hey everybody. I'm a new member and I saw this forum when I was trying to get some more information to get in better shape for my racing. right now I race karts, and I am going to race at nationals this season. I've decided that I need to get into shape so I am able to put up with what the kart demands of me. I just race my first season in 2006, and I was looking back at how badly just a local race, with only a few heats, exhausted me. then I realized that I needed to get into shape if I wanted to last from thursday to sunday of concentrated karting.

I've been doing a few exercises and stretches for the past couple of days. don't laugh, I've never exercises until up to this point. my exercise patter looks includes: touching my toes, trunk stretches, twisting, locking my hands behind my back (one arm above shoulder, one arm below) and pulling, putting my leg on a surface hip height and stretching that, push ups (2 sets of ten with a rest in between), push ups (1 set of 15, final set of 10), sometimes butterfly push ups (one set of 5, I'm to exhausted by this point to do a lot more), then I sit on the end of a bench and, with my helmet on, I raise my head up and down to exercise my neck muscle. around now I start the weight training, I just use 5lb weights for low resistance/high stuff: I lift the weight from shoulder height to above my head as far as my arm will reach w/palms out (3 sets of 15 with rest in between), standing up I let my arms hang with the weights in them then bring them up to chest height w/palms out (3 sets of 15), put my arms straight out beside me and make small circles (3 sets of five one way/five the other way), then I do forearm curls (usually 50 or more, I don't exactly count), while sitting down I bring the arms behind my head and fold and then unfold my arms (it says it works the triceps, 3 sets of 15), trunk raises (3 sets of 10, or 15; I can't remember), and I finish up with some knee bends (I believe 2 sets of 40). sometimes I finish up with lifting myself with only my calf muscles to exercise those (a bunch, I don't count).

I was wanting to get some guidance as to what I need to do to get into shape. for racing drivers, I've heard we need to have a lot of core strength, upper body strength, balance, good neck muscles, and endless stamina. I'm not looking to bulk up because big heavy muscles react slower than slimmer ones. we need long, slender muscles, like a swimmer or runner I suppose, rather than big heavy bodybuilding muscles. so if I could get any insight as to what I'm doing wrong or what I could do better, or even give me goals (in terms of how many reps I should do), I would greatly appreciate it.
thank you.








Joseph.

hey everybody. I'm a new member and I saw this forum when I was trying to get some more information to get in better shape for my racing. right now I race karts, and I am going to race at nationals this season. I've decided that I need to get into shape so I am able to put up with what the kart demands of me. I just race my first season in 2006, and I was looking back at how badly just a local race, with only a few heats, exhausted me. then I realized that I needed to get into shape if I wanted to last from thursday to sunday of concentrated karting.

I've been doing a few exercises and stretches for the past couple of days. don't laugh, I've never exercises until up to this point. my exercise patter looks includes: touching my toes, trunk stretches, twisting, locking my hands behind my back (one arm above shoulder, one arm below) and pulling, putting my leg on a surface hip height and stretching that, push ups (2 sets of ten with a rest in between), push ups (1 set of 15, final set of 10), sometimes butterfly push ups (one set of 5, I'm to exhausted by this point to do a lot more), then I sit on the end of a bench and, with my helmet on, I raise my head up and down to exercise my neck muscle. around now I start the weight training, I just use 5lb weights for low resistance/high stuff: I lift the weight from shoulder height to above my head as far as my arm will reach w/palms out (3 sets of 15 with rest in between), standing up I let my arms hang with the weights in them then bring them up to chest height w/palms out (3 sets of 15), put my arms straight out beside me and make small circles (3 sets of five one way/five the other way), then I do forearm curls (usually 50 or more, I don't exactly count), while sitting down I bring the arms behind my head and fold and then unfold my arms (it says it works the triceps, 3 sets of 15), trunk raises (3 sets of 10, or 15; I can't remember), and I finish up with some knee bends (I believe 2 sets of 40). sometimes I finish up with lifting myself with only my calf muscles to exercise those (a bunch, I don't count).

