Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Tuesday, March 20
Fittipaldi works it out
By Christian Fittipaldi
Special to ESPN.com
I've always worried a lot with my physical condition when driving a race car. When I started racing it used to be a lot easier because the cars were smaller, therefore less physical. My training program really became serious when I first start running Formula 3000 in 1991.
The first test was in Nogaro, France and I remember exactly what happened. I needed to be more like Popeye to turn the heaving steering wheel and had huge neck problems.
|  | | Fittipaldi's next CART race is April 8 in Long Beach, Calif. |
With a lot of hard work I developed myself physically during that year to a point that I was really satisfied with my body condition. The next year my Formula One season was mostly the same, apart from the fact that sometimes you could see a more or less chubby Christian depending on the picture.
In my opinion, the toughest tracks in Formula One were Silverstone, because of the high lateral Gs (forces), and Monaco, because of concentration level to drive the tight course. The latter also involved a lot of patience, as the race was very long. The better physical shape you are in, the better you can drive the car without fatigue and still be able to make the necessary quick decisions.
When I first came to the CART series, I think the physical demands on my body were the same as in Formula One. In 1997, in the second race of the season, which was in Australia, I was involved in an accident which broke my right tibia (two major breaks and numerous fragments) and right fibula (one break). To rehabilitate, I started a relationship with my current physical trainer.
Almost right away, he threw me in the water to start swimming. That helped me a lot, especially during the period where I could not drive or even walk. When I started walking, my first out-of-the-water activity was on the bicycle. This involuntarily changed my basic workout from running to cycling and it continues to be my most frequent form of exercise nowadays.
During these last couple of years, I've alternated my training between running, cycling and swimming. Now I give a huge priority to the cardiovascular, which would be the cycling and running. I stopped swimming as often as I used to because I swam a lot after my accident in Australia so I got a little fed up with it.
My big passion comes from the cycling and running. The rest is a little bit of an obligation when needed. I realized that maybe I should really put some weights into my program, which I do only when I need of an improvement in a specific area.
I workout four to five days a week. I cycle 30 miles per day and when I run, I complete between five and eight miles. I really don't have any problem driving the car nowadays, thanks to my physical condition. They are some races that are easier than others are, but I guess in general that's how life is.
Newman Haas Racing competitors Christian Fittipaldi, who drives the No. 11 Kmart Toyota/Lola car, and Cristiano da Matta, who pilots the No. 6 Texaco/Havoline/Kmart Toyota/Lola ride, will provide regular diaries to ESPN.com throughout the 2001 season. You can check out Christian's web site at http://Fittipaldionline.com . Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
