Exhilaration as the tires hit the tarmac and the brakes screech around the corner before the throttle kicks in for the straight…
We think a lot about the thrill of racing, whether we’re watching, playing games, or driving ourselves. However, we don’t often think about the long hours drivers sit down for and the strain they put on their muscles and joints. Therefore, it’s important to follow simple guidelines when racing that could save you a lot of agonies.
Sleep Counts
Racing drivers spend a lot of time on the track during the season, but they spend just as much time asleep, so it’s important to make sure you look after your posture whilst you’re off in the land of nod. Making sure you have the right mattress is an important part of maintaining good posture. Although a soft mattress might be comfy, they aren’t the most supportive and can bring on aches and pains sooner, so make sure you buy the best firm mattress for a sound sleep. Memory foam is a popular choice for firm mattresses because it evenly distributes your body weight, taking the weight off your heaviest parts.
Got Your Back
Racing cars tend to be built with ergonomics that take into consideration your posture. However, it doesn’t hurt to have some good positioning tips. Ideally, you want to ensure your tailbone is as close to the back of the seat as possible; there should be roughly a three-finger gap between the seat edge and back of your knees.
The Seat Pan
When you sit down your seat should be positioned to allow thorough support of your thighs and your knees should sit lower than your hips. Positioning like this increases circulation to your back by opening up your hips.
Get the Seat Right
Your seat should be raised so that your line of sight is at least three inches above your steering wheel, and there needs to be enough space between your head and the roof.
When moving the seat along the seat tracks, you need to make sure that you’re at just the right distance to reach the pedal but be far enough away from the steering wheel. Your foot needs to push the pedal through its entire range and doing this comfortably will benefit your posture. Being the correct distance from the steering wheel is integral to crash safety.
When it comes to setting your seat’s angle, you want to set it at approximately 100°-110° to ease back pain. If you have your seat positioned too far back, you will push your head forwards at an unnatural angle, which can cause pain and tingling sensations across your shoulders to fingers.
For your final seat consideration, make sure that the top of the headrest sits no lower than your ears but no higher than the top of your head – a headrest in the right position can also prevent crash injuries.
Do the Right Workout
As you’ll be aware, driving puts enormous strain on the body, even if you follow every single tip available to maintain good posture. Therefore, it might be beneficial to do workouts specially geared towards racing drivers – you don’t even need fancy equipment as it can all be done at home with two dumbbells.
Finish Line
Hopefully, you’ve learned a bit about maintaining good posture going forward but talk to your team and educate yourself to get the most out of your body and racing experience. And if you do suffer from lingering aches and pains, consult with a doctor to find the underlying cause.
