Which sport requires the most out of an athlete?

[Slash]

Mma without a doubt. Nothing is worse than trying to pack as much lean muscle on your frame while cutting weight and working endurance.

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[7thgear]

not to mention that it's the only sport where the other guy is ACTIVELY TRYING TO MURDER YOU

hahahahaha

[jarviz]

Originally Posted by Slash

Mma without a doubt. Nothing is worse than trying to pack as much lean muscle on your frame while cutting weight and working endurance.

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while maximizing speed and strength of literally almost every body part.

[RurumariGhost]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Not really a sport though. More a feat of strength.

so how are swimming, cycling, and running (3 of the biggest categories of Summer Olympic competitions) not a sport?

[TemeCal]

Originally Posted by PMPB

Motocross = Motocross a couple hours a day <- Least demanding practice regimen in my opinion

The fact that many of you here have successfully complete Motocross events proves that it's NOT the most physically challenging 'sport' in the world. I'm not saying it's not hard. What I am saying, is that there are sports (sanctioned by international sporting bodies) that you couldn't even finish part of it, and highly trained athletes who dedicate their lives have difficulty finishing.

No offense, but you couldn't be more wrong. Those of you who say motocross isn't very demanding, (I'm guessing) haven't been competitive in this environment. There was a study done in 2005, showing Motocross to be the most demanding sport at the time. I don't believe MMA fighting was included in the study, so I really don't know what to think here.

Motocross involves 2 30min+2lap motos of throwing a 225lb bike around. These kids train for 10+ hrs a day, cycling, running, weights, swimming, you name it. They're on the track for hours a day. Their heart rate is 95-100% max during the entire moto. Injuries happen at nearly every event, anything from paralysis to broken clavicles, ankles, wrists, back, femur, etc... If you're not mentally and physically tough for the sport, you will get injured.

There is a reason why you don't see many professional MX riders over 25yrs old.

Here is the study on the physical and mental demands of motocross

Click here

Read the above, then tell me it isn't a very demanding sport.

[7thgear]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRFjjosRpBQ"]Excitebike - Gameplay (NES) - YouTube[/ame]

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by Rayme

This discussion came up around one night I had a beer to many with my friend. We were discussing how hockey players needed to be in a better shape than footballs, as the plays are longer etc...teams switches players, etc.

Then I throw in a curve ball and said, I bet a formula 1 driver requires as much effort, no, more than all those pansy sports. Anyone here who went go karting for 15 minutes could say how sore you are after just a few laps, imagine sitting in that tiny freaking cabin for over an hour, giving no less than your 100% of your concentration non stop, experiences extreme G's in all directions, no breaks at all during the entire race (unless there's flag..etc.). I'd ever say MOTO GP riders are even higher up the scale. What you guys all think?

And then there's people saying motosports aren't really "sports" at all.

This was already done by ESPN (I don't remember when exactly but something like 2005), giving points on different requirements for each sport, the finals was cycling with boxing, boxing came on top as the most demanding sport.

[FReSh]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOXYo_uV8vQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOXYo_uV8vQ[/ame]

I'll just leave this here. Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. Like moto, but the machine weighs another 200lbs more.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by RurumariGhost

so how are swimming, cycling, and running (3 of the biggest categories of Summer Olympic competitions) not a sport?

I never said they didn't take tremendous athletic ability. I was more thinking of "sport" in the context of this question (I.e. organized teams or individuals going against one another).

Cycling, running, triathlons, etc. can all be done without any other person to compete against.

If the question had been "who are the most athletic period", I would agree that a triathlon or ironman challenge guy takes the cake.

[PMPB]

Originally Posted by TemeCal

No offense, but you couldn't be more wrong. Those of you who say motocross isn't very demanding, (I'm guessing) haven't been competitive in this environment. There was a study done in 2005, showing Motocross to be the most demanding sport at the time. I don't believe MMA fighting was included in the study, so I really don't know what to think here.

Motocross involves 2 30min+2lap motos of throwing a 225lb bike around. These kids train for 10+ hrs a day, cycling, running, weights, swimming, you name it. They're on the track for hours a day. Their heart rate is 95-100% max during the entire moto. Injuries happen at nearly every event, anything from paralysis to broken clavicles, ankles, wrists, back, femur, etc... If you're not mentally and physically tough for the sport, you will get injured.

There is a reason why you don't see many professional MX riders over 25yrs old.

Here is the study on the physical and mental demands of motocross

Click here

Read the above, then tell me it isn't a very demanding sport.

I read your linked study. It's very interesting, and yes, it sort of agrees with how difficult I gauged Motocross to be.

Efforts were around 70% VO2 max for the best riders, and decreasing towards the end of the ride. This indicates that stress played a huge part of the high heart rates (like you suggested, nearly 100% for 30minutes). The discussion also concludes that the stress likely lead to the high HR, as they were already peaking at the start of the race! and that their HR's were analogous to other less physically demanding motor sports where the physical activity of the participant did not warrant the HR's measured. However, in the A-level riding, the stress of the event played a minor roll in HR, and isometric muscle excersions are the suspected cause (similar to rock climbing).

Anyways, I don' want to dis your hobby, I just don't think that 30minutes, twice at 100% HR, and VO2 of around 42 ± 3 ml·kg·min-1 really compares to say Mark Allen (see link) who was using VO2 of 53ml/kg/min for his 2hr40min marathon AT THE END of the triathlon. Sure Mark Allen's HR may have been quite low compared, but that's another matter.

Another factor is how much energy he was producing. Your motocross rider from the study "The energy expenditure during riding was approximately 13.5 ± 2.5 kcal⋅min-1", whereas Mark Allen, from my unofficial study: "...postulates that Mark Allen must have generated 10.5 kcal/min from fat (!) in order to run a 2:40 marathon at the end of an Ironman."

Note that producing 10.5kcal/min from fat alone, means that he could almost do Motocross without fatiguing. As long as he has fat on his body, he could ride motocross indefinitely. Aerobic fatigue, not muscle fatigue, I know that motocross will fatigue muscles from micro-tears of the muscle fibers until they reach a point where the muscle will refuse to fire, until they repair.

http://www.endurancecorner.com/node/320

[PMPB]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

I never said they didn't take tremendous athletic ability. I was more thinking of "sport" in the context of this question (I.e. organized teams or individuals going against one another).

Cycling, running, triathlons, etc. can all be done without any other person to compete against.

If the question had been "who are the most athletic period", I would agree that a triathlon or ironman challenge guy takes the cake.

Triathlon is both a race, and an individual event. At hobby levels, to most people it's individual. At the highest levels, triathletes compete for medals/podiums/world records/prizes. So yes, it's a competitive event.

[7thgear]

i'm loving the direction this thread has gone to

well done gents,

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by PMPB

Triathlon is both a race, and an individual event. At hobby levels, to most people it's individual. At the highest levels, triathletes compete for medals/podiums/world records/prizes. So yes, it's a competitive event.

You're missing my point. It is competitive, I completely agree. The point I'm trying to make again is in the context of the topic, my opinion was based on "sports" where the outcome of your interaction with the man/woman you are competing againsts will directly effect the final result.

[PMPB]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

You're missing my point. It is competitive, I completely agree. The point I'm trying to make again is in the context of the topic, my opinion was based on "sports" where the outcome of your interaction with the man/woman you are competing againsts will directly effect the final result.

The OP brought up F1 racing and said that it's way harder than these other pansy sports. I think F1 sort of opens the door for events where the competitors are interacting in an indirect way.