2. Road cycling
Cycling seems like a simple enough activity to anyone who's tried it, which is pretty much everybody. It's been proven that cycling is the most efficient form of self-powered, non-motorized transport.
Road cycling can be an extremely enjoyable activity when pursued in moderation. It does a wonderful job of firing up the happy hormones (dopamine, endorphins, etc.) as it engages the cardiovascular system, while exerting a reduced amount of stress on the muscles.
Fun as it can be, trust humans to take a good thing and test how far they can push it. This wholesome and benign activity, pursued by people young and old, takes on a whole different complexion when transposed on to a long road race.
Aryadeep Ghosh, who's trained with the West Bengal team and rides over a hundred kilometres regularly, describes the grind of road races thus: "Cycling for hours and hours can be a monotonous activity with no let-up. You're pedalling continuously against the wind for a very intense cardio workout.
“As you're powering the bike, you begin to merge and fuse with it while feeling every component of the machine. After the first few hours, all you want to do is get off the bike, eat anything in sight and fall asleep. It is one of the most exhausting activities as there is continuous activity with no respite."
There are a number of high-profile 23-day road races conducted all over the world, with the riders racing for 21 of those days. The Tour de France is just one among many challenging cycling races; the Vueltaa España and the Giro d'Italia are also 21-day race events spread over 23 days.
A rider can burn between 4,000 to 5,000 calories during a single stage of the Tour de France. That adds up to more than 100,000 calories burnt through the 23-day event. Even on the two rest days, the cyclists ride for a minimum of two hours to flush out lactic acid from their bodies.
To power their bikes, the cyclists generate roughly 400 watts of power every hour, peaking at over 500 watts. That kind of energy can light up five rooms.
They have to ride around five hours a day for the 21 days. In total, the cycling teams can end up using over 42,000 water bottles throughout the event.
Early on in the history of the sport, the riders would resort to drinking alcohol to numb the unrelenting pain, until it was banned for enhancing performance. Think about that: the ordeal was so painful, getting drunk was actually an advantage!
Bernard Hinault of France has said, “An amateur should think long and hard before attempting one of these stages; two would probably necessitate a visit to a Doctor; three would require a psychiatrist. Any more, and you should be checking that person has written a will.”
Those who haven't sat through a viewing of the Tour de France circus are missing out on the carnage. This race makes Road Rash look positively tame by comparison. And let's not forget the fans, who have unimpeded access to the athletes – unlike any other organized sport.
The problem with having a race 3,500 km long is that you cannot avoid the public. The exertion arising from pedalling is perhaps among the lesser concerns of the participants. The audience around the event can be over 12 million spectators, and such a large number of people can cause havoc any moment.
Chris Froome gave us one of the most poignant moments in all of sports when he fell off his bike while climbing the Mont Ventoux at the 2016 Tour. Rather than wait for a replacement bike, which was stuck in the traffic, he chose to run uphill towards the finish line, all rules forgotten. While his timing placed him in sixth position, the judges chose to discount the adverse effect of the crash on his timing and he got to keep his yellow jersey.
Froome's fall was caused by the unrelenting crowd and the motorcycle ahead of him. But he had to face something possibly even worse the previous year, when he had a cup of urine thrown at his face during the 14th stage of the Tour in 2015.
At the 1975 Tour de France, Eddy Merckx was punched by a fan at the Puy de Dome and he ended up losing the race. Back in 1904, the crowd invaded the route to beat up the rival of the local fastman. That incident prompted the founder of the race to write "The Tour is finished.”
That statement might not have come true, but the riders sure do feel finished after the 23-day ordeal.
Calories burnt per minute: 14.02
Sweat loss per minute: 0.03 litres
Duration: 256 minutes
1. Ironman Triathlon
You've probably rolled on the floor in mirth at this viral video of runners waddling to the finish line of a triathlon. But we're all heartless heathens for laughing at this spectacle from the comfort of our couches; we are judgemental potatoes who have no idea what those inspiring athletes were going through in those final moments before the finish line.
The two athletes in this video are Sian Welch and Wendy Ingrahm, crawling to the tape in the 1997 Ironman World Championship. In a sobering scene of logic overcoming pride, Wendy won when she chose to stoop and crawl across the line rather than try and cross it on two feet.
"There is a special mystique about the marathon, for example, because of its length – but that’s just the bit you do at the end of an Ironman,” said Chrissie Wellington, 4x Ironman World Champion.
It seems criminal that an activity so draining can be named with two simple words: Ironman Triathlon. It sounds innocuous, but the agony it inflicts on the participants is indescribable. It would be difficult to dispute that the Ironman Triathlon is by far the most physically demanding sport ever conceived by mankind.
If you complete even one portion of the triathlon, you can pat yourself on the back and feel proud of your achievement. This ghastly ordeal comprises of the following events, in the order mentioned:
1) A 3.86 km swim, followed by
2) A 180.25 km bike ride, and add a
3) Full marathon of 42.2 km as the cherry on top.
Hercules' 12 labours had nothing on this event. You would gladly battle a couple of Nemean Lions if it meant forgoing the marathon portion of this event.
An Ironman triathlete can burn between 5,000-10,000 calories in completing the gruelling event.
