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Off Season Training Tips to #KartFaster by Trey Shannon

Published By Trey Shannon     December 12, 2016    
Thanksgiving is long gone, Christmas is almost here, and for most of us that means that our karting season is over. We’ve been getting multiple inquiries as to what kind of training people like to do during the offseason.

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Off Season Training Tips to #KartFaster
by Trey Shannon



Thanksgiving is long gone, Christmas is almost here, and for most of us that means that our karting season is over. We’ve been getting multiple inquiries as to what kind of training people like to do during the offseason.


As usual, training methodologies will vary slightly depending on what type of racing you do, and whether or not you continue to race straight through the winter. In this article, we’ll address the needs of those who do indeed have an “offseason,” and are not able to continue racing through the winter.


The offseason is a great time to work on things that you felt were lacking during your past season. Perhaps you felt like your hands were fatiguing too quickly during your races, or that your neck was struggling near the end of events. Generally, the focus for kart drivers is on building and maintaining muscular and cardiovascular endurance.


With these factors in mind, the offseason is a good time to focus on building strength, improving reaction time and fast-twitch muscle function, improving stability, and correcting any imbalances you may have that are causing pain and/or decreased muscle function.

The “pre-season” is when you’ll want to return your focus to cardio/endurance, about six weeks or so before your season starts. If you’re an endurance or road racing karter, you may want to switch your focus back to endurance around 8 weeks before your first race, but even you will want to use the offseason to build a bit of strength.

The concepts of building strength vs. endurance, and vice versa, are quite simple. While muscular endurance entails lighter weight, higher reps, and shorter rest periods, strength training is the opposite. When building strength, focus your workouts on heavier weight, fewer reps (2-5 per set), and more rest between each set.


Note: neck exercises should only involve weights that can be lifted for at least 8 repetitions.


In general, the most used muscle groups in the kart are the neck, shoulders, core, back, and hands/forearms. The last one especially, as karts vibrate more than most race cars due to the lack of suspension, and steering loads tend to be higher depending on the type of kart you're racing. It is also very important to spend time on core work and developing the muscle structure in your back. Those muscles are essential to protecting the ribs, which tend to take quite a beating in the kart.

As I mentioned, you’ll want to switch your focus back to muscular endurance/cardio around 6-8 weeks prior to the beginning of your karting season. When it comes to cardio, running is great, but it's important to develop endurance and cardio-respiratory adaptations in the upper body as well. With this in mind, rowing on a Concept2 row machine, or workouts on a Concept2 ski ergometer are about as good as it gets. Rock climbing is great for this as well.



Climbing is also one of the best things you can do to work the fingers, hands, and forearms. If you have access to an indoor rock wall facility, I recommend taking advantage. Other forms of exercise that are beneficial for building both lower and upper body cardio-respiratory fitness include boxing or MMA training, mountain biking, swimming, etc. It’s important to enjoy your workout to ensure you’ll get the most out of it.


Just remember, the most important thing to do is set baselines and track your progress. Make sure you're getting stronger, improving endurance, and getting your body capable of working at a higher heart rate. Working with a trainer is a great way to ensure accountability and measure progress quantitatively.

With a trainer or without, your motivation is still the same, and that is to #KartFaster. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Training!

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