[Closed] So....what's the hardest sport/pastime?

biathlon

I'd reckon fell running must rate fairly highly on the fitness/cardio level, maybe not so highly on the skill level.

XC skiing/biathlon.

Golf rates pretty highly in the skill dept.

XC skiing/biathlon as mentioned above for the fitness required.

The pro rowers always look pretty wrecked afterwards - There is a concept2 indoor series I think.

Wolf raping.
You've got to have one hell of a sprint, and long term endurance to get away with it.

[i]cardio/fitness/skill level[/i]

you really think you could play in the Premier League without large quantities of all of those things..?

On balance though, wolf raping probably edges it... 😆

maybe not so highly on the skill level.

in my experience fell running requires a level of skill beyond my capabilities. Either that or I'm confusing skill with stupidity.

Boxing or rowing.

coffeeking - Member
I'd reckon fell running must rate fairly highly on the fitness/cardio level, maybe not so highly on the skill level.

have you ever run down a mountain at 20mph?

Triathlon - The Big Ben Nevis one. look it up at
[url= http://www.nofussevents.co.uk ]No Fuss Events[/url]

though Biathlon has to be up there.. ski your bollox off and then shoot straight...

I always thought that endurance rowers where the fittest closely followed by road race cyclists

in my experience fell running requires a level of skill beyond my capabilities. Either that or I'm confusing skill with stupidity.

One foot, other foot, one foot, other foot.... 😆

Footballers need a "rest" after 45 mins of prancing and strutting 😈

Big wave windsurfing!

fell running with no skill equals broken legs or torn ligments and tendons

Mountaineering or Ironman

Well I can vouch that rowing is definitely very tough - I think because the races are pretty short (20mins max, most 6 or so) so you can go near enough flat out but it also requires a lot of strength/power.

What surprises most people who aren't in the know is that it's also very technical - you'd be amazed how much difference technique makes - I've rowed with a lot of guys who were much stronger than me but couldn't get close to me on the water. Unfortunately there were also some who were much stronger than me and could also row technically well - they were called the GB rowing squad 😉

Basically any sport that uses a significant proportion of the muscles in the body but also requires strength/power is going to be tough from a physical perspective.

I think in terms of skill level, few things come anywhere near Windsurfing.

Hand on heart the longest learning curve and most rewarding sport once you can finally do it.

And the first time you get in the harness and start to plane is a feeling to behold, the first time you do that and get in the footstraps is better than any chemical high!

Haven't windsurfed for about 8 years now, Vasiliki in May - hope it's like riding a bike... 🙂

Early Antarctic exploration when it went wrong (and when it went right):
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Look up Ernest Shackleton

Big wave windsurfing!

I was going to put forward kitesurfing, due to the fact that you use just about every muscle in your body, but it's primarily strength and stamina related, rather than fitness. Massive skillz though 🙂

i think i heard that squash is one of the most intense sports you can play (at a high level) - its fast, requires v good hand-eye coordination, speedy turns, the odd 5m sprint, power, finess etc etc etc

currently i just go on luck, and hope that the ball comes somewhere near my racket...

Some football stadiums have a device which monitors player/on ball/off ball movement, I think it was Carlos Tevez who ran something like 3k on the ball, and 10k off it, each half... I reckon I'd need a rest if I was running 26k in 90 minutes...and some of it at a sprint.

But you're probably right, they'd let any old fatty in these days...

Oh and of course footballers have all the above - they've been doping for years so they're super fit 😉

My doc told me that in terms of fitness (strength of the heart as a muscle) that mountaineers were the fittest bunch (more so than runners squahs players etc). Skills are definately required.

highest cardio fitness, measured in oxygen capacity is nordic skiers. biathletes have to do this then shoot. therefore, given the original question related to cardio fitness and skill........

elite marathon runners can only compete in about 2 or 3 events every year so that must be up there as one of the toughest sports

Waheey I must be as fit as **** as I mtb, windsurf/kitesurf and mountaineer...

{looks down at tea cup perched precariously on his natural fleshy table and thinks ....why the heck am I not then??}

I reckon Tribal is right, biathlons, all legs and arms, then shooting...madness

49er olympic sailors - really hard physical boat to sail, uses strength and cardio

Mix that with rules, shifts, bends, wind holes, tides, meteorology, waves, other competitors.

I know that the GB rowing team used to do XC skiing on training camps in the winter when training at altitude.

Interestingly nobody thinks it's us (mountainbikers that is, well the odd ones on ere that do ride!)

mtbing's easy. You get rests at various points round the course and you're only really working the legs hard (arms and back to a small extent)

Motorcycle enduro racing, i tried this after 20 years of trials riding at expert level.
The hardest thing i have ever done, very very physical, your bike gets heavier & heavier as all the nooks get packed with mud, technically very difficult at some circuits (mud,rocks,woods, bottomless bogs,rivers roots, cambered climbs/descents,more mud)
3 hours of this plus racing side by side with other bikes.
I'm sorry but running & rowing may be tough but not technically difficult enough.

Have you ever rowed?

I've never done Enduro racing but it doesn't look any technically harder than mtbing 😉

most of you seem to be unaware what defines cardio activity. major muscle groups in sustained rhythmical action, ie run, row, ski. not sail, surf etc...

Mountaineering.

Top rock/winter climbers are staggeringly fit/strong.

Before the handbags come out, can I just point out that there's no single answer. You can't quantifiably measure cardio/fitness/skill.

Dinghy sailing - it requires strength, endurance, technique, tactics, intelligence and bravery.

Swimming got to be up there, in the cardio fitness dept, skill just comes from practice.

t®ibal©hief - he did say in terms of skill as well. I was merely observing that not all of these sports listed require nearly as much skill as windsurfing for example.

The skill in shooting in Biathlon is kind of debatable because once you've learned to shoot, surely it comes down to having the fitness not to be a jibbering wreck when it comes to steadying your aim...

If we leave fitness aside then I reckon golf and snooker need the highest skill levels

any sport you dont regularly take part in ....

i might be able to do a 24 hour race but i tried a multi sport event (iroc) mtb , orienteering and fell running

come monday morning i couldnt physically get into the swimming pool for a recovery swim.

yet 3 days after a 24 hour race i was about to put in a top 3 result in a duathlon

Rowing is over too quickly. It has to be cycling in some form.

Stage racing at the TdF level in the mountains maybe because they do it the next day again, and then again, etc.

24 solo mtb maybe?

Croc Trophy in NQ - mtb multi day stage race in very rough conditions.