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What type of athlete would you say is the most complete, in terms of combining the highest level strength, speed, agility, reaction, flexibility, accuracy, endurance, adaptability (switch from one sport to another), strategic mind and mental toughness.

For example, is it the Olympic sprinter, Basketball player, Tennis player, UFC fighter, Marathon runner, Swimmer, Gymnast, Cyclist, Driver, Boxer... etc?

To put it in more visual terms, which type of athlete would be able to do best in these four tests, altogether done in 1 day?
Biathlon, Triathlon, Decathlon, Aeronautical Pentathlon and the Ninja Warrior Course?


Bonus: Which is the least complete athlete?

Professional wrestling.

Originally posted by cdtm
Professional wrestling.

Yup, these guys often work with injuries that players in these other sports would never play with.

A high level gymnast.

Elite rowers, go team crew!

Professional climbers would be up there. Insane levels of strength to weight ratio. High blood O2 levels. Tremendous stamina etc.

1. Olympic gymnast
2. Professional Climbers
3. UFC Fighters

Endurance cyclists can also go on the list through sheer fitness level. I remember watching a video about Marco Pantani whose resting heart rate was so low (34bpm) that he had to wake up during the night and use an exercise bike to get his heart rate up because when he slept it got so low that he risked having heart failure. Miguel Indurain's was even lower at 26bpm.

As Jaden said cyclists for endurance, but no one is a complete all rounder, as for UFC fighters... depends of the fighter... Big Country was pretty successful lol.

I mean in terms of coping with stress no other human body could a strong man would be up there... but he's not going to run a marathon.

Most champion sportsman are genetic freaks to a point. Even down to hand eye co-ordination. All of us could practice our whole lives and we'd never have Federer's hand eye co-ordination or Prime Wood's fine motor skills, have the right version of the myostatin gene to be an elite strongman, the extra red blood cells and ability to deal with lactic acid to be a champion distance runner etc. As for gymnasts most of them have connective tissue almost like a childs and in fact China staves off puberty in its girl gymnasts to keep them like that.

I've heard that racecar drivers are the most "conditioned" athletes on average, but I don't know what exactly that entails.

No idea is they're the "most", but professional race car drivers are extremely well conditioned. The amount of G-force they have to take means their bodies, mostly necks, shoulders and core are in superb condition. It's not uncommon for an Indy or Le Mans driver to have their neck grow an inch or more in muscle mass during a racing season. Those cars do not having power steering, so their hands and arms are well condition to grip, hold and control a machine going 200+ mph for extended lengths of time.

Their legs are less conditioned by comparison, but they're still fit and fast enough to play with the gas and brake in a constant back and forth. Again, no power brakes so they're using leg/foot muscle to slow down all that mass while under some Gs.

Add to that the hand/eye coordination and quick thinking they constantly need to keep from crashing.

We have a Sports Forum. Move this to that.

"Let's create a competition that measures all areas of athletic performance to see who the best all-around athlete is."

Decathletes are the best all-around athletes.

The Decathlon measures strength, power, coordination, speed, flexibility, endurance, strength, etc.

If you win the Decathlon as the world level, you're literally the worlds most complete, best athlete.

I remember reading about a guy who done a "super triathlon" of cycling around the world, rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean and climbing mount Everest and all I could think was "rowing and climbing aren't in a triathlon...idiot".

Originally posted by dadudemon
"Let's create a competition that measures all areas of athletic performance to see who the best all-around athlete is."

Decathletes are the best all-around athletes.

The Decathlon measures strength, power, coordination, speed, flexibility, endurance, strength, etc.

If you win the Decathlon as the world level, you're literally the worlds most complete, best athlete.

That aint how MODERN Sports work Dadu.

I vote gymnast.

ufc, lol.

And double lol at saying wrestling when mixed martial arts is a thing.

The nazi idea of a perfect arian

Originally posted by Rockydonovang
ufc, lol.

And double lol at saying wrestling when mixed martial arts is a thing.

Why would anyone want to watch something boring and fixed, when they could watch professional wrestling?

Best Athlete. Pro Hot Dog Eaters.


http://images.entertainment.ie/images_content/rectangle/620x372/Pro-Eater.jpg

Believe it, or not, Ballerina dancers can endure a shit ton that would leave many athletes gasping. But since it isn't a sport, I'd guess that long distance swimmers would rank pretty high.

Originally posted by Stoic
Believe it, or not, Ballerina dancers can endure a shit ton that would leave many athletes gasping. But since it isn't a sport, I'd guess that long distance swimmers would rank pretty high.

I can believe it. Some of those routines look absolutely brutal.