{"id":208719,"date":"2025-12-30T18:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/208719\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T18:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:25:09","slug":"lewis-hamilton-reveals-the-fitness-habits-keeping-him-sharp-at-40-and-why-he-no-longer-lifts-heavy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/208719\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton Reveals the Fitness Habits Keeping Him Sharp at 40 \u2013\u00a0and Why He No Longer Lifts Heavy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton<\/a> has spent nearly two decades operating in the fast lane of elite performance. But as his career has evolved, so has his approach to training \u2013 with less emphasis on lifting heavier and more focus on recovery<\/a>, longevity<\/a> and staying mentally sharp across a relentless race season. <\/p>\n

Here, Hamilton breaks down how he trains now, what\u2019s become non-negotiable, and the habits that keep him physically prepared and psychologically locked in.
<\/p>\n

Men’s Health: Your training has no doubt evolved over your career. What does your routine look like now?<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton: It\u2019s shifted, progressed, evolved. I still love to run<\/a> \u2013 I ran this morning. I did a run which varies between six and eight miles. Then ice bath<\/a>. But before all that, stretching<\/a> is the first thing I do as soon as I get out of bed.<\/p>\n

In the afternoon I might do a HIIT session<\/a>, but I can\u2019t really do too much weights because otherwise I get too heavy. So mostly it\u2019s Pilates<\/a> and yoga.<\/p>\n

MH: What are your non-negotiables when it comes to training?<\/p>\n

LH: Ice baths. Recovery is something that I never really focused on in the past. I would just do the workout and then go on with my day. So stretching and ice baths \u2013 those are the two things that I force myself to do.<\/p>\n

MH: What do people get wrong about fitness for Formula 1? <\/p>\n

LH: Ultimately it\u2019s no different to what people at home would be doing if they go to the gym. I\u2019m still doing similar sort of HIIT workouts and I do similar weights.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s obviously a lot of resistance work. There\u2019s a lot of work on your neck, which is probably something that most people don\u2019t ever do. But I struggle with all the same things that most people do. There\u2019s days I really don\u2019t like it \u2013 particularly when you\u2019re sore from previous workouts.<\/p>\n

Related Story<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t always have the time to do it every single day due to commitments. So recovery and sleep are really, really important. Finding the right mixture between what you eat, the sleep and the actual activities you do is one of the hardest things to get right. That\u2019s something I\u2019m searching for all the time.<\/p>\n

MH: We usually see you either in a racing suit or fully styled off-track. What\u2019s your go-to workout outfit? <\/p>\n

LH: I like everything to be quite light when I\u2019m working out. I like an outfit that\u2019s coordinated. Colour has to be matching or it has to be something like a set.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always wearing my Lululemon shorts. If I\u2019m in the gym, I have the leggings underneath. If I’m running, just the shorts. In the gym, I like a top without sleeves for breathability. And always my Lululemon sneakers.<\/p>\n

MH: Formula 1 is as cognitively demanding as it is physical. What habits or practices help you stay sharp mentally and emotionally across a race season? <\/p>\n

LH: When I was younger, I think the training was really my therapy \u2013 and it still kind of is, particularly the runs. That\u2019s where I get most of my thinking done.<\/p>\n

Adding things like yoga, adding things like breathwork. Breathwork has probably taken the longest to get into because it takes time. Then meditation.<\/p>\n

I think the ice bath helps with that too, because you need to learn to breathe and overcome the thoughts of wanting to give up, wanting to get out. Those things really help me stay positive through the year.<\/p>\n

Positive affirmations are probably the most important thing of all. When you\u2019re brushing your teeth or starting your day, saying positive affirmations about how your day is going to go, what your goal is, how you\u2019re going to feel, how you\u2019ll approach the job or meet people. When you speak positively about yourself, your body reacts to that.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton spoke to Men’s Health courtesy of Lululemon. The Lewis Hamilton Edit <\/a>is available now.<\/p>\n

Related Stories\"Headshot<\/p>\n

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men\u2019s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that\u2019s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for \u2018free pizza\u2019 and wait for him to appear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has spent nearly two decades operating in the fast lane of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[5218,127237,2117,565,2120,134,2116,111,139,69,127236],"class_list":{"0":"post-208719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-content-type-default","9":"tag-contentid-4aa83599-16d5-4698-8561-d1ebd7a2797f","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-hasproduct-true","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-locale-gb","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-shorttitle-lewis-hamilton-on-fitness-at-40"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}