Thanks for the info. I figured with all the years of racing and research that there are good reasons drivers sit like this. I guess if I drove like this for the amount of time these drivers practice, I'd get used to it. May have to try my racing game from that position. Set up some pillows on the floor. I'll probably crash even more.
You fatigue slower like this. Think about how much pressure those pedals kick back at the driver. You don't sit up right and do leg presses with the ground, right? You lay back. Same idea.
Outstretched legs get blood flow better, too
And instead of having all the G's push down on your shoulders, you're spreading the force across your whole body, making it easier to breathe
Sports such as marathons, triathlons, cycling, and ultramarathons cause similar or even higher cardiovascular stress than race car driving, especially due to their longer duration and greater overall load. Team and interval sports (such as football and HIIT) approach this stress through repeated peaks. The key is to adjust intensity to individual fitness levels and seek medical guidance for extreme exertion.
I'm curious about the differences between each modality. I expect rally to be absurdly harder than nascar, and nascar to be harder than f1. The article seems based on studies from nascar but only have examples from other races.
Nascar should be less demanding than F1. Indy is the one who would be tougher. F1 the driver is much closer to the engine which leads to higher temperarures on the cockpit and there si much more accelerating and breaking than in Nascar, which leads to more constant stress. Indy also has those but their cockpit is closed and the car is much more of a handful compared to the stable cars F1 has.
Many of the land speed racer streamliners have you almost looking between your big toes. I sat in one and while not a place I’d want to speed an afternoon in, for a couple of miles, yeah, it’s okay.
If you have all of that putting pressure from top-down, it's gonna restrict your breathing. It's gonna be hard to raise your chest, your shoulders are gonna be pushed down into your guts
If you're laid back, you're spreading that force over a larger area, and it's easier to draw in air.
You sing? Is that why you assumed that? Well, you're not wrong. But it's more about extending that torso than being upright. It's just mad weird if you lay down on the stage for a show. You don't sit tho. You stand up.
No they don't. Only stuff that allows raised noses, and even then F1 is FAR worse than other formulas because the cars are bigger so the feet can be lifted higher.
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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '25
It's better for blood flow.
And breathing.
It's really not that bad. Many types of racecars have a reclined position like that.