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What is the Fittest Sport?

Athletes from which sport are the fittest? Fitness itself is hard to define, so it makes this often asked and debated question equally difficult to define. Here we are interested in the SPORT which requires the greatest overall demands of fitness, and not necessarily the sport with the fittest athlete. Below is my top 10 sports considered to be among the highest in fitness requirements. This is just personal opinion - there have been other attempts to more accurately determine the world's fittest sports - such as my calculation and via online ratings of fitness components. The results of a few sports comparisons, testing and analysis came up with the sports of boxing, skiing and squash as the owners of the title of the World's Fittest Sport. It could be argued that many other sports are also worthy of the title. I'll let you make up your own mind. You can place your vote on our poll: What do you think is the world's fittest sport?

1. Boxing

You can't go past boxing as the sport requiring the greatest all round levels of fitness. Aerobic endurance, strength, power, speed, agility and flexibility are all extremely important for success in boxing. I would make sure I was extremely fit too if I had to get in a ring with someone who wanted to bash me up.

2. Decathlon

The Decathlon is not a sport as such, but an event in Track and Field, though there is no doubt that the event requires the intimate all round athlete. The decathlon comprises 10 events performed over two days: 100 meters, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400 meters, 110 meter hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, 1500m. No wonder the Olympic decathlon champions are often given the title of the World's fittest athlete.

3. Hockey

Whether it is field hockey or ice hockey, this team sport requires speed, power and agility, with a very good level of endurance. I rank both hockey versions here the same, though in ice hockey I would think that strength and power is more important, and in field hockey, played on a larger field requires higher endurance levels.

4. Australian Rules Football

Anyone who has watched some AFL football would agree that of all the football codes this is definitely the one with the greatest all round fitness requirements. With no protection, and the play going on all around them, players need to be quick and agile, strong in the tackle, and keep doing it for hours.

5. Cross Country Skiing

If fitness was defined as endurance fitness, cross-country skiing would be expected to come out on top easily. A new section of the Topend Sports website lists the world best performances in many of the common fitness tests. In the VO2max category, cross country skiers are highly represented on the top of the list.

6. Squash

Squash is played in a confined space, but that does not restrict the movements of the players, who require superior fitness to quickly cover all parts of the court in this non-stop game.

7. Lacrosse

Invented by the American Indians, speed and agility is not enough in this sport. Going by the protective gear that they wear, it is also a very hard played sport requiring good strength and power.

8. Tennis

Gone are the days where skill only would enable you to reach the top in world tennis. Recent players with great fitness levels have dominated the game, with strong powerful strokes, and the speed and agility to cover all of the court, and the endurance to make it though sometimes hours of play.

9. American Football

American football is a sport that requires players with high levels of fitness in the range of components, though specialist positions means that some players can concentrate on one area such as speed or power, creating superior linesmen, wide receivers or kickers with unique physical characteristics.

10. Triathlon Ironman

The ironman is a long distance triathlon, comprising (raced in order with no break) 2.4 miles (3.86 km) swim, 112 mile (180.25 km) cycle, and finishing with a marathon run (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km). If fitness is defined by endurance and determination, then ironman triathlon is the one.