I was wanting to get some guidance as to what I need to do to get into shape. for racing drivers, I've heard we need to have a lot of core strength, upper body strength, balance, good neck muscles, and endless stamina. I'm not looking to bulk up because big heavy muscles react slower than slimmer ones. we need long, slender muscles, like a swimmer or runner I suppose, rather than big heavy bodybuilding muscles. so if I could get any insight as to what I'm doing wrong or what I could do better, or even give me goals (in terms of how many reps I should do), I would greatly appreciate it.
thank you.

Joseph.
How long are those karting races? If they're any longer than 15 minutes your neck is gonna ache something fierce. And you can't stop it until the race is over. Maybe some neck exercises would help. There is a site that lists the muscles and what exercises you do to help each muscle. I think it's http://www.exrx.net .

I'm not looking to bulk up because big heavy muscles react slower than slimmer ones. we need long, slender muscles, like a swimmer or runner I suppose, rather than big heavy bodybuilding muscles.

First, good luck. Carting has always sounded like a blast to me.

Second, your above statement is just not true. If so, you'd basically be saying a linebacker in the NFL is slow and unable to change directions quickly, which is just bogus.

To me, the reason you wouldn't want to bulk too much would be weight distribution in the cart. However, truly getting body builder bulky takes a LOT of work in the gym and at the dinner table. You won't get there by accident. It takes a long time or a lot of drugs or both to get to get "big", not to mention a lot of food.

Also, strength and musculature doesn't mean you aren't flexible as another myth states. Just the opposite if you try to maintain structural balances in strength and don't get out of proportion.

So don't be afraid of heavy things. Lift them. Get strong.

I do think you want to work on both strength and muscular endurance both. However, as a beginner, just work out medium to high reps with as much weight as you can move (say 8-20 reps per set) until you build up the joint and skeletal strength to start pushing heavier weights.

Good luck! Read the stickies here. Post up your plan to get feedback, including diet, workout routine, etc. Track progress. Always try to do more than the last time you worked out either by lifting heavier, more reps, more sets, or more density (reps over a period of time).

as far as the length of the races, combined, they are around 15 minutes ,give or take a little bit. the races last around 5 mins each at the local level. but then I have to add in all the time I spent in the seat practicing and setting up the kart, and also (probably most importantly) the Mississippi heat we have to race in. a few races in, we regularly see above 90 degrees on race days. that plus my helmet, plus my two-piece race suit, plus my rib protector equals a lot of strain on my body and stamina. I wouldn't be surprised if it were over 100 degrees in my suit. and on top of that, I have to keep myself mentally aware enough to make logical decisions such as when to pass people, where to turn in, when to get on the gas and brake, and so forth. like I said, that is at just a local race where it only takes about 5 hours. at the nationals, we race for 4 days, and that's what I need to put up with.

about the heavy muscles thing, I am just going on what I heard. I believe this has to do with being light as possible so you can go quicker, but I can see what they are talking about. I don't know much about football, but there is a difference between linebackers and racing drivers. linebackers use their bodies to stop other players (I think), and racing drivers are always making very small precise adjustments to their inputs and that is what they mean by the heavy muscles thing. the required strength to turn the wheel isn't that high, but I need the ability to turn the wheel many, many times while putting up with 2-3g's on my body constantly along with the heat.

also, I'm not sure if I said it, but I am a complete beginner to exercising. before this, I haven't exercised. I never needed/wanted to, but now I see the need. if you guys could help me out with what exercises I need to do, how many repetitions, etc., that would be great.




Joseph.

There's a lot of NASCAR drivers who train. Here is a link to a piece about Tony Stewart's training. (http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/business/12/25/tstewart.exercise/)

Note that his training is set up for a long NASCAR season. If the cart season is short then you can set things up differently.

as far as the length of the races, combined, they are around 15 minutes ,give or take a little bit. the races last around 5 mins each at the local level.

You are right in there where strength endurance, particularly rowing training, makes a lot of sense.