The bodily calls for of Formula 1 require every driver to be as well-rounded of an athlete as doable. Along with the trials of steering a high-performance rocket automobile, there are additionally quite a lot of crisscrossing time zones, which place a premium on the significance of decreasing jet lag, high quality sleep, and correct diet. This isn’t something new for Tom Clark.
Tom Clark is the Senior Performance Coach for Alpine driver Esteban Ocon. He can be engaged on knowledgeable doctorate in Applied Sport and Exercise Science, specializing in jet lag, journey fatigue, and coping methods. Along with ensuring Ocon is firing on all cylinders, Clark additionally hopes to assist make adjustments to mitigate journey fatigue throughout F1 to assist the longevity and efficiency of these inside the sport.
Clark spoke with Muscle & Fitness on the work that goes into making certain Ocon is at his finest come race weekend, a few of his methods for managing jet lag, and ways in which he makes certain there may be at all times high quality meals obtainable all through every cease in the course of the season.
Training an F1 Driver is a Year-Round Commitment For Tom Clark
Tom Clark spends near 70 % of the 12 months by Ocon’s facet. At the beginning of the season, the senior efficiency coach will fly to the motive force’s home in Switzerland, the place they’ll start overlaying all bases in preparation for the upcoming season. There are then conversations with the opposite members of the coaching workers on what went nicely the earlier season, what races have been bodily robust, and areas of enchancment. This all comes after Clark’s communication with the engineers as he must see if any updates or adjustments may alter among the modalities that will likely be applied.
“The sport and the demands of it can change year-on-year just based on some quite subtle details,” Clark says. “Because, you have this unknown variable in a car, which very much is a big part of what is the centerpiece of the sport.”
Given that Ocon must be at his finest every race, Clark says the main target isn’t on getting tremendous slot in preseason, however step by step constructing all through the season. During sure durations of the season, they will deal with positive factors or extra focused areas that must be addressed.
There can be devoted warmth coaching as they method among the hotter races. Clark ensures that Ocon is ready for mainly any state of affairs or anomaly they will encounter all through the season.
Make Sure There Are Always Quality Ingredients
Despite the time distinction being in or towards their favor, Clark does his finest to see that Ocon maintains the identical consuming schedule. Clark is each organized and analytical in relation to side and all the pieces from snacks and dietary supplements are deliberate to be much less reliant on inflight meals. If there are any flight stoppages, analysis has already gone into the place to eat and there are additionally strains of communication established with any of the resorts they’re staying in.
“I will ring ahead, try and get any sort of feedback from people who have eaten at a restaurant to make sure the food hygiene is good,” Clark says. “With every hotel that we stay in, one of the first things I do is try and meet the hotel manager or someone from the dining team. I have them on WhatsApp and we will communicate on the produce and food on a given week.”
It additionally helps that they’ve been to every race location as soon as earlier than, so there may be familiarity together with trusted contacts and spots to select from. Arrival is often a couple of days previous to the race so the groups can get settled in and put together for the weekend. During race weekend, a precedence is positioned on carbs and proteins to assist with restoration and to ensure Ocon is feeling at his finest when he strains up on the grid.
Tom Clark Isn’t Lagging Behind Jet Lag
Tom Clark has been with Ocon since 2021 and has labored in motorsports for 10 years. There are many hats he wears because the senior efficiency coach. His pursuit of studying extra about jet lag and understanding extra about circadian rhythms stems straight from his expertise in working with Ocon and a efficiency coach’s endless aim of enhancing their athlete’s efficiency.
“When I thought about what are we, as the Formula One community doing when it comes to jet lag, there really wasn’t much,” Clark says. “It was this factor that folks simply accepted. There positively was an consciousness to jet lag and making an attempt to do one thing to mitigate the signs.
“I wanted to look at it from a more under-the-microscope perspective and really understand the mechanisms involved and what we can do in this extreme environment that we’re in because it’s not like there are research papers on Formula One travel.”
This season will take groups and drivers to a complete of 21 nations throughout 5 continents. The schedule features a report 24 races, together with three triple headers (a mixture of three races in three consecutive race weekends with out a week’s break between the following races), and can see groups journey roughly 123,000km (76,000 miles) between races. There merely isn’t a strategy to keep away from jet leg with such in depth journey however there are methods to mitigate the signs.
Time Is of The Essence When Combating Jet Lag
Jet lag is outlined as a short lived sleep problem that happens when the physique’s inside clock is out of sync with cues from a brand new time zone. Those cues are often mild publicity and consuming occasions, which result in fatigue and problem concentrating — signs that may very well be disastrous for drivers. Tom Clark says the primary key factor as to if you’re touring east or west over time zones as this may decide the severity of jet lag one would expertise. He talked about a saying that’s used generally in jet lag analysis “West is best,” as most individuals will discover touring west lots simpler than east.
“The simple reason for that is we find it easier to make the day longer as human beings,” Clark says. “Generally, our body clock is actually slightly longer than 24 hours, which means to make the day longer is generally something we’re predisposed to prefer compared to making the day shorter.”
Clark says it’s necessary to start out mimicking among the behaviors you’d have within the new time zone days earlier than you even board your flight. He talked about what he would do in touring from the U.Okay. to Central America, the place the time distinction is seven hours behind. Clark says he would start going to mattress and waking up one hour later whereas ensuring within the night that he’s seeing mild for an additional hour as nicely by turning on each mild in his neighborhood to assist his eyes regulate. This begins to assist shift the physique clock extra powerfully. If he’s going eastward, he’ll get up and go to mattress an hour earlier.
Even in the event you’re not a frequent flyer, Clark talked about the trendy phenomenon of social jet lag which is the desynchronization between your physique clock and your surroundings. This comes with many individuals who work Monday via Friday and rise early and get to mattress early however do the reverse on weekends, which bleeds over into the beginning of the next week. Clark says easy adjustments and consistency with a sleep schedule go a great distance in making certain higher efficiency and even a greater temper.
“Let’s say you had a late Saturday night,” he says. “Don’t try and make up for it Sunday morning. Try and wake up earlier than you would normally. Keep some of that tiredness to then go to bed early Sunday night. That’s where a lot of people will go wrong in that. They’ll sleep in on Sunday.”
Follow Tom Clark on Instagram @tomclarkpc