Toughest, Most Physically Demanding Sport?

[ilukaok]

can be broken down to contact sports or non-contact....

for contact , my vote is on boxing...

for non-contact , my vote is on hand ball.

[francis_0170]

Rugby, American Football, water polo

[Blindcorner]

Rugby and MMA UFC

[Cidex]

Rugby for me

[kawawangpinoy]

chess

[Rechsteiner]

Mostly all combat sports, especially amateur wrestling. There's a reason they have the saying "The grind is real."

[Curious Rice Porridge]

combat sports are generally taxing to your cardio 
tried jiu jitsu when i was in college, boxing now that i'm working, 
cardio is generally my achilles' heel. but on the bright it makes for a good workout

good overall body strengthening, sports climbing. 
---> stronger hands, stronger fingers... better lover

[Nicklimo]

Rugby...because they are not wearing any protective gear when playing 

[METALFREAK]

Combat Sports then American Football and Rugby

[K0RN - RETIR3D]

Spartan

[Dealdealers]

Decathlon

[yohoho]

Boxing… 

[EL_PY]

rugby

[Gerald Bourne]

Rugby

[yrrah123456789]

triathlon 

ultra marathon 

trail running 

rugby

MMA

[sausagedoggo]

MMA, probably

[iluvstrongwomen]

Crossfit competitions I think are really hard as well. 

[MinsanLang]

Boxing 100%

[senseiqt]

MMA

[Mar16]

muay thai

[incrediblehunk]

Tennis.

[BennyB]

Agree sa boxing

[TooEzforEz]

Let us just say hypothetically I can play any sports at an elite level. Which sport would be the most physically demanding? In my opinion, it is MMA. The amount of physicality that you would have to endure your entire career is absurd and scary.  

[Duel of Fate]

1 hour ago, TooEzforEz said:

Let us just say hypothetically I can play any sports at an elite level. Which sport would be the most physically demanding? In my opinion, it is MMA. The amount of physicality that you would have to endure your entire career is absurd and scary.  

in terms of brute physical contact, yes, MMA and boxing are top of the list, the scale isnt even close. most world weightlifting champs cant take a punch, the King of the NBA has been critized for almost 20years for being soft. 

however, "physically demanding" can also mean taking a toll on your body in terms of fatigue and stress. thats what travelling teams like the NBA, NFL, etc experience. heck, WWE AEW and indie wrestlers are waaaayy more exposed into this. you got your 2, 3hours practice and workout sessions everyday, travel (not just private plane travel, sometimes take a bus or worse, drive 4hours travel per day) after workouts, play with an audience 4x a week. by the time your back with your family once every 2weeks you're bruised or injured, jetlagged and stamina drained, but you know, its family time, so fight. 

[Fritt]

american football, canadian football, soccer and rugby