F1 champion goes to crazy lengths to compete in new sport

F1 champion Jenson Button has gone to extraordinary lengths to train for a new athletic pursuit, including putting on weight.

While Button left F1 at the end of the 2017 season, the 2009 champion retired from racing entirely last year and completed his final season in the World Endurance Championship with Cadillac Hertz Team Jota.

What does an F1 champion do then once he's hung up his racesuit and faces the gulf of time freed up by retirement? Hyrox.

In case you're not a glutton for punishment, like my good self, then you may be unaware of what the sport is. And it's more crazy then you could even imagine.

Hyrox is a type of fitness racing, comprised of eight exercise stations which are interspersed with 1km runs. Each kilometre over the 8km run is followed by a different workout station that has to be completed as fast as possible.

These workout stations include a 1,000m Ski Erg, 50m Sled Push, 50m Sled Pull, 80m Burpee Broad Jumps, 1,000m Row, 200m Farmers Carry, 100m Sandbag Lunges and 100 Wall Balls. Yeah...I'll stick to my weekly Pilates class thanks.

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Button: 'I have a flat butt'

Button recently reflected on his switch to Hyrox in conversation with Men's Health, having competed in his first race, a Pro Doubles, in Anaheim, California last December.

Previously attempting the triathlon, Button found the Hyrox training sessions better suited to his schedule and is now posting times of 1:11:43 and 1:08:47, but has also revealed the extraordinary changes he's had to make to compete.

"After F1, I didn’t go professional with triathlon, but I went to the world championship after qualifying for my age group in the 70.3 Ironman. I really enjoyed it, but the training was just too intense and far too many hours. I was doing 20 hours a week, something I just couldn’t do with young kids and my job still racing," he explained.

"I then heard about Hyrox a few months back. The training sessions are a lot shorter – unbelievably intense – and it just worked really well for me. I’ve done a lot of upper-body weight training and I’m really enjoying the process. It’s super tough, especially if you want to be competitive.

"I’m all in on Hyrox. I’ve done one singles race, which was fun. Happy until I got to the wall balls, which was embarrassing. Ankle flexibility is my big issue, so I’m working on that. And my glutes. If I sorted the wall balls out then I think a 1:05 would be possible. My legs are still a weakness that my wife laughs at, because I have a flat butt."

So, how has a former F1 driver, who famously try and keep themselves as light as possible, fared in the challenge that requires more significant muscle mass.

"I have loved putting weight on," Button admitted. "It’s not been easy because I’ve been skinny my whole life. I had to be 70kg – or less – when I was racing in F1, and now I’m 81kg. And I have probably less fat than I did back then.

"It’s been a really fun process. It’s taken a long time to put weight on, but it’s been fun. I feel so much better and more invigorated from doing weight training. And I feel good after a session – all the cardio sessions I used to do, I was just hanging for two days after, whereas now I feel great."

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