Top 5 Most Physically Demanding Sports

Thinking of getting off your lazy arse and becoming a professional or Olympic athlete? Better get working. Especially if you’re dreaming of getting involved in one of these, the most physically demanding sports out there:

Ice Hockey:

Whether ice hockey or field hockey, you’re going to have to be among the top of a wide variety of physical traits.  Speed, power, agility, strength, and endurance come to mind. Depending on the position, you’re probably going to need a very quick reaction time, so start working on those “twitch muscles”.

Australian Rules Football:

If you’ve ever watched aussie rules, you’d have to agree that of all the varieties of football, AFL requires the most intesne fitness.  With the action going on all around you, you need to be quick . With the lack of protective equipment you’re going to be movitated to be strong. And with the games as long as they are, you’re going to need the endurance to take the punishment for hours.

Cross-country Skiing:

This one’s all endurance, power, and whole-body strength as well as muscle memory and timing.  If you want to get technical and break fitness level down to VO2 max -which is the volume of oxygen you can consume while performing at your maximum capacity. – the highest values have all gone to cross-country skiers.

Combat Sports:

Boxing, MMA, and wrestling (the real kind).  They all have one thing in common – the athlete is potentially fighting for his life.  What a great motivation to get in the best shape you possibly can. In MMA, for example, a fighter requires immense strength, power, stamina, balance, endurance, and reaction speed. 

It’s a very unpredictable sport and the fighter has to be ready for anything, which is why the MMA training regime is revered as the most intense. Take a look at UFC champion Georges St-Pierre’s MMA workout program.  Anyone who can complete that fitness test will be well on his way to being an all-around competitor.

Track and Field Decathlon:

Olympic decathlon champions throughout history have been called the “world’s greatest athlete” of their time.  Whether or not that’s true today, you’ve got to respect a decathlete’s versatility and endurance, participating in 10 events over two days.

Anyone have any personal experience competing in any of these or other intense physical sports? 

Do share.