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Dangerous curves
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She's widely known as the reigning beauty queen of open-wheel racing.
And for good reason. Her pretty face and dangerous curves have landed her in the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
Her racy pinup portfolio also includes a smokin' photo spread in FHM -- where she's dubbed "the hottest thing on wheels since Roller Girl."
But when IndyCar sensation Danica Patrick works out during the racing season, her No. 1 concern isn't on toning her abs or tightening her glutes so she can fit nicely into her itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie bikini. Rather, the main focus of her weight training is more practical than cosmetic, she says.
"During the season is not the ideal time to be upping the weights and changing the program and getting sore because the only important thing you need to do is drive the car -- not get a cut and defined bicep," the 26-year-old product of Roscoe, Ill., tells Sun Media in an exclusive one-on-one interview.
A diminutive 5-foot-2, 110 pounds, Patrick knows she needs to be as strong physically as possible in the macho, male-dominated Indy Racing League.
After all, the spicy brunette is wrestling with 1,500 pounds of untamed high-octane machinery at speeds that routinely exceed 300 kph -- without power steering. And don't forget there's a 3.5-litre V8 engine in her No. 7 car that unleashes 420 horsepower at 8,200 RPM.
"It's physically demanding," she says.
That's why Patrick, who gave Alberta a dose of Danica Mania this weekend at the Rexall Edmonton Indy -- where she finished 18th -- races to the weight room up to three times a week.
Indy's highest-paid driver won't reveal exactly which exercises she enjoys -- she doesn't want to give away all her weight-training secrets. But suffice to say Patrick performs three sets of 10-12 repetitions that work mainly her upper body.
"From the waist up, really. So, your back, your shoulders and your arms, those are all critical areas," she explains.
"You want to be fatigued at the end of your workout just a little bit. During the season, ideally I like to do the weights that don't make me sore but maintain strength. I try and keep the routine pretty consistent and similar the whole season."
There's also the cardio component of her training, which isn't to be neglected considering a road rage-inducing race lasts the better part of three hours.
"They're long races. Cardiovascular is very important," notes the former high school cheerleader. "Our heart rate is as if we're running the whole time -- 160, 180 beats per minute the whole time -- so your cardio has to be very strong, too."
And so Patrick, the first and only woman to win an IndyCar race, tries to do as much as 50 minutes of cardio every day.
BUILT FOR SPEED
The photogenic speed demon, who sets men's pulses racing whether she's on or off the track, likes to get her heart pumping on the treadmill or the elliptical machine, although she prefers running outside when she gets the chance.
"I'll just throw my tennis shoes on and go. I usually run for time, not distance," she explains. "Sometimes I only have time for half an hour. Sometimes that's all I want to do."
The petite fan favourite also likes to keep limber with yoga.
"It helps to just stretch you out and puts you in different positions than normal," she says. "I go to a class maybe once a month during the season."
Yoga, incidentally, led Patrick to her husband Paul Hospenthal.
She admits that one fateful morning circa 2002 she was doing yoga in her living room to the TV show Inhale when she injured her hip flexor.
"It was early in the morning. I wasn't stretched out. I'm competitive and I was trying to compete with everybody in the class on TV," she recalls with a chuckle. "I pushed a little bit much."
She ended up seeing a physical therapist, and later asked him out.
They were married in November 2005.
The duo often pumps iron together. They have a fully equipped gym in their Phoenix home and they're members of a nearby fitness centre.
"I'm on the road a lot, too, so my husband and I will just pay a day membership and go in and lift weights wherever we're at," she says, noting her hubby's expertise comes in handy.
"He's a physical therapist (and personal trainer) so he can obviously help out a lot from an exercise standpoint and from recovery and just a wide base of knowledge of what it takes to be healthy and have a body that's ready to do the job -- and that's drive."
As for putting fuel in her body, Patrick says she strives to eat a balanced diet but she admits she's not perfect and sometime strays.
"I have a cookie or chocolate every day or something like that, but I don't have the whole cookie. It's not necessary. A little bit here and there."
Indeed, you could say Patrick goes the extra mile to keep fit -- and that has kept her right on track.
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