GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNING

Use V8 Supercar driver James Courtney’s workout
to rev up your metabolism, build core strength and

develop quick, oncoming-concrete-wall reactions

HOW FIT DO YOU need to be to triumph on the
race track? In a typical two-hour race, Holden
Racing Team driver James Courtney endures

cockpit temperatures of up to 60°C, maintains a
heart rate of 180 beats per minute and shifts a
25-kilogram gear stick while applying brake-pedal
force of up to 100kg. It’s no wonder Courtney’s
fitness was recently rated alongside elite
footballers’ by Exercise Research Australia.

“It’s like doing a CrossFit session in a sauna
with 28 guys throwing concrete blocks at you,”
says Courtney, who won the 2010 V8 Supercars
championship and will race in the upcoming
Sydney Telstra 500 (v8supercars.com.au).

In a typical training week Courtney cycles up to
400 kilometres and combines two weights circuits
with boxing and swim sessions, plus multiple
workouts on trainer Phil Young’s speed and
reaction apparatus, the BATAK machine.

Get cockpit cut with this circuit performed three
times a week. Repeat the circuit three times with
two minutes’ rest in-between.

nBALL BEARINGS

Throw a Super Reaction
Ball ($9.95; ausport.com.au)
into the air, let it fall and catch
on the first bounce. Repeat for
three minutes. Next, stand two
metres from a wall and throw

the ball against it and catch. Repeat
for three minutes, stepping closer to
the wall with each throw. “A good
alternative to the BATAK machine,”
says Young.