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[h=2]ROSSI: The 200mph workout plan[/h] Friday, 28 April 2017


Alexander Rossi / Images by Alexander Rossi and Levitt/LAT

A lot of drivers will tell you that one of the things that surprises members of the public most when they are learning about racing are the physical demands.
I don't know if this is because broadcasts can't relay the forces being exerted upon the driver, or people are just assuming that it's like driving a street car only faster, or whether it's simply because only a very small percentage of the population has ever received the opportunity to sit in a race car.
Those of you have know how physical driving a race car is, and why training is such a huge part of every driver's life. But training is not a one-size-fits-all activity, and even a long-time racing fan might be surprised at how specific the preparation for certain kinds of racing can be. My training regime for IndyCar definitely looks a little different to what I used to do for Formula 1, and a big reason for that is steering loads.
Every modern road car and virtually every professional racing series has cars with power-assisted steering. IndyCar doesn't. This means that when we are generating over 6,000lb of downforce in a corner, the only way we are able to make the car change direction is through pure physical effort. Formula 1 introduced power steering in the early 90's because the drivers felt that the downforce that the cars were starting to generate made it too difficult to be accurate with car placement, and sustain that kind of effort for two hours. Yet in IndyCar, we are doing this every week, and not only road courses and ovals, but city streets.
So in preparation for my move to IndyCar, I really ramped up the strength side of my training. I probably hadn't picked up a weight in two-and-a-half years before February of last year, so being able to go to the gym and actually do real strength training has been cool.
But I think the cardio demands of racing are probably the most surprising to a lot of people – after all, we're just sitting down all afternoon, right?
It is hard for someone to wrap their head around how our heart rates can get up to 180bpm while in a sedentary position. The reason is simple – under intense focus our brain demands a huge amount of blood, which in turn elevates your heart rate. Couple that with the inherent adrenaline and stress that comes along with driving 240mph, and the physical demands that go with it, and it starts to become clear that you need to have a strong heart and cardio capacity in order to sustain a high level of performance throughout an entire race.
So cardio training is still important, but for me, the focus of that cardio work has changed dramatically since I returned to the U.S. In IndyCar, you're doing the cardio training to improve your cardiovascular fitness. You're not doing it to lose weight. The extra strength training that I mentioned earlier has helped me gain back a lot of the weight that I'd lost in Europe.
In Formula 1 the weight is super-controlled, and being 6'2", I couldn't be over 155lb. So now, I'm a little bit over that – by a casual 20, 25lb. So it definitely makes for a much better lifestyle! Honestly though, staying on top of the weight side was hard. I ate lettuce and ran every day. I've changed that a little bit. I still eat a lot of lettuce, but probably a couple more chips or sandwiches as well now...
If an average fan were to wake up one day and discover that they'd magically acquired the ability to drive a race car at its limits but hadn't done any specific training, and they were given 20 laps at the IMS road course, they're going to hurt in a few places when they get out of the car.
If they drove an IndyCar then they're going to feel it in their shoulders and arms, just from the lack of power steering. They're also going to have a sore lower back from the brake forces – just as we don't have power steering, we don't have power brakes either, so a lot of the force is required through your left leg for the brakes.
And on top of that, your neck, which is from the g-forces. I am the first to say that this is an overused buzzword in racing, but I'll also be the first to tell you that no one really explains it correctly. We hear all the time about the sustained 4g corners and the peak 6g loading on some of the short ovals, but what does that really mean?
For perspective, fighter pilots will experience 10g in some pretty extreme combat scenarios, which of course would make race cars seem mild - except for the fact that the pilots wear g-suits. And they do because sustained g's of that magnitude will cause blood to leave your brain, and a loss of consciousness immediately follows. We are achieving more than half of those loads with nothing more than some fireproof underwear and a racesuit.
The complexity of all these elements of racing seems to surprise a lot of people, and I guess that is because it's hard to appreciate it from the sofa. In a previous column I talked about how it is difficult to truly understand the importance that each individual has on a race team by just watching on TV, and it's similarly hard to similar to have a perspective on the physical demands that are being placed on a driver – and the work that we do to deal with them – without seeing it up close.
And that's why I'm always trying to encourage people get out to a racetrack and witness one the most spectacular sport on the planet first-hand.