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Don't think race car drivers are elite athletes? Give their workouts a try

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — First came the mounting tension in the shoulders and the weakening grip while carrying 25-pound weights (11.3 kilograms).

Then the labored breathing while ripping through the rowing and skiing simulators, and the pain in the thighs on the box jumps.

Topping it off: The strain on the neck simulating what it feels like to hit the brakes while racing at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour (321.9 kph) and the G-forces felt though sweeping turns.

Welcome to the workout routine for two-time IndyCar series champion Josef Newgarden, a cross-fit session designed to fine-tune his body for strength and endurance in racing.

Newgarden recently invited members of the public at the South By Southwest conference and festival in Austin to experience a bite-sized version of his workout to judge just how fit race drivers have to be and perhaps make it clear that race car drivers are indeed athletes.

“You’re taxing every part of the body, which is what happens in an IndyCar," Newgarden said. “There’s no power steering, you’re pulling high G-forces, it’s hot and your heart rate is elevated. Everything is being stressed.”

The workout

The first of three workout sessions drew about a dozen people, including a local fitness coach, a biotech entrepreneur, a television and movie actor and a journalist.

Newgarden trainer Jeff Richter pushed the group through a 35-minute version of the routine he designs for the driver. It's a non-stop circuit of weight lifting, rowing and ski machines, core stretches and balance exercises, burpees and broad jumping, with only a few seconds rest between each exercise.

The muscular Newgarden demonstrated each exercise station before the group started.

“Push! Get your heart rates up,” Richter yelled over blaring music before getting the group into a planking position to stress their core. “Breathe! Hold your position!”

“We can’t put them in the car,” Richter explained. “But they can get to elevated heart rates, and put their body in bracing situations to simulate G-forces and heat stress. And their eyes open up.”

Driver athletes

Picking the most fit athlete is a topic that tends to be a conversation starter. Wrestlers? Endurance runners? Water polo players? Boxers, swimmers, cross-country skiers?

Race car drivers don't tend to end up high on any of those lists; they just sit and drive ... right?

Not so fast.

Drivers across every elite series do some kind of physical training, from Newgarden’s cross-fit training to the endurance training and reaction-time exercises of Formula 1 drivers. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is a fitness buff who has run the Boston Marathon.

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano questions why anyone might not consider top-level drivers to be elite athletes.

The fitness challenges are different from basketball or football but still real, he said.

“I run a fair amount, I lift some. We don’t want to be big and bulky inside a race care But you have to be able to do something for a long time, so endurance is a huge thing,” Logano said.

Race fans are becoming more aware of the physical demands drivers face behind the wheel, Newgarden said.

“People aren’t as in the dark,” Newgarden said. “Twenty years ago, people might say, ‘I have a car, I drive to the grocery store every day, it can’t be that difficult.’ The physical demand is extremely high. It’s not whoever is the fittest is going to win the race, but it plays a factor. The appreciation is gaining ground.”

Power steering

One of the most notable challenges for IndyCar drivers, and perhaps most unknown element of the series for the casual fan, is that Indy cars do not have power steering, something most people take for granted.

Newgarden and other drivers train to handle the strain on their shoulders, neck and grip needed to muscle a 1,700-pound car (771 kilograms) through a race, whether navigating a street course like St. Petersburg, Florida, or ripping around the high-speed oval at the Indianapolis 500.

Actor Austin Nichols, best known for recurring roles in “The Walking Dead” and “Walker,” said he was impressed by the workout that left him breathing hard. He was among those who tried the special halo designed to test neck strength in simulated braking and turns.

“It was harsh,” Nichols said. “That's why I came, to feel that thing that racers feel.”

Vienna Sparks of Boston signed up for the workout as a break between sessions pitching her biotech startup to potential investors. She considers herself an IndyCar fan and wanted an inside look at Newgarden's routine.

“It was pretty comparable to one of my boxing class workouts that I do,” Sparks said. “It was more like cross-fit training that I anticipated. You think driving might not have a cross-fit component, but it does make sense in the long run overall.”

Austin fitness coach Eric Bumpus was impressed by the workout with Newgarden.

“Those G-forces, I’m sure they kill on you when you’re heart rate is through the roof,” Bumpus said. “I can't fathom doing that for a long period of time. It really is sensational.”

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AP Sports Writer David Brandt contributed from Phoenix.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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