Matt, if you've cracked or broken your ribs, do not get into a kart again until they've completely healed. At best you'll damage them again... at worst you'll end up with a punctured lung which is a medical emergency.
Unless you've punctured a lung, triage doctors will not give you any treatment other than painkillers these days. This is the easiest way for them to heal. Just take care and don't do anything strenous until they're better. It will take up to 3 months for them to fully heal though it will be easier to sleep etc... after about 6 weeks.
While fitness is important for karting, fitness will not prevent you from breaking ribs. You need to do three things for that :
o Make sure that you're using the correct seat for your size and that its correctly positioned in the kart. If you're in doubt, don't be afraid to ask a dealer or even speak to Tillets.
o Ensure that you have a protective waistcoat. The carbon ones such as the OMP version are the ones to go for rather than the foam based ones.
o Fit a Tillet rib cage to your seat. This is the best money I've ever spent on karting. While the sculpted sides and back of the seat hold you in place, they don't stop you from moving forward, particularly when yumping kerbs. This does and when you've got one fitted, you'll be at one with the seat.
http://www.kartstore.co.uk/detail.cfm?item_id=3184&cat_id=1633&sub_id=undefined
In terms of fitness, there are a few things you need to concentrate on for karting.
o Lower arm and wrist strength. Focus on tricep push downs for the arms and use lighter weights to move your wrists only.
o Shoulder strength. This is even more critical in single seaters but still important for karting. Use the shoulder press to build muscle and while holding a heavy barbel weight at arms length with both hands, turn it from left to right as if it were a steering wheel.
o Cardio fitness. Try and do an hour and vary it between the bike, the cross trainer and the rower - 20 mins each. You should be looking to burn more than 700 calories during that period of time.
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