Last night I was watching a documentary about the evolution of the pit stop in Formula One racing (
The History of the Pit Stop). For those of you who might not know, the F1 pit stop has evolved to a sub-two second affair requiring precise coordination betweeen up to 20 men (e.g., three for each tire location, front and rear jack operators, two to just to hold the car steady, etc.).
I was hoping they would get to what these guys do for strength and conditioning, and when they did (at about the 35:10 mark in the video), I was not disappointed. A quick shot of the exercise schedule board showed just what you would expect: glute bridges, reversed lunges, TRX rows, etc. There was a guy squatting and shuffling side to side with a band around his thighs and another riding an exercise bike as well (at a leisurely pace). The 'trainer', billed as a 'sports scientist', gushed over the fact that the guys on the pit crew would go out for a run after lunch, because everyone knows the best way to prepare for a two second burst of intense effort is to run for 30 minutes.
Yes, I know, not surprising in the least that none of these guys (at least on the Red Bull pit crew) do power cleans, squats or deadlifts, but it's always fun to see such ignorance on display, especially at such high levels of sport. I'm not sure how important strength really is in this activity, though, seeing as the wheel/tire combo weighs probably less than 40 pounds, so even the guys handling them really don't need to be that strong, just coordinated. But absolutely no doubt that to perform at this level requires a great deal of practice, dedication and movement analysis. But also no doubt that strength helps everything.