Is cycling the most physically demanding sport ?

MemoryFlaw

Ultramarathoning is the hardest sport out there. You want to see a hard race check out the Canadian Death Race. 77 miles... Change in elevation is 17000 feet over three mountains. Lots of people get worked up over a marathon, after reading about this race marathons are cake.

Fixey

IMO Rugby is the most physically demanding sport, only 80 minutes and you get a rest in the middle, but unlike running/cycling and ironman ect....its the contact...hard physical work while getting simultainiously pounded is insane, I have cycled, ran, tri'd and I say a season of contact sport is more physically demanding.

Carrera

I know a girl who plays Rugby but I wouldn't agree it fits into the cycling category. I assumed we were referring to endurance in sports so I don't see Rugby or football as being in the same bracket.
Sure, you could argue that Rugby is a contact sport that brings a lot of injuries with the activity but you don't really crash through pain-barriers with these sports.
From my own experiences, the worst endurance pain I've suffered has been through cycling, running and squatting (I imagine rowing would fit in well with these but I've never rowed). I recall times when I fell asleep after squat sessions or threw up in the changing rooms. I recall half-falling on the floor during hill-running and being reduced to walking my way up. I also find cycling very tough when there are lots of hills to contend with.
All these activities involve the so-called pain barrier and the pain barrier is when your body and part of your mind says "Stop!" but somehow you keep going. It feel pretty uncomfortable at the time but you get a definite high if you can push through it.

Fixey

You've never played rugby I gather...
I'm a prop forward (ie front row of the scrum). I can tell you there are serious endurance pain barriers you wouldnt believe, when you have just been at anorobic in a mall for 40 seconds pushing as hard as you can and going nowhere you have to run for short bursts to get to the next break down. Its like interval training 40 seconds on 20 seconds off for 80 minutes solid. add to that the hits and you have serious pain barriers. As far as cycling goes I find track alot harder physically than road. A 50km points race or madison can streach you as much as a 160km road race and more.

Carrera

I guess I'll have to take your word for it. I've never played Rugby so I've never experienced any of the physical effort the game entails. The girl I know is very keen on the game and is quite well built and strong-looking. Apparently there's an all girl team in operation. If you enjoy the game and it keeps you really fit, it has to be a good thing, I reckon.

limerickman

You need your head examined playing rugby these days.
Played a lot in the early 80's - it was tough going (flanker/wingforward) : but nowadays it's just a pure power game
in every position.
I would imagine that to prop it is physically very very tough.
But with respect, it is a different type of physical demand to say
cycling for 6 hours at 25 mph.
I know the point that you'r trying to convey though.
Prop ?
You must be mad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never in a month of Sundays would I try it.

rkohler

Not even close. Cycling is pretty darn demanding, but I would have to cast my vote for Nordic Skiing as being the most physically demanding sport in terms of intensity and duration. Granted, adventure racing probably comes in a close second because of the wear and tear on the body, especially in the 5-10 day events, but Nordic Skiing has a good mix of intensity, duration, and environmental factors that all serve to make it, in my opinion, the most physically demanding sport.

Biathlon for a few reasons:
1) It involves a great deal of the upper and lower body musculature
2) The highest VO2 max ever recorded was on a biathlete (96ml/kg/min if I remember correctly?)
3) The cold weather that they compete in increases the energy requirements

limerickman

Yeah some Nordic skier has the record VO2 max level ever recorded.
From what I've read about it this event is pretty gruelling.

EoinC

Gruelling? You want gruelling? - Nordic Skiing wearing cold weather suits and true X-country ski's (no wheels or rollers) across the central Borneo mountains and rainforest in the Balikpapan-to-Kuching International Classic - now that is gruelling! I guess though, since it doesn't actually exist, that it probably doesn't count?

Eoin C

limerickman

This thread is becoming more like the Monty Python sketch :

"You think you've had it hard ? Let me tell you, we used to live in a lake, we'd get up in the morning before we went to bed..go out and work 56 hours a day....come home and be murdered.....etc"

Beastt

LOL!


You're absolutely correct on that one, limerickman.

"Most physically demanding" is probably about as hard to define as "best rider of all time". Some sports demand more of this, others require more of that. Quantifying the physical demands is nearly impossible. I think cycling is one of the more physically demanding sports, especially when compared to the more popular sports in the states such as, basketball, football, baseball and *glurg* golf... ARRRRGHHHH, GOLF ISN'T A SPORT!!!

Oops! Did I just go off again?

namezk

what about tennis? I would think it's up there too..

limerickman

You'll have all those golfers on your tail, now, Beastt !

Beastt

I suppose in consideration for those who enjoy golf I should attempt to qualify my statement. Firstly, it's necessary to decide what qualifies an activity as a sport and for this I have created my own quasi-definition;

"A sport is a competitive activity in which the athletic capability of the competitors is the primary factor determining the outcome."

I'm sure there are some holes in that but it's roughly how I define, "sport". That being said, golf is a game requiring a high degree of skill and some natural ability. As far as being physically demanding, I'd have to place golf on the list somewhere between a game of Monopoly, (not the kind Bill Gates plays), and a walk in the park.