It takes some brawn to tighten lids..Also, my friends who have the canning buz..the hubby has broken his thumbs quite a few times stuffing pickles tightly down itnto the jars...Stuff em in there real tight, so they don't float to the top.
It shouldn’t take that much muscle to tighten the lids, just enough that they stay shut, but can still vent excess steam.
And, with my pickles, I put the jars somewhere I can see them for the first 2 weeks, and give them a light shake twice a day. It doesn’t take much shaking, just enough to joggle things around. The air bubbles that formed during the canning process slowly work their way to the top, and after 2 weeks all the pickles will have sunk down instead of floating.