost everybody.) I started going to the gym late January. I go 3 times a week plus I try to get in one other day of some sort of exercise. I started on the pullup machine with 110 pounds of assistance. And I remember it being so tough. Now my one rep max is 10 pounds of assistance for the chin-up. So I think I’ll get that first goal in the next couple of sessions.
I do sets to failure of 8-12 reps, first with the pull-ups, then dips, then chin-ups right after my warm up. Then I go back at the end of the workout and do the 1 to 2 rep max attempts. Also I do a really good negative on the last rep of each exercise. And I’ve lost about 15 pounds of fat since starting all this which has definitely helped as well.
Last week I went to the climbing wall, which I’ve noticed was easier since my quest for the pullup started. So I think climbing is another good exercise to help with those same compound movements as well.
One pullup?
I remember that dream.
One REAL Man Style Pullup!! (the memory gives me goosebumps)
I started off with the same goal 1 year ago, and now I can do several 12 rep sets of them on back day.
Sometimes I even add a 25 pound plate on a belt attachment and do 5 of them. LOL (just to show off when there’s a lot of prissy girls on the stairmaster) hehehe
You CAN do pullups if you decide that you are never going to stop trying to do them. When I decided that no was not an option I did my first pullup… and from there, more and more of them.
Good luck guys! put your heart in it. 
[quote]tawney wrote:
I started off with the same goal 1 year ago, and now I can do several 12 rep sets of them on back day.
I even add a 25 pound plate and do 5 of them sometimes. LOL (just to show off when there’s a lot of prissy girls on the stairmaster) hehehe
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I’m pretty sure there is nothing better than doing weighted pull-ups in a crowded gym.
I did my first unassisted chin-up this morning. Yay! First step on the way to pull-up. It wasn’t pretty, but I did it!