Comments

Distance runners are the fittest. Everyone knows that. (from Nick, Jan 2012)
Personally, i would have had MMA and rugby in this list somewhere but otherwise pretty good! Any sport that mixes up cardio and strength training is going to test you and it really does depend on the level you are competing at. (from martyn, Jan 2012)
If you consider the human body as a machine the more effort the sport requires the more energy is needed to keep going, some sports happen very quick 100m running and some take a long time snooker match and both will use the same amount of energy therefore you have to take into consideration the length of the event and the total amount of energy used, sports such as 100m swimming where the body will be subjected to a large amount of energy released very quickly require the athlete to be very fit but the fittest athletes would be cyclist due to using the largest muscles in the body and the distance these muscles are from the heart and lungs, next would be distance swimmers. (from John, Jan 2012)
An average soccer player runs minimum of 17k in a game(excluding the goalie). And when I say running, I'm not talking about waltzing about with the ball... I'm actually talking about sprinting. Its all about fast pace in soccer. I'm 17 and have been plying football on a professional level for three years. I've never touched a cigarette and alcohol in my life. But 90minutes of huffing and puffing, tackling and dribbling is bound to make you feel like you kept all the cigarettes and beer in the world to yourself. And having to have ball control is not an easy thing when you have people trying to put you off balance... When a player has the ball they fight to keep it in their possession as if their lives depended on it. A footballer is NOT someone who kicks the ball and chases after it. A true footballer touches the ball with every step they make with their preferred foot (unless if you are Messi or Louisa Necib who's elegant touches apply to both feet). Try doing that occasionally adding fancy moves without having to trip head over hills, don't forget to be fast while you're at it. Sorry for the long comment (~^,) (from khumo, Jan 2012)
yall are crazy, GYMNAST are stronger than any football player or boxer (from c, Jan 2012).
these comments are comic. (Jan 2012)
A cyclist who does a 3 week grand tour doesn't count? Hawaiian ironman? Rubbish article (from Tim, Jan 2012)
Guys cross-country and marathon running is bloody hard they should be up there!!! (from Ethan, Dec 2011)
Hockey should be number 1 because the energy they put out is crazy. 1 player cannot play for 2 minutes without having to take a break because they are so worn out it is redic. this list is so wrong. (from noah, Dec 2011)
Who on earth put this list together? How can tennis make you fitter than rowing ??? Half the time you're picking tennis balls up. Only if you are a pro tennis player can it make you really fit. Very poor advice for the 'average' person wanting to get fit. (from Tim S, Dec 2011)
That cant be right, why isnt swimming up there - that's one of the fittest i'd place it probably 4th and have triathlon 3rd (from carl roberston, Nov 2011)
I think rugby should be listed at the top.. it's a very fast and intense contact sport. You need a lot of speed and endurance to play this game. On average a rugby player with run 6-17 miles during a match. (from Nov 2011)
It is a well known fact that ballerinas are fitter than AFL footy players and are most deffidentaly fitter then boxers. they have to have extremely strong calf and thight strenght to stay up on their pointe shoes for so long. they work so hard and cannot show it, un like every other sport. they have to have fast thinking brains and have to think fast to pick up exercises and corrections quickly. they have to have muscle and body control, and are very disipline. On top of all this, they make it look easy, unlike boxers who let out all their pain. (from Sally Kelly, Nov 2011)
It would be interesting to know how many of your commentators are actually atheletes? I am a cyclist so the Tour de France which is raced over 3 weeks proves comfortably who is the fittest, toughest competitors. There is no other sport in this world that continually competes for 3 weeks before finding a winner. (from Alex Cameron, Nov 2011)
What r u people talking about like seriously wii tenis haha hockey and motocross and boxing require real effort (from the truth, Nov 2011)
Water polo is damn hard. A quote i've heard many times is that if water polo were easy it would be called football. But triathlons are hard too (from Tim, Oct 2011)
Hever heard of motocross ? These guys are nuts ! (from Yan Sauvé, Sep 2011)
What about Wii tennis? that is seriously draining! (from Josh, Aug 2011)
What about cycling (from Aug 2011)
You have never played in a Rugby backline doing 7 to 8 sequential phase runs have you? I will bet anyone, anytime that a rugby scrumhalf is by far the fittest athlete of all disciplines. I have wrestled, boxed and was a champion bodybuilder for 13 years. Ski-ing????? Tennis?????? Bull!!!! (from Paul, Aug 2011)
horse riding lol (from dirk, Aug 2011)
really wrestling should be on this list. probably the top too (July 2011)
Horse riding? In what way? Lifting water buckets and running after your horse isn't sport at all. But arguing is useless too as no one can compare and prove their point, in my opinion its either: Mountain climbing, F1, or cycling (from Sasuke Uchiha, July 2011)
Marathon runners. Anyone can play tennis, squash, boxing, soccer, rugby. You name it. But ask them to run a marathon and they can't. (from Jim Wilso, July 2011)
Crossfit is the fittest sport (from Lucas Reid, June 2011)
What about waterpolo? Gymnastics? Trampoline? Diving???? (from Kim, June 2011)
rugby??? (from liam finlay , June 2011)
Taekwondo and/or other martial arts requires all levels of fitness. In sparring, you use foot work and there is punching as well. (from Jannelle, June 2011)
I think swimming should be in the top ten for sure! It works all your muscles and gives you a great work out! (from Anne, May 2011)
I think you need much better fitness to fight in MMA than in boxing. What about motocross? (from Tinman24 (Apr 2011).
Football players ahead of ironman triathlon? Do you realize that the preseason fitness test for linemen on most NFL teams is a 200 yard run (not for time but for simple completion)? What about rowers? The only sport I know of where athletes burn over 200 calories in under 6 minutes (from Rob, April 2011)
basketball is 2nd squash is 1st! This website is rubbish! (from paolo, April 2011).
I'm not going to say that running is the fittest sport out there because it may not be i don't know ... but what i will say is if you haven't ran track before and you try to accomplish any kind of record its not happening ... other miscellaneous stuff like taking care of horses may be hard but it's not a sport so technically can not be classified as one of the fittest sports in the world i have ran cross-country and track for the last 5 going on 6 years and no matter how much i run it never gets easier the competition just gets harder and harder as the years go on i currently run the mile in 5 minutes and 10 seconds when i first started i couldn't run the mile in 7 minutes flat and i tried hard but now i can running does get easier but the competition gets harder and then you have to pick up your training so you stay with your competition so like i said technically running never gets easier because when you think you are doing better because your time has improved someone out there is doing better than you are and you are going to want to step up your game another notch (from Dakota Olson, April 2011).
I think its horse riding if u own a horse its a lot of work i have 13 and ride them all u have to muck them out lift water buckets and muck out,empty wheel barrows and riding taker over a hour and walking up and down the hill to catch your horse (from chloe, April 2011).

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POLL: What do you think is the world's fittest sport?
See also about the Fittest Athletes.
who is the World's Greatest Athlete?
our own list of the World's Fittest Sport
vote for the Greatest Athlete of All Time?
ESPN List of most demanding sports

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