We’ve already discussed why fitness is important for motorsport drivers. However, we cannot emphasise enough how crucial it is for you to stay fit if you wish to pit yourself against other race drivers as you progress through the ranks.
Luckily, there are many ways you can improve your fitness levels to ensure better performance during your races.
Here are five simple exercises you can use to level up your performance on the racetrack:
A tremendous amount of G-force is exerted on the body when the car is racing at high speeds and around long corners.
Once you're strapped into your race car, it is your neck that is exposed to the largest amount of force. Your neck needs to be strong enough to withstand the extreme amount of force whilst also concentrating on the race with your head and vision strictly on the road.
Isometric neck exercises are a great way to build neck strength, and slowly get expose the neck to different directions of force.
Deadbugs are a stabilisation exercise that work wonders for your core strength and trunk stability. Deadbugs, when done correctly, ensure the abdominal muscles are able to control the movement of the upper and lower limbs, whilst also ensuring the lower back does not do excessive amounts of work.
Deadbugs can also be progressed or regressed depending on your athletic ability, so there is always something for someone!
Lower body strength is paramount in racing. Drivers need to be able to repeatedly put significant pressure through the pedals and must fight fatigue in these positions. In saying this, it is important in motor sport to have a high level of muscular endurance, this is done with high repetitions and low weight.
Squats also target the core, as they ensure that you don’t loose control of your lower back when going through the movement.
The greater the leg contraction, the greater the ability to facilitate quick, repeated, and prolonged muscular contractions crucial for maximum braking pressure and accelerating.
Push-ups may seem too simple and easy to truly make a difference in your body. But many people often overlook this simple exercise and do it incorrectly. Doing push-ups in the correct way targets a wide range of muscles in the upper body, core, and back.
Good upper body and core strength help race drivers reduce the feedback from the steering wheel. You will also be able to withstand prolonged upper body positions while racing.
Running is one of the best and easiest ways to take your cardiovascular fitness to the next level. A race driver’s heart goes through a high amount of stress during a race. Better cardiovascular and aerobic fitness helps the heart tolerate this excessive stress and stay in good health for years to come.
Fitness training will help you build strength and endurance and improve your performance on the racetrack.
Focus Driver Performance offers training sessions five days a week at our fitness partners’ facilities. To know more, send us a message or call +61 (0)475 398 961.