re: Which sport requires athletes to be in best shape?

I've seen lists...

Where it's listed as:

Rugby
Boxing
Aussie Rules
Water Polo

I know the sport gets derided on here because a certain region of the country dominates the sport...

But...

Often overlooked in discussions, this Olympic sport is officially the toughest sport in the world.

Similar to the land-based handball that was not too far from the list itself, water polo is played, well, in water.

With a lot of kicking and grabbing going on under the surface, and all sorts of sly blows in the water, polo is highly ranked in physicality. Like ice hockey did for the fact it was on ice, polo receives a boost to skill level, as the game itself is supplemented by the need to not drown during it.

Often overlooked are the speed and strength needed by players as they move through the water, and more importantly the fact that players are not permitted to touch the floor.

Try going to your local pool and treading water for more than 30 minutes, then imagine playing an intense contact sport in that time, and you will realize why water polo scored so well for endurance.

Often seen as a minority sport, it is hugely popular in eastern Europe, and truly is the toughest sport in the world.

I bet most people on here, like sparring in boxing for 5 rounds, could swim maybe 4 Olympic freestyle laps before dying.

Boxing

Cyclist

It's basketball.

I read a sports science article about it a few years ago.

Boxing
Soccer
Hockey

Boxing









Basketball




Swimming


I can run suicides for an hour I can't spar for more than 1 round

Definitely boxing. I can go HAM in a 60 minute bag class. But three 5 minute sparring rounds & I'm fricking toast. Halfway through the third round I'm literally on manual control, like telling myself what to do bc my body gives out. (Yes, my coach is a little crazy & makes me do 5mins.) It's by far the most difficult thing I've ever done, and I have a background in wrestling.

quote:

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Swimming

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Why do people say swimming...and they say soccer...

But not swimming plus soccer?

That's water-polo...have you seen those muscled Hungarians?

And that's what I take away from best shape.

Not just some gaunt ultra-marathoner...or blood-infused thin cyclist.

But dudes who have awesome cardio and are muscled and strong.

That's water polo and boxing and Aussie Rules.

That's being in the best shape. Not just a thin almost dying ultra-marathoner who is having kidney failure on a monthly basis.

martial arts
I did aikido. 3 steps.
Hitting the bag. then I worked out with the Master. last I had to go against the karate teenagers.
that is intense because those karate Bruce Lee wanna be mfs would break you up if you were not on your game.

I am sure its pretty much identical in MMA or boxing at the weights below Lt Heavy.

Best shape is subjective.

Its not just anarobic as the be all and end all at the sacrifice of upper body muscles that could do damage in a ring, on a field in a pool.

Cyclists have legs and lungs...water polo has legs and lungs and arms...boxing has legs and lungs and arms.