Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Who are the most fit, most athletic people in the world? Soccer players, basketball players, long distance runners, football players, swimmers?

Please no chess or shooting or race car driving or springboard diving. I'm talking about being extremely fit, strong, flexible, have great endurance, etc.

Who is the best?

Why do you think so?

my vote is for soccer players

speed, endurance (90 minute games running 5-7 miles a game ), jumping, agility, finesse and ball handling skills are incredible.


anyone remember the Superstars competition years back???
Brian Budd (a soccer player ) just DEMOLISHED the competition in strengthe, fitness & agility tests!

Why no race car drivers? From what I've heard F1 drivers are really fit.

Soccer is strange like that, I think it's really hard endurance wise but there have been proffesional soccer players that are in bad shape(even drinking) and still playing at the highest level. I'm sure cyclist would never get away with that.

What about gymnastics?

It all depends on how you look at it tho, I think cycling is harder then soccer for example but you could never play 6games a week for 2 weeks in a row. It's just different.

Where's the bodybuilders on that list Robert????

I think they are some of the hardest working athletes/people in the world. Their success is the sum total of everything they do- and don't do. Every meal on time, every training session, getting rest, not going out and drinking on the weekends like some basketball or football atheletes do. Every decision, not matter how trivial, affects their success. For me that really makes the difference.

Now I'm not sure that they are necessarily the healthiest, or most flexible, but I definitely have the most respect for them.

Second place for me are soccer players, whose endurance never ceases to amaze me.

/$0.02

Its a close three way tie for me. I'd like to say triathletes, decathletes and gymnasts. The later need a considerable amount of endurance...not so much to compete but to do the massive volume of training necessary to perfect so many disciplines. They also need to be extremely explosive. I say triathletes(ironman triathletes to be specific) because of the massive volume of training they must do for very little glory relative to other sports. Another thing about the best ironman competitors is that after 2.4 miles of swimming and 112 miles of biking they run a marathon and only slow down 15-20minutes off of what they would have run without the previous legs of the race.

I voted for wrestlers. Wrestling is a pure competition of dominace and submission. Your willpower vs. your opponent. After six minutes of wrestling your muscles are complete jello and your heart is about to explode, no matter how in shape you are, because to win you have to expend every last ounce of effort. Try wrestling for six minutes and get back to me.

The thing I like about the sports I picked is that they are PURE athletic ability. No brains whatsover. Its a complete test of will with no brains. The true strongest person wins. In most sports its not only fitness...a great BJ fighter will destroy a very good one with ease before even getting tired and being able to use their best abilities. Heck...even the loser might never get tired. And you can be good at some of these things without being fit at all if you have good technique. This goes for many sports. In fact a lot of sports don't really require being athletic at all(not wrestling of course).

I voted for cyclists. Ive tried riding a bike about 13miles once and felt like it was going to make my legs fall off... well that was years ago but still. Riding a bike with tires the width of a pencil is hard as crap for really long distances. Id hate to be put on the tour de france with no prep time...

I didn't put bodybuilders on there because I didn't think they were the greatest athletes. They may have a very dedicated lifestyle but as far as the combination of strength, endurance, flexibility, overall fitness, I imagine soccer players, basketball players, triathletes as some of the most fit people on the planet.

Wrestlers and MMA competitors could argue as well.

Gymnasts is a good call too.

I voted for soccer players, mainly because I played for 10 years and I'm watching a lot now, thinking these guys/gays are incredibly fit and most be some of the best athletes anywhere.

I can't vote because it's all relative, and the best athletes all specialize for their particular sport, meaning that they have to focus on different types of training opposed to other sports. Some emphasize agility, some speed, some endurance, some pure power. They aren't plainly comparable, in my opinion.

I would pick the most "fit" athletes as triathletes, though. Thought primarily considered endurance athletes, they have to balance different events which require full body fitness, particularly at the top levels.

I still vote for soccer players.
In my experience, soccer players are very very good athletes. Not just fitness, but natural athletes who can step into nearly any sport and perform. There certainly are exceptions but we always used to chuckle about how inept hockey players were at sports like volleyball or basketball. Same goes for track athletes. I think soccer demands skills from so many different areas. They can run, jump, move laterally, the ability to judge a ball in the air, the finesse to be able to trap a ball kicked from 50 yards, the ability to head a ball. With these abilities, a soccer player is well equipped to play most sports out there.

Steve Nash for example.... soccer player
He was good enough to play pro but chose basketball.

I voted "other" for triathletes, specificaly the ironmen!

I think gymnasts are a worthy mention.

Swimmers or wrestlers.

I put in a vote for strongman competitors. Many competitions are a great mix if various strengths and endurance - I know from the contests I've entered I've felt like I was about to die in every single one and still, you keep going on, and the most well-rounded and often the most fit will come out on top. But, there's a lot of other sports that have some great fit athletes as well, too, no question about it!

Oh yeah, ultramarathon runners get a vote for me, too - I can't imagine what it is like when you've been running for something like 15-20 hours straight, are completely delirious, and still have what it takes to keep on going. That stuff is sheer madness.