Skills are essential, but an athletic person cannot perform well without much-needed fitness. There is a statement that Formula 1 drivers are considered the fittest athletes globally. As they need to encounter wide turns at great speed, they must experience massive g-loads, so they need to train constantly. Here's what you need to know about their fitness regime.
Formula 1 drivers indeed have to be at their peak physical fitness to deliver extraordinary performance on the track. For example, during the Grand Prix, they train and maintain every element of their routine to make them go faster on the big day.
You might not be able to see it on the TV. Still, the drivers go through some problematic moments like forcing over the course of a qualifying lap that ordinary people may find intolerable after a few seconds.
When you watch them repeatedly going, driving laps after laps, while most races do not end before 1 hour, it is not hard to imagine why these F1 drivers need to train like pro athletes.
Drivers make themselves face enormous forces every time they get behind the wheels. Every time maintaining the straight-line acceleration and deceleration is very tough. That is why this performance falls under the most savage of any form of motorsports. To endure these types of forces, drivers need muscle strength in their neck, leg, and in their core. They also require good cardiovascular fitness as heart rates can increase amazingly over the duration of a race.
It is not a race to prove who is the strongest. However, these days, the drivers have to be lightly weighted so that they can keep the weight of their cars down and thus maximize the speed on the track. So they are cautious with their calorie intake, which sometimes leads to illness and insomnia.
Every fitness programme is different for each driver. However, their workout regime revolves around gym work. So they need to exercise various muscle groups in every session to make sure their core strength becomes more vital day by day.
Most drivers opt for personal trainers to manage their training throughout the year. This relationship of theirs with fitness is crucial for being successful in every race. The drivers' diet routine can vary tremendously. They said an F1 driver's diet comprises clean, healthy foods.
They take scrambled eggs and fish protein for breakfast, a limited amount of coffee for boosting energy, porridge oats for fibre, and vegetables for carbohydrates, minerals, and anti-oxidants. For their lunch, they eat meat, poultry, and fish for protein and vegetables, quinoa, and rice for carbs. At dinner time, their intake is salads and more vegetables, fish, and sweet potato mash.
Generally, the drivers need to keep hydrated all day, so a bottle of water can never be enough. If they crave for any hot drink, then a cup of chamomile tea works like a charm on them!
Every week the session numbers vary, depending on the time of the year. They recuperate during the off-seasons and then build up their fitness for the coming season. The drivers explained that they generally focus more on neck training because it is always hard for an F1 driver to handle the g-forces. They need the right amount of strength at the right places, along with endurance.
Working out every day for every inch of the body is not easy at all. However, some drivers have worked out even in freezing conditions for the past several years. All these need extreme dedication and willpower. That is why F1 drivers earned the tag of being the fittest competing athletes in the world.
