Race Driving Fundamentals
by Lee Marks

Chapter 3

There is a wide disparity between the way the top race drivers treat their bodies. Emerson Fitapaldi reportedly had a cook and personal trainer travel with him to every race. Mark Martin of stock car fame has written a book on the subject and credits his superior physical conditioning with his success. On the other extreme such greats as A.J. Foyt and many others seemed to be so engulfed in building and perfecting the race car that they had little time or inclination to perfect their bodies.

The main focus will be on perfecting your strength and strengthening your weakness through discipline.

First off is what you eat. Ask yourself honestly about your stomach. Some will have the provable “Cast Iron Stomach”, and others will have a much more sensitive one. How does it react under extreme stress and unfamiliar cooking?

The next question is of how your emotional state is depending on whether you are hungry or full. Most people get nervous and jumpy on an empty stomach. Also most people become lethargic when their stomach is full. Do not trust your own judgment on this question. Ask someone close to you. Contrary to popular belief sugar in very small amounts has a calming effect on most people. Plus, protein has an energy enhancement effect. Pasta is the food of choice for endurance athletes and is excellent fuel for your body during very long races because it burns away slowly in the body. Protein burns quickly and gives quick energy. You will be asked to do experiments during these practices to aquaint your mental reactions to food absorption.

The primary thing to remember is that there will be circumstances beyond your control. Practicing and training is to make the unexpected to become the routine.

Physically we have a lot of control of our bodies. Like I said in the introduction, the old professionals of auto racing have developed ways to calm themselves down during the high stress of auto racing.

What drains you mentally, and most of all physically, is the tension created in your body. Once a part of the body tenses up it stays that way until we do something to release it. We have all heard the old cliché that so in so is a “pain in the neck”. The neck and shoulder areas are where we tense up first, when we are under stress, followed by the back and the buttock area. Millions of dollars are spent on medially treating stiff neck, bad backs and hemorrhoids. All that is needed is a release method to relax those areas. Isometric exercises work excellent as a release mechanism. They can be done while seated, standing lying down, and most importantly while driving!

Begin by tensing your feet. Just hold them tight for about 20 to 60 seconds. At the same time attempt to relax the entire rest of your body. Then release your tensed up feet for 20 to 60 seconds. Next tense up your legs for the same duration and release in the same manner. Then you do the buttocks area ( concentrate on this area, this is a primary stress area ). Next do the stomach area, the chest area the shoulder and neck area ( again do this area thoroughly ). Next do the entire face area by making an extreme grimace. Break down the face area into the mouth, sinus area, and then the top of the head if needed. Then do the arms and finally do the hands. All the while you should remember that to tense an area will relax the entire body, then to relax that area before going on to the next.

This should be done at least 3 times a day, under stressful situations, and before and after the stressful encounter. Whenever you feel stress you should release the tensed up areas of your body. You can even do a “quicky” by tensing up the entire body. Just picture an electrocuted body all tensed up and duplicate this for a mere 10 seconds. Before long you will be aware of how different parts of your body reacts to different situations.

Your goal is to be in control of releasing the tension. Stress is a natural part of driving and if you like race driving then you enjoy getting excited and the high that an adrenaline gives you. You must learn to control it.

Remember the Cold War era of the Olympic competition between the U.S.A. and the USSR.? We knew that the USSR. had an edge on us but when we found out what it was we were quite surprised! Massage was their edge. Their athletes would receive it before and after competitions. Today even in stadium off-road racing, massage is used. My son’s former girlfriend was a masseuse who followed the off-road stadium circuit. The likes of Roger Mears and many others would have her play her fine art to their bruised bodies.

You can start by massaging yourself starting with your feet, working up to calf area, then to the shoulder are take out of the density of the muscle area. This way will know at an instant if an area is overly tight.

In dealing with painful areas always work around the pain spot first, then gently work the pain spot. Remember the body wants to relax, you do not have to force it! When your budget permits, use a sports masseuse therapist at least once a week. Be careful in choosing one. A helpful hint is to meet them first and shake their hand. What you are looking for is someone with very soft and spongy-feeling hands. They will usually be overweight. Avoid people who have bony or firm hands. The soft-handed ones are the healers and givers.

The next part of your body that you will learn to control is your blood flow. This technique is called biofeedback. Let me tell you a little story.

Mary - having gone through biofeedback training - was on a skiing trip in Colorado. She was with 6 other people on a soft powder hill when all of a sudden an avalanche came. The entire group was buried under 5 ft. of snow. Lucky for them they could still breathe, but the cold was excruciating. Mary was in a extremely stressful situation to say the least!

Through the use of biofeedback she was able to circulate her blood throughout her entire body correctly and was the only person to not have frostbite on her hands!

When we get stressed a “Fight or flight” response is triggered in our body. Blood flow is slowed to the hands and feet. It is directed to the chest for superior breathing in case we need to fight or run. Also we do not want too much blood flowing to our arms and legs in case they get injured and start to bleed. This is why our hands and feet get cold during times of high stress. The biofeedback Technique involves simply visualizing the blood flowing from the heart to the rest of the body. Practice by sitting in a comfortable chair with no noise or distraction and do isometric exercises by tensing and  releasing tension throughout your body.

Next, feel the pumping of your heart through your chest. Then feel the temperature of your hands and feet. Next sense the blood flowing from your heart through your chest. Then sense it flowing to your arms and flowing across your belly to your groin area. Next visualize it flowing through your legs and to your hands and to your feet. Do this for five to ten minutes.

Do not worry if you can not sense it during the first couple of times.

It is comparable to seeing in full perspective, the more we force it, the harder it is. Just let it happen. Soon you will feel a warming sensation in your hands or feet. That is the blood flowing to those areas. With practice you will be able to warm your hands at will. Just as you must tune your car, you must tune yourself as well.

Next is vision. Practice measuring depth   and width perception by looking at an object that is directly in front of you and guessing how far away the object is. Use the unit of measure the length of your car. Also think in terms of your car when measuring width. Look ahead and see two objects apart from one another. Measure your car by “stepping off” the width and length of your car. Most cars are 3 to 4 steps wide and 5-6 steps long.

After you have guessed a width just confirm your accuracy by “stepping” the distance off. (we do this all the time when parking our cars ). This exercise should be done about 3 to 5 times per day at home, at work or at any place. This will help you determine braking distances, passing room, crash avoidance and many other instinctive measure requirements of race driving.

Next is peripheral vision. While reading this page sense how far you can see from side to side, do not move your eyes just, just look straight ahead. Pick out the objects that you see, what color are they? Are they moving temporarily or permanent? Do they have light or shadows on them? Practice 5 to 10 times per day the above technique of recognizing objects. While race driving you will be making split second, life and death decisions on such observations.

To recap the physical practices:

1. Eat to win, know your stomach;

2. Isometric exercises 3 times a day;

3. Self massage 2 times a day;

4. Biofeedback 3 to 5 times a day;

5. Vision exercises measuring distances 5-10 times a day;

6. Vision exercises picking out objects and movement 5-10 times a day;

7. Tune hearing to RPM 5 to 10 times a day. Guess what RPM your engine is turning and then confirm by looking at the tachometer;

8. Ride roller coasters to relax under G Forces and centrifuge;

9. Make a habit of shaking people’s hands to check yourself, and them, for cold or clammy hands;

10. .   Keep a logbook how you dealt with stressful situations non-verbally;