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Which Sport is the Most Physically Demanding?

Which sport do you think requires the greatest overall demands of fitness? This poll is part of a competition to determine the World's Fittest Sport. We ran a head-to-head competition starting with these 32 sports, and one-by-one knocked them out until only one sport remained. You can see the results of that comp. To confirm the results of our competition, we set up a poll so you could vote directly for the one sport which you think has the greatest overall physical demands.

When the poll was closed in 2025, squash was voted the sport that requires the greatest overall demands of fitness. Total votes 1730.

sport votes %
Squash 171 9.9
Motocross 154 8.9
Triathlon (Iron Man) 135 7.8
Boxing 121 7.0
Football (Soccer) 115 6.6
Swimming 101 5.8
other 77 4.5
Rowing 75 4.3
Wrestling 73 4.2
Tennis 67 3.9
Water Polo 59 3.4
MMA 57 3.3
Hockey(Ice) 55 3.2
Gymnastics (Artistic) 54 3.1
Rugby 54 3.1
Cycling (Road) 40 2.3
Football (Aussie Rules) 40 2.3
Formula1 37 2.1
Skiing (X-Country) 34 2.0
Badminton 32 1.8
Football (American) 32 1.8
Basketball 31 1.8
Track and Field (Decathlon) 28 1.6
Track and Field (Marathon) 26 1.5
Cycling (Mountain Bike) 12 0.7
Hockey(Field) 11 0.6
Volleyball 9 0.5
Baseball 8 0.5
Surfing 7 0.4
Lacrosse 6 0.3
Skiing (Downhill) 4 0.2
Speed Skating 4 0.2
Team Handball 1 0.1

Disclaimer: These polls are not scientific, and only reflect the opinion of visitors to this website who have chosen to participate.



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