Sports & Gaming

Optimize Your Body for Performance

Lesson time 12:46 min

Lewis shares how his training as an F1 driver can help you improve your own physical condition. Learn about his diet and exercise habits and how to find what works best for you in reaching the level of fitness necessary to achieve your goals.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Train for What You Need Increase Your Mental Focus With Physical Training Challenge Yourself to Evolve Remember Recovery Eat Great to Feel Great

Lewis Hamilton

Teaches a Winning Mindset

World racing champion Lewis Hamilton teaches you how to prepare your mind, body, and spirit for victory in your own life.

Preview

- Physical fitness is crucial to mental health and your whole well-being. These races are an hour and 45 minutes to two hours. It's 23 races in the season from March 'til mid-December. Consistency, energy levels, these are all hugely impactful in terms of whether we get to our goal, which is winning the championship. So my sport is very misunderstood I would say and pretty underappreciated. And I meet people and they're like how is it a sport. You're just sitting on your butt going around in circles. And I guess I understand that, but I'm always having to tell people because the physical and mental challenges, it is an elite sport. For example, in races I can lose up to 4 kilos, like 10 pounds in a race. Most races I lose probably 5 to 6 pounds of water weight because we are traveling at crazy speeds. This car goes naught to 60 in under two seconds now. We take corners at 190 miles an hour every single lap for an hour and 45 minutes to two hours. Your heart rate in the race is probably around 160, 170 the whole time, and you need to be laser focused. So you need to be fit. [MUSIC PLAYING] A Formula One driver, it's generally an all round workout when you're in the car. Your core stability is really at the center of everything, so having the strength to withstand the body moving side to side, hit flexes and glutes because you're accelerating with the petals, not heavy but you're holding intense pressure on the pedal for a long period of time. You also need to be able to move make the smallest adjustments in how much throttle you use. It's not just 100% enough. You're going on a couple of percent, coming off a couple of percent to help balance the car. On your left side, you're breaking with-- at 200 miles an hour. You can hit the brake pedal with almost both feet if you wanted to, but you don't. I trained my leg so I can do it the one. I hit it with about 120, 130 bar of pressure initially, and it's a real hit. That jolt goes through your whole hip, and so you need to have the stability to be able to sustain-- withstand that for 15 to 23 corners per lap and for two hours. And then your neck is where-- is probably the one that fatigues the most. Your helmet and your head weigh a lot. It's about 22 pounds, and obviously six times that weight through a corner for sustained period of time is heavy. One of the hardest things for us drivers is keeping your head up. When you go through the corner, your head just-- having the strength, so I usually lay off and edge of a bench or a bed, and I have a helmet that weighs 22 pounds and do weight lifting with my neck in all different directions. And I do resistance training, but that's probably the hardest thing. If anyone was to get into a car today, they wouldn't be able to-- that's the thing that would really shock you is not being able to hold your head up. [MUSIC PLAYING] In my job when you're driving at 200 miles an hour, if you...

About the Instructor

As the winningest Formula 1 driver in the history of the sport, Lewis Hamilton knows what it takes to come out on top. Now, he’s teaching you how to achieve greatness in your own life. Whether you already know your goals or are still trying to figure them out, you’ll learn how to face your fears, turn negatives into positives, and continuously challenge yourself in order to find—and reach—your true potential.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Lewis Hamilton

World racing champion Lewis Hamilton teaches you how to prepare your mind, body, and spirit for victory in your own life.

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