We at CONKA have had to pleasure of working with some incredible sports people lately and getting to watch up close how our formula can help improve their cognitive performance, recovery and consequently their performance in the sport they love. Recently, I got to speak to British racing driver Josh Stanton about his journey as a racing driver as well as his journey with CONKA – which is what we’re about to dive into in today’s blog.
Having started his racing journey at about 11 years old, Josh’s love for cars has been present from a very young age and passed down generations with his father having also done a bit of racing, at an amateur level. When asked if he could see himself racing for a living when he was younger, Josh replied “it was a dream at that point.” (Note to dreamers: keep going!) Interestingly, Josh’s love for sports went beyond racing and he was also a very keen rugby player in his earlier years.
According to Motorsport Technology, one of the most important skills a racing driver needs is physical stamina1, which may come as a shock to some, but let me explain. During a race, a driver's heartbeat ranges from 160 to 200bpm, spiking to 220bpm under intense conditions.
When braking or accelerating, head and helmet weight gets up to 5 times heavier, resulting in a 5 G overload, and the seat’s downforce to reach up to 400 kg. I’m sorry, 400kg?! In a crash, this force increases even more! To give you a better idea, astronauts feel 3 to 4 G during launch, a skydiver landing at 6 meters per second experiences 1.8 G, and airplane passengers feel 1.5 G during take-off. “Physical stamina” is making perfect sense now, right?
Another crucial skill for racing drivers is fast reactions2 – split-second decisions and reactions are usually what differ between a win or a loss. When speaking to Josh, he mentioned “Especially in racing, everything comes down to two hundreds of a second. The margins are so infinitely small that anything that can give you the slightest advantage, you should take.” And, following his own advice, Josh has been taking CONKA for nearly 3 months now. When asked if he noticed any differences, he said “I certainly felt that during the race, my ability to stay focused was better. Sometimes, it’s very easy in these races for your mind to start to wander… I certainly felt a difference in that sense.”
So, great, we know Josh was able to feel the positive effects of CONKA on his performance… but what did the data say about it? Well, before taking CONKA, Josh’s average cognition score was 70.27. After taking CONKA, it increased 13% up to 79.70. When looking at the scores separately (cognICA, focus and memory), we could see that his scores improved across all tests, but the biggest improvement was from the focus test, with an impressive 24% improvement – which is what Josh reported feeling.
Another intriguing finding from the data was Josh's ability to bounce back from a weekend outside his routine, where he scored lower on the day for speed but quickly recovered back to high scores in subsequent tests. This reflects CONKA’s ability to help promote recovery as well as improve focus and cognitive performance. As Josh himself noted, "if I can understand what my brain needs, I can more easily help it get the recovery it needs. CONKA is especially important due to the concussion recovery element, should anything happen.” And isn't it reassuring to know that CONKA can help you recover from not only more serious incidents like concussions, but also the odd weekend out drinking? CONKA: the whole package.
If you’d like to know more about Josh, visit his Instagram page here3. And if you’d like to know more about the effects of CONKA on other athletes, take a look at our other blogs and also our Instagram page for short summary videos on the subject4. Finally, stay tuned for more on sports people’s journeys with CONKA, coming soon!
Leticia Hosang, BSc
Leticia is a sports science, sports psychology and neuroscience researcher, previously working with Brunel London University and exploring the effects of exercise on brain activity.
References:
Motorway Technology, 2018. https://motorsport.tech/formula-1/what-makes-a-good-f1-driver#:~:text=To%20win%20in%20Formula%201,to%20measure%20a%20drivers%20talent
Nissan, 2020. https://parts.nissanusa.com/go/Blog---Racecar-Driver-Skills.html
Josh Stanton’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshstantonracing/?hl=en
CONKA’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5QzL-cLugt/?igsh=MTFjanRiMHo1NXNxeg==