Train Yourself for Karting

Want to adequately train yourself for karting without spending a dime? The only fuel you will use is what drives you individually.

Visualization for karting drivers is essential to remain competitive with others or even move ahead of your opponents. Find a few minutes of quiet time, relax and visualize the circuit, the practice laps and all the challenges you might face as a karting driver.

Visualizing your performance can improve your driving skills and techniques, your good habits (by not concentrating on the bad ones) and your start.

Try this visualization method: Imagine yourself driving your kart on your favorite circuit. Imagine the racing environment – all the sights and sounds of the karting race. Imagine driving out of the dummy grid and doing a lap. Perform another lap, all the while visualizing that you are being timed by a stopwatch. Repeat this until you get within a second of your best lap time.

Professional drivers visualize all the time. Take to owning a mirror visor so you can feel in your own world on the circuit, hidden away from everyone. This is a great asset before the race while anticipating the start.

While in your kart, simply close your eyes and concentrate on how you will start. When you begin the race, you will find that you have more of a purpose and a definitive idea of what you need to do to win.

Other proven cost-effective ways to improve your driving skills include following a fitness regimen and a strict diet.

Karting is very physical – ask any karting racer who takes the sport seriously – and you need strength and durability to last the day at the track. Fitness training allows the karting racer to be at an optimum performance level physically and mentally.

The mental benefit of being in shape not only improves your confidence, it also aids your concentration. When you are out of shape, you get tired faster and less oxygen flows to the brain, resulting in headaches and a loss of concentration and focus. That ultimately affects your performance and driving skills.

Fitness training for karting includes working on your stamina and upper body strength. Take to martial arts training, jog in the morning or ride an exercise bike. These activities improve your stamina.

For upper body strength, perform sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups and use a rowing machine. That will benefit your posturing in the driver seat.

Fitness training and dieting go hand-in-hand. For breakfast, make sure you get healthy portions of protein and carbohydrates (for example, eggs with toast and juice). For lunch, make the most out of your carbohydrate intake (pasta dishes), and for dinner, eat more protein (chicken, steak or fish).

All karting drivers should remember this: If you work hard to be fit, your mental game will be much easier. Staying healthy also shows a sense of purpose, and that kind of drive is necessary in karting.