Who are the fittest sportsmen?

[jimharri]

Try doing it on ice with blades strapped to the bottom of your feet.

Them zany Canucks!

 

[discopop]

I always thought Swimmers were probably the fittest, Boxing obviously right up there as well with the added issue of being mentally strong enough to not be bothered about getting hit. Hard to call

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I've been watching the 2012 Olympics rerun on Iplayer and and have watched a multitude of athletes competing in various sports. The physiques of the competitors in these sports differ obviously due to the training they do and the muscles and joints that are used. If there was a comprehensive test and a set, agreed number of qualifying parameters, what sport do you think has the fittest participants?

I've always thought boxers (especiallly lighter weight) to be the fittest as they need to have everything:- power, endurance, strength, stamina, speed. However having watched the Olympic rerun I've thought maybe swimmers, or middle distance runners, or even judo players, and I've not even mentioned footballers.

Who do you think?

I’ve dabbled with most sports at one time or another. The two that literally left me gasping for air were boxing (and that was just sparring) and rugby sevens, the latter of which seemed to comprise almost entirely of non-stop sprinting

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Depends on the sport I guess.

VO2 Max and functional threshold power are 2 measures which are generally used for endurance sport, but you have local muscular endurance which is essentially how long a specific muscle group can work without failure due to fatigue.

If we are talking fitness across a wide range of disciplines, then look no further than cross-fit.

 

[Blueprint Blue]

Seems I'm getting confirmation of my original post that boxers are the fittest.

 

[Barcon]

Seems I'm getting confirmation of my original post that boxers are the fittest.

Not that Butterbean bloke. That fat **** couldn’t touch his toes.

 

[Blueprint Blue]

Not that Butterbean bloke. That fat **** couldn’t touch his toes.

Or another boxers head.

 

[roman totale]

That one where they do cross country skiing interspersed with target shooting.

 

[yerwot?]

sports, of all kinds, are too diverse to have ' an overall champion'. Lung capacity for cycling and rowing, stamina for distance runners, fast twitch muscle response for sprinters, brute strength for weight-lifters, and so on. At the highest level, Olympic and professional sports have a narrow 'ideal'
physiology, which the soviet East German boffins identified in the sixties, to the extent that individuals could be streamed into appropriate disciplines to maximise their potential.
Various 'special forces' may have the ultimate fitness all-rounder....

 

[idahoblues]

Grabs tissues