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Andreas Mikkelsen’s 5 essential rally fitness tips
One of the World Rally Championship’s fittest drivers explains how he trains for the stages.
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The interior of Andreas Mikkelsen’s rally car can reach temperatures of 70 degrees centigrade. In Fahrenheit, that’s north of 150. It’s hot. Not the kind of conditions for a three-layer racesuit on top of flameproof undies. And gloves, don’t forget the gloves. And the balaclava. And the helmet.
Kitted out, Andreas Mikkelsen will then put himself through the most demanding physical and mental challenges the World Rally Championship can throw at him. This year, that’ll be a new 50-mile Guanajuato stage on Rally Mexico – the longest single test of the season. For almost an hour, and at 2,000 metres above sea level, the Norwegian will push himself to the absolute limits of what his body can cope with.
How do you prepare for that kind of challenge? Andreas let RedBull.com in on his training secrets…
1. Be fit for the stage, not the beach
Andreas Mikkelsen: "Training for the World Rally Championship is quite precise in terms of what we need and what we want. Obviously, weight is really important and the team works so hard to make sure everything is at the minimum on the car. I have to do the same. This means we can’t really work on our summer body – we don’t have the muscles for the beach!
"You need the strength and energy, but not more muscle than needed. If I do any free weights, then it’s on the arms – small weights with a lot of reps. While we don’t need big arms, we do need to make sure we have enough strength and power to drive the car if we have power steering failure, or something like that.
We need to make sure we have enough strength if we have power steering failure
"I never do lower body weight training – I don’t need big thighs in a rally car. I get what I need in the lower body from cycling and running, and I don’t do more than that."
No power steering here wouldn't be ideal...
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
2. Ensure that you can endure
AM: "I work a lot on stamina to cope with the heat and to help keep the concentration when it’s 60 or 70 degrees Celsius in the car. Stamina is really important for us in our sport – regardless of how hot it gets, you have to make sure that you can stay focused. My training is more about stamina than strength.
"We do a lot of interval training to help build that stamina, and I have to say, that’s one of the things I don’t like about training. The interval work is really tough – but very satisfying when you get through it."
Andreas competing in the Transalpine run
© Volkswagen Motorsport
3. Stability’s the key to success on the stage
AM: "One thing I am always working on is the upper body. Like I said, this is not in terms of weight – it’s about the core, for stability. For the core work, I do a lot on the [Swiss] ball. There are many exercises for this and these are to build the muscles in the stomach and the back. My co-driver Anders [Jæger] and I are really working on this and it’s always a big competition between us. In running and that sort of stuff, he is better than me – he’s in really good shape. But in the core work, I am better than him!"
4. Get on the squash court
AM: "Competition is a really big part of what we do, so the chance to have competition in training is really important. The best way for me is to play squash. I play a lot against Anders, and also against Thierry [Neuville, Hyundai Motorsport WRC driver] and Thierry is always the loser – that’s nice to keep Volkswagen on top on the squash court!
"Seriously though, squash is really good for the fitness, it works you hard and it really builds the hand-eye coordination while physically challenging you. A couple of days before the Monte Carlo Rally, Anders and I went to the squash court and we played for two hours – two hours of flat-out squash to really keep the concentration."
"No Thierry, we don't have time for squash"
© Volkswagen Motorsport
5. Take a break
AM: "I don’t train every day. The rally days are really stressful, and of course we have travel days when it’s not possible to train. On the days when I need to relax, I switch off and recharge the batteries. That means going home, doing things completely differently – maybe going fishing, going out shopping, visiting my family or playing with the dog."
David Evans is the Rallies editor of Autosport magazine. Follow him on Twitter @davidevansrally
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