Exercise regimen for racing drivers?
 

I'm not a true racing driver, but I do my share of track days, and am always dog tired at the end of them. This August, I managed to get into a school thats running at the Nurburgring (yes, THAT Nurburgring) and it's three 12-hour days in a row. Forget the difficulty of the track itself, I'm gonna get my ass kicked by being in a car three days straight. I won't be driving that whole time, the school works by having two people co-drive a car in shifts, but it's still going to be brutal.

So, I'm looking for tips on how to prepare for this. I've been modifying my diet a bit (need to shed a few lbs anyway) and doing some jogging/running, chin ups, pull ups, calf exercise (stand up on your tippy toes over and over) 8-point body builders (AKA 8-point motherfuckers: stand up straight, do one jumping jack, crouch, kick your legs back, do one push-up, retract legs to crouch, stand up, repeat)

I also rock-climb at an indoor place once a week and have of course been putting in practice laps in GT4 with my trusty 900 degree wheel.

So, any tips? I'm sure all the racers and aspiring racers here would benefit from a good discussion on this topic.

its mostly going to be stamina and upper body
so pushups
shoulder shrugs
situps
and lots of cardio

i heard that F1 drivers need different clothes in the off season because there next gets an inch or two bigger by the end of the racing season

I race about 6 times a summer and lap/test about another 6-8. Working out with weights (dumbells/machines) will help you dramatically by increasing your strengh and stamina. Do 4 sets per exercise at about 8-10 reps, increasing weight each set. If you can train 4 days per week, doing about 20-25 minutes cardio BEFORE you do weights. Break the days up (every other day) and body workout as follows:
Day 1: chest /triceps do 4 exercises for each
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Back/Biceps
Day 4: Shoulders

You will get out of the car ready to go again if you can follow this routine :)

An exercise that has helped me quite a bit in the past involves the shoulders. Take a ten, twenty, or whatever weight you can handle. Find an adjustable incline bench and position it so that it mimics your expected driving position. Take the weight in both hands, grabbing it as if it where a steering wheel (9-3 positions). Now extend your arms approximately 45 degrees and start twisting the weight as if you were going “lock to lock” making sure that you do not extend your arms any further than the suggested 45 degrees. Turning the weight lock to lock (left to right) constitutes one repetition. Eight to 10 reps, four sets should suffice if you need to build muscle first. If you’re running on the “new” Nurburgring, you’re lock to lock approx 6-7 times a lap. The most strenuous turning situations are within the first two sectors of the track, giving you time to recover towards the end of your lap. It’s important to keep in mind exactly what is happening on your lap so that you can incorporate that understanding into your training. If you’re hitting the “old” ring, try fifteen to twenty reps, 4 sets for endurance.

Also, you may want to incorporate some sprints into your workout. Run the main straight on an outdoor track at ¾ speed and bring it down to a jog for the turn preparing to go back to a sprint for the following straight. Complete two revolutions of the track to start.

Hope this helps,

~Mike

The school is on the "old" track, The 13-mile nordschleife. The bit with the weight is a good idea.

I don't have a running track available, about how many feet are we talking about per section?

The equivalent distance would be about three hundred feet. It's the length of a football field.

I recently started working out and training again just because I wanted to get back in shape. I didn't even remember that it could help me out at the track (the one with the cars, not runners :) ).

What you really need to build are long, lean muscles (Swimming/ Aerobics), not short squat muscles(power lifting/ weight training). Carroll Smith has quite a bit to say about this in Drive to Win. Ther are other motorsports related training books.
The sumation is endurance, not strength, and concentration/ focus training.

M.

I would also suggest neck excercises (maybe laying on your side and do head lifts with your helmet on).

NasaPro,

To a certain extent, I would agree with you. But when you take a snapshot of society today, the strength levels of most are not high enough to counteract the types for forces exterted on the body within the cockpit. You have to start with a strong base.
One has to consider that a stronger muscle will afford you, 1) Higher percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch muscle fibers aid in quicker response when recovering from a low grip situation (oncoming spin) as well as, 2) A stronger muscle will have a higher fatigue threshold than a lean, slow-twitch muscle fiber.
When you combine that with an endurance workout, you effectively raise your muscle fatigue and endurance level simultaneously (two separate issues) while possibly quicken reaction time. You must maximize the potential of your fast-twitch muscle fibers as well as the slow-twitch, or lean muscle fibers

~Mike