Two Guys Rally

Training Tip: Approaching Raceday [ September 5th, 2008 ] By:Charles Smith

Motor sports are a lot like most sports in that they require training to be good at. One part of race training is conditioning your body. Exercise like weightlifting, running, biking and swimming are great ways to get in shape for raceday. However, training like mad in the days preceeding a race can have its downside. One of which is DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. 

Being sore is a good sign in the day or two after weightlifting or a new workout. It means you were tearing your muscle fibers (small tears, dont worry), and your body will respond by growing more (psst…you’re getting stronger). But those sore muscles wont react the same way your ‘fresh’ muscles would. 

In order to be well rested and relaxed for raceday (or weekend) you should start tapering your exercise down during the week before the race. The beginning of the week may start out just like normal, but you should be stepping the intensity of your workouts down daily. So by the day before the race your exercise is light. Light enough just to keep the blood flowing to your muscles nicely (this actually helps recover you). Not much tearing should be happening then.

Why taper for motor sports? You should taper so that when it comes down to the races your body will do what you want it to. Tired and sore triceps will make turning laborsome and this will fatigue you faster. Fatigue is what your workouts are, hopefully, aimed at combatting. Because it is one of the largest reasons for slower than normal performances and more notably crashes.

Much of race engineering is aimed at reducing the annoyances for the driver(s). One of the annoyances you can easily eliminate from raceday are sore muscles. So please, for your time’s sake, taper your workouts. If you aren’t exercising, also for your time’s sake, you should start.

Why Exercise is So Important in Motorsports [ April 21st, 2008 ] By:Charles Smith

The driver is the most important part when it comes to the performance of a vehicle. An out of shape, untuned driver will make even the fastest car go slow and while driving is the best way to figure out how to go fast, physical fitness keeps the ability to go fast through out a day.

But Charles, driving a car isn’t that physically demanding. Good point, but working your body to its limits does not only help your body, but also your mind. Racing might not be hugely physically demanding, but it is extremely mentally demanding. Travis Pastrana mentioned in his biographical documentary “199 Lives” that after a motocross race his body would be exhausted but his mind was energized, yet after a rally race his body would be ready to run a 5k yet he couldn’t think straight. Exercise improves your ability to concentrate for longer periods of time and that is the key benefit we get from exercise in a motorsports setting.

Also, why bother saving 5 pounds on a part in the car when you could, perhaps, more easily and cheaply save 5 pounds on the driver (and co-driver). Weight savings coupled with a driver who can concentrate for longer periods of time will speed up a race team. Don’t just take my word for it though, look at all the top race teams in the world. WRC, F1 and even NASCAR all stress the importance of physical fitness. The top drivers are in very good physical shape and could beat you and me in a foot race, let alone a car race. Don’t even take their word for it: go try it. Do something fun outside (sunlight is good for you too) with a friend and make it a habit. Your lap and stage times will decrease, you’ll feel better after a day of racing, you’ll be more confident and you’ll even look better. Go play!

Being inspired by my own writing, or perhaps it is a need to not be hypocritical, I have started cycling again. The hardest part about exercising again is the first two weeks, and I keep telling myself I have to clear those two weeks and I’ll be golden. I figure I have plenty of pounds I could shed for some weight savings, and I might as well do that before I have a rally car. Plus looking good for some cameras is not a bad thing when it comes to scoring some sponsors. A warning: As with any new physical activity or return from an extended break, don’t rush in right away because you will just hurt yourself or become unmotivated.