Is cycling the most physically demanding sport ?

[Carrera]

I can't resist butting in here.

I have a website that includes several features on Roman gladiators with lots of genuine pics (taken from mosaics). It tells you how gladiators actually trained and has been researched over quite a few months.

Here is the link. If you try and retype it, be careful as a zero is used for 0catch.

http://www.romancoins.0catch.com/

Click on "features" and you'll find lots of info on Roman gladiators. Sadly, they had no road-bikes.

Originally posted by EoinC
I actually found being a professional Gladiator quite demanding. Looking back at it, there was the physical aspect - some of that armour is quite heavy and the new lightweight titanium weaponry had not come in when I was fighting, back in the early days of the Empire - but the real killer was the stress. I mean, a job is a job, but, competing at the professional level, some days I just didn't want to get up and go to work.
The crowds were always really nice, and that helps a lot, but, at the end of the season, you're just dead on your feet. You know, some of those lions can run bloody fast and you've no sooner chased one down than another one goes off the front.
Back when I was an amateur, we all wanted to go to Europe, but, I'll tell you straight, the European Gladiator scene wasn't all sunshine and lollipops. In fact it was all a bit of a circus.

Eoin (I-want-a-freewheel) C

 

[Carrera]

I can't resist butting in here.

I have a website that includes several features on Roman gladiators with lots of genuine pics (taken from mosaics). It tells you how gladiators actually trained and has been researched over quite a few months.

Here is the link. If you try and retype it, be careful as a zero is used for 0catch.

http://www.romancoins.0catch.com/

Click on "features" and you'll find lots of info on Roman gladiators. Sadly, they had no road-bikes.

Originally posted by EoinC
I actually found being a professional Gladiator quite demanding. Looking back at it, there was the physical aspect - some of that armour is quite heavy and the new lightweight titanium weaponry had not come in when I was fighting, back in the early days of the Empire - but the real killer was the stress. I mean, a job is a job, but, competing at the professional level, some days I just didn't want to get up and go to work.
The crowds were always really nice, and that helps a lot, but, at the end of the season, you're just dead on your feet. You know, some of those lions can run bloody fast and you've no sooner chased one down than another one goes off the front.
Back when I was an amateur, we all wanted to go to Europe, but, I'll tell you straight, the European Gladiator scene wasn't all sunshine and lollipops. In fact it was all a bit of a circus.

Eoin (I-want-a-freewheel) C

 

[Carrera]

Sorry about the repitition of that last post. I'm finding the intenet is running very slow and the first clicks showed no signs of responding.

 

[menglish6]

I'd have to say that rowing is definately the most demanding thing i've ever done (Althought I heard someone say high altitude cross country skiing was the most demanding). But, I think that this is due to the fact that I've attained much higher levels of success in it than anything else I've done (someone's previous statements about intensity reminds me of a summer that I trained particularly hard on the indoor rower, towards the end of the summer just the sound of one made me feel like throwing up). The involvement of so many muscle groups makes me at least lean towards rowing or cross country skiing.

Of course everyone is going to feel the activity that they reached a high level of success in is the hardest. Not simply out of vanity though. If you have really gotten good at some form of an endurance sport then that is most likely the venue by which you learned to test and push your personal physical limits.

What would be most interesting would be to compare the various properties of physical demand vs. time for different sports, maybe calories per minute, or watts per minute or the like. The problem is the nature of the events in terms of the intensity vs. endurance trade off are so varied.

 

[rcrane]

Maybe I can offer some insight here.

I'm 56. I've been fortunate enough to enjoy a number of sports during my life and have competed at a reasonable level at many.
In my teens and early twenties I was a rower and sculler. I've won 2 Henley events, many senior eights events and was British Youth sculling and double sculling champion. My personal and crew successes then (bear in mind we're talking mid-sixties) were due to a very inspired guy called Derek Drury who was way ahead of his time. He employed interval, circuit and endurance training at a time when this was really unheard of in any sport. Even as a school boy from the age of 15 I trained for 10 months of the year for up to 20 hours a week. As a result we won every school event we took part in as 16 and 17 year olds and competed successfully against the top UK senior scullers and crews. After leaving school I competed successfully at senior level for 2 or 3 more years. I have a Concept 2 ergo and still train regularly on this and can break 7 minutes reasonably comfortably for 2000m.

Helped undoubtedly by a good base level of fitness and strength I also competed at cross country and athletics as a sprinter and long jumper. My early training became a regimen for life - a sort of mind set. I admit to getting bored and needing to find new challenges every so often and as a result am always prepared to put everything I have into any sport I get bitten by. My wife and friends think I'm obsessive but I just have to strive to do the best I can, but fortunately my wife is pretty obsessive in this direction too.

So in my time I've been a golfer - started this at age 8 because I lived next to a golf course. Got down to 1 handicap. Am a competent skier - still compete in occasional amateur downhill events like the Inferno. Have been a first team standard squash player and have played County vets tennis for Sussex. Also had a three year flirtation with windsurfing.

Then about four years ago - inspired by Lance - I went back to cycling which was something I hadn't done since I was a kid. I now do around 150 to 250 miles a week, ride events like the Etape and the CTC Challenge rides and compete in TTs. 2 years ago I bought a house in the Pyrenees so that I could ride up and ski down the famous Cols. Despite the fact that I am completely the wrong build for cycling due to all the sports I have done which require upper body mass, my fitness is still improving. Currently my VO2 max is around 52 (which about the average for a Premier Division footballer - what do those guys get paid for!) resting heart rate 42-ish, weight 90kg and best 10m time of 23-59.

I managed to finish the Pau-Bayonne Etape last year in about twice the time it took Tyler Hamilton with a broken collarbone and would say categorically, in my humble opinion, that there is no more demanding sporting event than a 3 week tour like the TDF, Giro or Vuelta. Who cares if a third of them need several puffs of Subutamol to get by. It doesn't detract from my admiration one jot.

Ah, the ramblings of senile old men! Happy riding!

RBC.

 

[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.

Originally posted by 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.

 

[Fixey]

Originally posted by 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.

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.

Originally posted by 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.

 

[limerickman]

Originally posted by 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.

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

Originally posted by limerickman
Have been reading some stuff about rowing (Steve Redgraves
Biography : 1984,1988,1992,1996 and 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Rower) and about hard he trained to reach the top of his sport.
This got me to thinking : you read of cyclists doing 30k kilometres
of training BEFORE the season commences :
Is cycling the most physically demanding sport there is ?
If you consider some other sport to be more physically demanding, perhaps you could tell us why this is so ?

 

[limerickman]

Originally posted by rkohler
Not even close. Cycling is pretty darn demanding, but I would have to cast my vote for Biathlon 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 Biathlon 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

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]

Originally posted by 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.

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]

Originally posted by 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

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]

Originally posted by 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"

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]

Originally posted by 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?

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

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by limerickman
You'll have all those golfers on your tail, now, 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.

 

[limerickman]

Originally posted by 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.

Some of my friends play golf and they do get a mite touchy when I say that Golf is not really a physical activity, when compared to cycling for example.
I try to stay away from the debate of whether it's sport/hobby.
I could find myself on the recieving end of a golf ball being fired in this direction !