Why a virtual racer must do some physical training...

A SimRacer does not need to do a physical training. At least, that is what will think the novice, which starts from a preconceived concerning automobile simulation: one is at home, sitting at its computer desk, and the "only" moves it does is with a steering wheel and pedals.

And yet, the virtual pilot has to manage a series of constraints.

The postulate of the inexperienced. I am alone with my screen :
- I have no suit or helmet, perhaps no shoes,
- I do not necessarily operate in a cramped environment like a race car cockpit,
- I do not necessarily suffer the mass transfers,
- I do not have to manage the hardness of a steering wheel or pedals, since I can adjust at will.

Can we then say that the constraints compared to real drivers are lower? I think they are rather different and should encourage physical training :
-  I can use a dynamic cockpit, which gives at least shaking or simulates the G effects,
- My post can be equipped with a force feedback steering wheel and hard pedals,
- The race can be long, especially in the case of endurance,
- During the sessions, I realize small repeated movements,
- My cockpit may be improperly adjusted from an ergonomic point of view.

Which means my muscles and joints will be strained. If, to this, is added the fact that the Simracing is a hobby practiced next to my working hours, replacing any physical activity, cramps or tendinitis and joint pains are not far.

This was the case for me. Although I practice a sport regularly, I had to deal with leg cramps in the last quarter of an hour of a run of just 1h30. Not to mention the tensions stored at the back muscles, because of repeated small movements made on the steering wheel.

The Simracer should, like the real driver, to take care physically maintain, in particular, muscle tone and thus in order to initiate any meeting as serenely as possible.

Excerpt from "Conduite en compétition", Alain Prost, P.F. Rousselot, éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, 1989

The Rookie