MOTORSPORT TRAINING & REHAB

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Motorsport Training & Conditioning

G-Force and The Neck

Neck training is extremely important for open wheel race car drivers, as they are in some of the fastest cars on the planet. These speeds, in particular the cornering speeds, push and pull on their necks for the entire race, and their necks need to be strong enough to withstand these forces.

Driver Safety

The conditioning and safety of a driver’s neck is as important as head/neck safety in rugby. It is important to ensure that a young driver progressing through the various ranks has developed sufficient head/neck control to begin high load neck training to prepare for F1 racing. Although the life-long exposure to progressively increasing speeds and g-force and even wearing the helmet itself will allow for gradual tissue/motor adaptation, the jump to F1 level racing and even from the karting ranks to ‘single-seater’ cars can be significant.

Protecting the Spine

The importance of protecting the spine before making any plans for a driver’s training is crucial. This is because any weaknesses in the supporting structure offered by the spine can lead to the neck muscles playing supporting roles for other muscles.

An example would be the trapezius muscles. These are located across the top of the shoulders and function to maintain posture as well as drawing the shoulder blades back and together, as well as supporting the neck muscles to a large degree. If the spine is not strong enough, the neck can suffer due to the extra strain put on it by these other muscle groups.

Neck muscles provide support to the cervical spine and affect movements of the head, the neck itself, the upper back, and the shoulders. There are lots of different exercises that can be employed to train the right muscles to support all of these important movements.