During these troubling times, it’s easy to forget that life still goes on. People still need to do the things they used to do before the pandemic hit and for certain professionals, keeping fit and in perfect shape is mandatory. That could be a challenge considering you can’t leave the house but solutions are available, as the BMW Works drivers recently found out.
They are now training inside their own homes but now they also have the opportunity to regularly fine-tun their fitness together, online. The team over at Formula Medicine, who is taking care of many athletes including the new BMW Junior team, is now offering special group training sessions over Zoom to BMW works drivers. “We had never tested this before but we had the idea due to the current situation and it works very well,” said Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli, the man in charge of Formula Medicine.
“Everyone is very professional and they do their exercises, but it’s extra motivation to train live together with the others and to give the very best. It’s fun to train together and to see each other on video, so it’s not only physical training, it’s also great team building.” The BMW works drivers do not need a lot of equipment for the digital training sessions, which last about one hour.
They train using their own body weight – all they need is a mat for the floor. For each session, the people at Formula Medicine develop different training programs for strength and endurance. The service also includes mental training via video conference. The group online training is working so well that they could continue in the future. “I always say ‘every problem can bring an opportunity’,” Dr. Ceccarelli explained.
“So we are already working in our facility to implement it and to have more options to work with webcam and video conferences to maintain this after Corona. During the season, the drivers are on the road a lot but with one or two training sessions per week on free days we all can keep connected and exchanging. And if a driver for example has a question regarding a specific exercise, we can easily connect via video, no matter where he is.”
The plan is to continue training anyway until the season resumes. Three times a week, the BMW works drivers and BMW Junior Team dial into the meetings from their homes and go at it full-throttle for an hour.
