Fitness Testing
Fitness Testing > Groups > Sport Specific > Fittest
Who is the Fittest?
Which sports people are the fittest? Fitness itself is hard to define, so it makes this often asked and debated question equally difficult to define. That does not stop us from giving some results of comparisons between sports and discussing and confusing the issue even more.
The Canadian Experiment
In October 2003 a large group of more than 1000 amateur provincial Canadian athletes competed in a series of fitness tests at the Toronto Sky Dome. They aged between the ages of 6 and 19, representing 16 sports (Alpine Skiing, Archery, Basketball, Bowling, Boxing, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, OFSAA School Sports, Rowing, Snowboarding, Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Tennis and Track and Field). The aim of the day was to crown the "Fittest Sport in Ontario," while also promoting physical fitness for Canadian youth. The athletes completed 13 tests to determine their overall fitness level, and the winner of the title "Fittest Sport in Ontario" at the end of the day was Alpine Skiing. This was no fluke - they won the award the following year too. In the table below are some of the tests that were used to determine the fittest sport!
| Fitness Component | Test |
|---|---|
| Speed | 40m sprint |
| Strength Endurance | 60 sec box jump |
| Upper body strength | push up, chin up or pull up |
| Power | Standing long jump, opto-jump |
| Agility | t-test |
| Flexibility | stand & reach |
| Aerobic Endurance | beep test |
| Lactic | 400m run |
Why Skiing?
As the tests cover the full range of fitness components, the competition was aimed at finding the sport that had the best overall fitness. Individual athletes and sports may stand out in specific tests, but they needed to be good at most of them. There is no doubt that skiing is a very demanding sport. I can imagine that they performed very well on tests of upper body strength, power, agility, lactic and strength endurance.
If fitness was defined as endurance fitness, another skiing event, cross-country skiing, would be expected to come out on top too. A new section of the Topend Sports website lists the world best performances in many of the common fitness tests. In the VO2max category, cross country skiers are highly represented on the top of the list.
What about Squash?
According to Forbes Magazine, squash is the healthiest sport an individual can undertake. Forbes consulted with fitness experts and asked them to score a selection of sports in four areas - cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility, and also scoring on calories burned and injury risk. The winner was the sport of squash - out of a possible five points, squash scored 4.5 for cardiorespiratory endurance, 3 for muscular strength, 5 for muscular endurance, 3 for flexibility, 5 for calories burned in 30 minutes, and 2 for injury risk (total 22.5). Rowing and rock climbing tied for second with 22 points each, with swimming, cross country skiing and basketball not far behind.
Conclusion
When comparing sports or athletes to find the fittest, the most important thing is first define what is fitness, before trying to measure it. It will be hard to find anyone to agree of either of these, so this debate will always continue.
