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This reminded me of the reasons that NASCAR drivers exercise. Any activity that you do for medium-to-long periods of time will inherently have a physical compon

This reminded me of the reasons that NASCAR drivers exercise. Any activity that you do for medium-to-long periods of time will inherently have a physical component. Increasing your physical stamina and strength could be the difference between a win and a loss. I thought this quote was telling: "It [physical conditioning] doesn’t make you drive the car faster...it allows you to drive the car faster for a longer period of time." https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/nascar-jimmie-johnson-ryan-newman-exercise-physical-fitness-correlation-race-wins-jeff-burton https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/nascar-jimmie-johnson-ryan-...

mhh__ 8y ago
Why wouldn't racing drivers exercise? Incidentally, obsessive fitness was one of the things that Michael Schumacher brought to F1.
- gringoDan 8y ago
  Everyone should exercise. And I agree that racing is highly physical, so it's even more important. Just making the point that 50 years ago people might have said "You just need to move your hands to turn the wheel, why would exercise be important?" When in reality physical fitness might be some of the lowest-hanging fruit to improve performance. I thought that e-sports are in a similar place today.
- EpicEng 8y ago
  Because the value isn't as obvious as it is for a more athletic sport.
jperras 8y ago
Michael Schumacher (Formula 1 driver) was at the forefront of this. His training regimen in the late 90s was known to be very rigorous, and not typical of his competitors. Now, though, they all train their bodies accordingly. The stresses put on the body in an F1 car are unreal: you spend between 75 and 90 minutes subjecting your body to brief, repeated periods of 5-8Gs of longitudinal and lateral acceleration, where the difference between braking 1-5 meters earlier or later when traveling at 350kph can mean the difference between you hitting the perfect apex or shunting yourself into a gravel trap (or worse, a wall in the case of most street courses). Not to mention that some of the courses are just completely brutal. Internal cockpit temperatures can hit 50C at the race in Signapore, and the drivers will lose 5-7kg of water weight over the course of a race. Anyone who says professional race drivers are not physically fit has no idea what they're talking about.
- jdietrich 8y ago
  Check out the neck muscles on Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo: https://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/4389/3e9ecba0eb614c9290520cba711aa066.jpg https://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/4389/3e9ecba0eb614c... https://e1.365dm.com/18/04/768x432/skysports-f-f1-daniel-ricciardo_4277364.jpg?20180408150113 https://e1.365dm.com/18/04/768x432/skysports-f-f1-daniel-ric... Many F1 teams have built special training rigs to allow drivers to lift weights with their neck. https://youtu.be/g-KYASQKdSU?t=148 https://youtu.be/g-KYASQKdSU?t=148
- saagarjha 8y ago
  > brief, repeated periods of 5-8Gs of longitudinal and lateral acceleration Where does this acceleration come from? I'm sure the acceleration due to speeding up/slowing down is much less than this, as is that produced by turning?
  - mensetmanusman 8y ago
    Turning. I also imagine down hill, since they are built like upside down airplanes, you could experience faster than falling forces :)
  - jperras 8y ago
    The largest forces are under braking. For example at Monza, a famous racetrack in Italy, the average peak deceleration force per lap is around 5.6Gs. The braking zone before the Parabolica corner has a peak deceleration force of 6.7Gs. And they do this for over 50 laps. Hell, the deceleration that an F1 car experiences simply due to engine braking is already more than what you would feel if you slammed on the brakes in your sedan going 100kph. For turns, the forces are less, but they're still incredible. At Suzuka there's a very famous corner that is known as 130R (it has a 130m radius) and taken at about 305kph (190mph), and produces sustained 3.5Gs of lateral force. Sources: * https://www.brembo.com/en/company/news/formula-1-monza-2018-brembo-brakes https://www.brembo.com/en/company/news/formula-1-monza-2018-... * https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/f1-toughest-track-ever https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/f1-toughest-track-ever

mhh__ 8y ago

Why wouldn't racing drivers exercise? Incidentally, obsessive fitness was one of the things that Michael Schumacher brought to F1.

gringoDan 8y ago
Everyone should exercise. And I agree that racing is highly physical, so it's even more important. Just making the point that 50 years ago people might have said "You just need to move your hands to turn the wheel, why would exercise be important?" When in reality physical fitness might be some of the lowest-hanging fruit to improve performance. I thought that e-sports are in a similar place today.
EpicEng 8y ago
Because the value isn't as obvious as it is for a more athletic sport.

jperras 8y ago

Michael Schumacher (Formula 1 driver) was at the forefront of this. His training regimen in the late 90s was known to be very rigorous, and not typical of his competitors. Now, though, they all train their bodies accordingly. The stresses put on the body in an F1 car are unreal: you spend between 75 and 90 minutes subjecting your body to brief, repeated periods of 5-8Gs of longitudinal and lateral acceleration, where the difference between braking 1-5 meters earlier or later when traveling at 350kph can mean the difference between you hitting the perfect apex or shunting yourself into a gravel trap (or worse, a wall in the case of most street courses). Not to mention that some of the courses are just completely brutal. Internal cockpit temperatures can hit 50C at the race in Signapore, and the drivers will lose 5-7kg of water weight over the course of a race. Anyone who says professional race drivers are not physically fit has no idea what they're talking about.

jdietrich 8y ago
Check out the neck muscles on Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo: https://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/4389/3e9ecba0eb614c9290520cba711aa066.jpg https://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/4389/3e9ecba0eb614c... https://e1.365dm.com/18/04/768x432/skysports-f-f1-daniel-ricciardo_4277364.jpg?20180408150113 https://e1.365dm.com/18/04/768x432/skysports-f-f1-daniel-ric... Many F1 teams have built special training rigs to allow drivers to lift weights with their neck. https://youtu.be/g-KYASQKdSU?t=148 https://youtu.be/g-KYASQKdSU?t=148
saagarjha 8y ago
> brief, repeated periods of 5-8Gs of longitudinal and lateral acceleration Where does this acceleration come from? I'm sure the acceleration due to speeding up/slowing down is much less than this, as is that produced by turning?
- mensetmanusman 8y ago
  Turning. I also imagine down hill, since they are built like upside down airplanes, you could experience faster than falling forces :)
- jperras 8y ago
  The largest forces are under braking. For example at Monza, a famous racetrack in Italy, the average peak deceleration force per lap is around 5.6Gs. The braking zone before the Parabolica corner has a peak deceleration force of 6.7Gs. And they do this for over 50 laps. Hell, the deceleration that an F1 car experiences simply due to engine braking is already more than what you would feel if you slammed on the brakes in your sedan going 100kph. For turns, the forces are less, but they're still incredible. At Suzuka there's a very famous corner that is known as 130R (it has a 130m radius) and taken at about 305kph (190mph), and produces sustained 3.5Gs of lateral force. Sources: * https://www.brembo.com/en/company/news/formula-1-monza-2018-brembo-brakes https://www.brembo.com/en/company/news/formula-1-monza-2018-... * https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/f1-toughest-track-ever https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/f1-toughest-track-ever