What Can Formula 1 Teach Us About Avoiding Jetlag?

Few sports activities have as international a scope as Formula 1. If you take a look at the calendar for the 2022 season, you’ll be aware {that a} crew’s schedule may take them to 3 continents over the span of a month, shifting out and in of time zones at an unrelenting tempo.

If you’re touring from (say) Azerbaijan to Canada to Great Britain within the span of some weeks, what does that do to your inner clock? And — in a sport the place pinpoint focus is crucial — how do you keep sharp as you make your approach around the globe?

A new article by Phillip Horton in The New York Times explores the strategies that Formula 1 drivers and crews have discovered most helpful to stop jetlag. It quotes physiologist Rupert Manwaring, who works intently with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Among his recommendation? Sleep on planes, and set clocks forward to the time at your vacation spot to get used to the time zone there.

Manwaring isn’t the one knowledgeable quoted within the article, and the physiologists whom Horton spoke with have opinions on the whole lot from gentle publicity (keep away from it if doable) to caffeine (don’t ingest it after 1 p.m.).

It seems that train may also be useful for getting a physique in sync with a brand new time zone; Manwaring pointed to Sainz’s fondness for golf as an exercise that’s confirmed helpful for addressing the results of jetlag. And whereas most individuals doubtless received’t have the whirlwind globetrotting schedule of a F1 crew, the recommendation that these specialists present may be useful in smaller doses as effectively.