What does “Vollgas geben” mean in German?

Vollgas geben literally means pressing the gas pedal to the floor — voll (full) + Gas (throttle). Off the road it means going all-out, holding nothing back. It is one of the most common phrases in German sports commentary and coaching: a trainer who tells you to Vollgas geben isn’t talking about a car, they’re telling you to pour every last bit of effort into what you’re doing.

The expression migrated from the engine room to everyday German the same way English “full throttle” or “pedal to the metal” did — the image of flooring it stuck as a shorthand for maximum effort. In the ski-documentary parody, the narrator says the protagonist was always one of the slower racers, but that never stopped her from immer Vollgas zu geben, immer weiterzumachen — always going full throttle, always pushing on. Delivered as peak inspirational cliché, it perfectly captures how naturally the phrase sits in motivational German speech. You’ll hear it in football post-match interviews, gym pep talks, and startup pitches alike.