Is Racing an excellent form of exercise?

I am working on the pitch to my wife of having Sundays off for racing next year. I got the regular lines such as: She won't have to cook for me on Sunday. I will not sit on the couch to block her from cleaning. The kids might be able to tell their friends what Daddy does (looking at forums is just too hard a concept for them). She will get the insurance payout if I crash into a cone and ignite a fireball.

Then I remembered that I always said that I would get more exercise and get into better shape. Of course per GRM standard, I need to get all my facts straight before making any claim.

The question for the group is if racing is an excellent form of exercise. If so, can we estimate the workload of a racing day?

I'm not certain that 90 secs of driving in an 8hr day constitutes exercise but I suppose you will burn a few cals shagging cones for an hour or so.

Racing on the other hand, that is exhausting

Lifting weights 8 oz at a time.

Guess that won't work...

You could promise to take 1 lap with the engine turned off.

Race off road motorcycles.

slow wrote: She won't have to cook for me on Sunday. I will not sit on the couch to block her from cleaning.

Sounds like a great gal you have. Mine would clock my head if I told her the "cleaning" comment. Good for you.

Are you talking autocross or road course? After a full day at the race track I'm pretty whipped.

Buy a shifter kart. Best funnest workout you'll ever get.

I know I've told this story before, but it bears repeating. My wife decided to strap a heartrate monitor on her before one of her runs at a local. She runs triathlon as well as autocrosses. She went from about 50bpm to 190bpm in less than 10 seconds, and held it there all the way through her run.

The kart lifting isn't a trivial exercise either. :)

Does that help? :)

you always walk / jog the course beforehand right? And yes, the heartrate thing

I'd think the 5-20 minute sessions I get at the local HPDE and the concentration/heart rate that comes with it is something.

Of course driving a Miata with no power steering and R-comps helps the upper body too.

How many wheels will you change during a day at the race track? That's a workout.

Or, use big ratchet straps to manually winch your car onto the trailer. AWESOME rowing workout.

David

Running at a competitive pace in a sports racer is easily equal to group ride pace on a road bicycle, or a solid effort sculling. When I get out of the car after a 16 lap main race I'm dripping, even in not-hot weather.

The mental exhaustion is more of a factor. I'm brain dead til the cerebellum has cooled off.

Another angle can be that racing will make you want to be in better shape for the performance increase of the weight loss :)

But like Woody said if you want a workout ride a dirt bike off road

Simple answer.

Autox = not a workout

HPDE/track day = good cardio workout.

I'm an avid gym rat, both lifting weights and running. I ran some LeMons events this year, and I had worked up a good sweat when I got out of the car. Especially when it's 85 degrees outside and you're in a firesuit, running with 90 other cars on the track. I can't say my arms or legs were tired, but I know my heart rate was elevated for the 90+ minutes I was in the car.

Otherwise, I think it's a pretty weak argument for the wife. Just tell her you want to race because it's what you want to do. Either she supports you or she doesn't.

Both are a lot better than watching TV but a track day is way more of a workout than an autocross, which is only a few minutes of exertion. Playing on a sim rig is a better workout than autocross but don't let them know that

stuart in mn wrote: Are you talking autocross or road course? After a full day at the race track I'm pretty whipped.

If you are an organizer of the autocross, you get whipped as well. Lots of running around to add to the driving.

But- are you not allowed to have fun? Is that not a good enough reason?

alfadriver wrote:

stuart in mn wrote: Are you talking autocross or road course? After a full day at the race track I'm pretty whipped.

If you are an organizer of the autocross, you get whipped as well. Lots of running around to add to the driving. But- are you not allowed to have fun? Is that not a good enough reason?

This!

Do not discount how much you burn by simply being out and exposed to the sun/weather compared to sittign at home on the couch.

Some are better workouts than others.

Of course you could just say you are hitting the gym on the way back.

I would say ... no. Even with endurance racing it's just a heart rate increase more than anything else. You're not working any muscles very hard. Now it will encourage you to get into better shape so your endurance is higher. If you're in poor shape, health wise, driving a race car will be misery. So work out and be healthy so racing is more fun!

I don't think it's the seat time...it's the logistics of hauling all your crap to the track (or the parking lot.) Getting up before dawn and loading the truck. Lugging jacks, jack stands, tool boxes, wheels/tires, camping gear, air compressors, coolers full of beer, etc. Then there is all the walking of the course. I enjoy walking the track in the morning or after dark where possible. At autox, I try to maximize my walking time.

If you just went and crewed and didn't drive you'd be just as whipped. It's definitely exercise, but most of it isn't in the seat.

race without power steering

I get a much bigger workout at the local karting place than I do at the road course. Holding on, leaning into the turns. Bracing myself for 16 minutes and I'm hurting when I get out of the kart. And I'm 25 and in pretty good shape.

Between chasing cones and walking the course, you can easily do your nominal "30 minute workout" on an autocross day.

Anything you only do Sundays isn't going to make any difference, let alone if it's only some Sundays.