Had a debate at the dinner table yesterday. Not a scientific discussion by any means, but we were tying to work out who, overall has the best strength, endurance, ratio. Then there’s the psychological side, to be able to perform under intense pressure for long periods of time. Lots of variables I know, but it was an interesting discussion.

I thought boxer, my Dad’s choice was triathlete. Other suggestions were, Tennis player, MTBer, Swimmer.

Would be interested to know STW’s thoughts on the matter.

Gymnast

Biathlon

Climber?

Judo – though that tends to be a lot of power and relatively short bursts. Going by Superstars though.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Jacks

I read *somewhere* that cross country skiing was just about the hardest competative sport, stick a gun on your back & I’d say biathletes must be up there.

Climber?

Nah. Road cyclist or cross country skier.

Oddly, F1 drivers are incredibly fit.

runners, triathletes

MTBers. Middle aged fat ones.

If I was the same weight as Froome I’m murder him up hills, it’s just the timber. Honest.

American football wide receiver or running back.

Gymnasts for body development and strength/power to weight

Cross country skiers or cyclists for endurance stuff

Weight lifters for sheer power

Boxers fighters martial artists for overall “superstar” type fitness- ie good power good stamina good muscle development etc

400m runner.

Rowers must be in contention as well.

Junkyard – that’s the type of thing we had in mind.

Polevaulter

Mud wrestlers

Middle aged weekend cyclist on a Santa Cruz?

It’s fittest not fattest howsyourdad1

Mountain runner for lower body at least.

Biathlon.

MX/supercross riders must be well up there too

Probably all competitive fitness/power sports are pretty much equivalent, the participants will train to optimise the particular balance of endurance/power/speed/whatever for that sport, and get very close to the limits of (current) human ability. Eg rowers produce a huge amount of power for 6 mins, sprinters for 10 secs, cyclists for an hour or more at a time. Not much point trying to claim one is “fitter” than the other, any more than you would call a mathematician “cleverer” than a historian (or vice versa).

Most top level sports that require the participants to be physically fit will produce athletes that are in the top percentage of the poulation.

As long as the sport concerned doesn’t require specific areas of fitness then it is probably down to what technology and performance tools are available to define the body down to the nth degree.

And that requires pennies – lots of them, so I reckon F1 drivers are a good shout for the fittest overall sportsperson (Taking body composition and all round strength physically and mentally)

When they enter other endurance based sports they generally do quite well.

Given the choice though, I’d much prefer the body of a male gymnast over a racing driver. 😉

Boxing, by a long way.
Then, top level road cycling.

Ballet dancer.

I think it’s daft to try to compare sports, or you end up with the nonsense that’s triathlon or MMA.

I think to compete at any recognisable level at any sport you need to be pretty bloody good.

Female beach volleyball players all seem pretty fit

Darts or snooker player obvs

Aren’t F1 drivers super fit too? Or am I making that up?

ISTR back in the 90’s that motocross enduro type dudes were the fittest when measured against other sports.

The guys who do Paris Dakar on bikes must be pretty nails if you think about it – 8-9 hours per day isn’t it?

Depends how you measure fitness.

Well James Tosesland smoked the others in last man standing.
WSB world champion and mentally and physically super fit.

i seem to remember that rugby players did pretty well at superstars too, but depends how fitness is measured. Daley Thompson had explosive fitness but hated the 1500 meters.

I have no idea but I watched a documentary on the cross fit world championships (had no idea there was such a thing beforehand) and they seem rather fit!

Kinda hard to define ‘fittest’ but for me it needs a prolonged endurance component, and both upper and lower body components.
That pretty much narrows it down to XC skiers and rugby players. The skiers get my vote.

Top squash players – there was a study a few years ago & they consistently came out near the top.

Can’t remember what the basis or parameters were however.

Footballers must be up there

Got to be darts or snooker players.
They go at it for hours.

F1 drivers more so if you include mental fitness as well as physical. Operating a laptop, driving a car at high speed while under large g forces.

Oddly, F1 drivers are incredibly fit.

I went go karting once, my whole core was in tatters for a few days after from the cornering forces. 60+ laps at their speeds needs some amount of fitness.

Laird.