Racing – The effects on the body.
The Brain - At 200 mph, the unprepared brain will trigger a panicky jolt of energy, flooding the body with the fight-or-flight hormones adrenalin and cortisol. When Patrick Jacobs trained racer Gil De Ferran, he coached the future Indianapolis 500 winner to resist that primal instinct with controlled breathing techniques borrowed from Prana yoga.
Your Feet - Floorboards can reach temps in excess of 200 degrees. With protective footwear, drivers must come to terms with having really sweaty feet. There’s not much you can do in advance to practice for this one.
Quad Strength – On sharp corners, punching the brake pedal can feel like pushing down 300 pounds. Drivers train with lunges and squats to strengthen their quads, and most coaches insist on free weights to recruit the stabilizing muscles in the lower back.
Your Heart/Lungs – To get through a 90 minute Formula 1 event, drivers must be in top cardiovascular condition, so they tend to be accomplished cyclists and distance runners as well. Lewis Hamilton keeps kit by cycling, playing squash and other high level cardio-vascular training.
Hand and Arm Strength – Controlling a race car’s steering wheel is like holding a medicine ball out in front of you for two hours which is part of many drivers’ workouts. Brazilian F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi padded his guns by gripping a 25-pound plate at arm’s length while simulating small turns.
Hand Strength - Some coaches recommend aggressive hand-strengthening exercises using springed devices or foam balls. Jacobs, a former power lifter, says focusing on grip while doing curls or bench presses can also do the trick.
Abs Strength - One of the toughest challenges in motor sports is simply staying upright around hard turns. Smaller drivers can minimize the thrashing by reclining their seats. Bigger racers need stronger core muscles to control their mass as it speeds through space. The prescription? Hundreds of crunches a day.
The Head and Neck – The human head weighs about as much as a bowling ball at 5 kgs, pencil-necked drivers would look like bobble heads. Retired seven-time world F1 driver Michael Schumacher used to wear a weighted helmet while watching TV.
Your Eyes – Scanning the track for openings is the racer’s version of speed-reading, only with lives at stake. Drivers hone their ability to sweep for obstacles while editing out distractions (like the ads plastered over nearly every square inch of track and cars)
The Heat – Cockpit temperatures can reach 150 degrees, and drivers wear Nomex suits for protection in crashes where fire is an issue. It’s normal to sweat off 7 pounds during a race. How to prepare? No air-conditioned gyms for these guys many drivers acclimate themselves by training in sauna-like settings. The heat has its advantages – drivers competing for over 1 hour often need to take a pee in their suits as stopping for a loo stop is not an option. Luckily the heat evaporates any incriminating evidence quickly!