Training for any long distance event involves the process of tapering. Before running a marathon, the athletes take time off from their regular training schedule two weeks prior to the event. They gradually reduce their training intensity in order to replenish the glycogen store of the muscles and repair the fatigued tissues.
The Ironman Triathlon wrings you in the grinder through an exhausting swim and a thigh-numbing bike ride before placing you at the starting line of a 42.2 km race. You've already been steamrolled at the commencement of undertaking an event for which athletes rest for two weeks prior.
There is one tiny consolation in that swimming, cycling and running stress different muscle groups with differing intensities, which makes the fatigue metre a touch more manageable. But that's like consoling yourself that a punch to the nose won't hurt as much when preceded by two slaps.
As if the activity isn't testing enough, there is a strict time limit to adhere to if you want the distinction of being called an Ironman. The total duration needs to be less than 17 hours, and there is an individual cut-off timing as well.
Think the CAT cut-offs are tough? Here's what the Ironman Triathlon demands: the swimming portion of the race needs to be completed in 2 hours and 20 minutes, biking portion cannot take more than 8 hours and 10 minutes, and the final distance of 42.195 km needs to be run in under 6 hours and 30 minutes.
Generally, an Ironman Triathlon starts at 6:30-7 AM and continues till the sun goes down. Throughout the course of the race, participants are offered refreshments in the shape of drinks, bananas, oranges and energy bars. All of that just barely helps them to stay afloat.
About halfway through the triathlon, you'll be exhibiting the signs of pain which you'll nurture and grow by continuing on. The entire race is built on the premise of battering your body well after the point of fatigue.
This is by far the most gruelling sport contrived by humans as an excuse for recreation in one day. Even an experienced athlete would require about a week to recover from one of these races.
Disclaimer: This is about the Ironman Triathlon. The triathlon at the Olympics doesn't even begin to compare to this ordeal as it just comprises a 1.5 km swim, 40 km cycling, and a 10 km run.
So there you have the most exhausting sports contrived by humans. Each one is demanding in its own unique way, and all of them put you through the grinder with more intensity than any other sporting activity. If you’re feeling adventurous, try taking up any of these for an incomparable feeling of exhilarating accomplishment.
Calories burnt per minute: 13.89
Sweat loss per minute: 0.03 litres
Duration: 720 minutes
How the ranking was arrived at
| Rank | Sport | Duration (min) | Duration ranking points | Calories burnt | Calories burnt ranking points | Sweat loss (litres) | Sweat loss ranking points | Total ranking points |
| 1 | Ironman Triathlon | 720 | 10 | 10,000 | 10 | 23 | 10 | 30 |
| 2 | Road cycling | 256 | 9 | 3,589 | 9 | 8.52 | 9 | 27 |
| 3 | Marathon | 180 | 8 | 3,087 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 24 |
| 4 | Cross-country skiing | 160 | 7 | 2,627 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 21 |
| 5 | Ice hockey | 60 | 5 | 751 | 6* | 2.4 | 6 | 17 |
| 6 | Australian Rules | 80 | 6 | 857 | 5* | 2.4 | 6 | 17 |
| 7 | Boxing | 32 | 4 | 464 | 4 | 1.07 | 5 | 13 |
| 8 | Basketball | 40 | 5 | 375 | 3 | 1.07 | 5 | 13 |
| 9 | Water polo | 32 | 4 | 374 | 2 | 0.43 | 4 | 10 |
| 10 | Rowing | 8 | 3 | 112 | 1 | 0.27 | 3 | 7 |
* While Ice Hockey burns fewer calories than AFL, that is primarily because the players play less than half of the duration of a match, as they are substituted so often. The sprints in ice hockey, however, are more intense, and the effects of interval sprints are felt long after the culmination of the activity. Sprinting for just 2.5 minutes can end up burning over 200 calories in total, as evidenced by this calorimeter room experiment. That's because the body has to repair the frayed system resulting from the extreme effort.
The calories burnt mentioned in the table above are for the duration of the activity, but the sports involving frequent sprints result in greater exhaustion and total calorie burn throughout the day, hence they are ranked higher.
Additional notes:
1. The numbers for calories burnt are for a 70 kg male, taken from three different sources – NutriStrategy, Treated and Livestrong.
2. The match duration is fixed for boxing, water polo, ice hockey, AFL and basketball. For Ironman Triathlon, marathon, road cycling, cross country skiing and rowing, the average finish times have been considered.
3. Road cycling burns fewer calories than cross country skiing per hour, but road cycling extends for multiple hours over weeks. The figures for calories burnt are on a per day basis for road cycling races.
4. Calories burnt during the Ironman triathlon as cited by Livestrong.com are for completing the entire event. The number could even go above 10,000, depending on the finish time.The sweat rate for Ironman Triathlon has been calculated using the average segmented timings of 1:16 for swimming, 6:25 for cycling, and 4:54 for running.
5. Sweat loss: Sweating can result in dehydration, and even a loss of 2% body weight through sweating causes a reduction in performance by 10-20%. The sweat rate is calculated as the difference in body weight before and after the contest, adjusting for fluid intake.
6. The sweat loss has been averaged based on the numbers available at these sources: ResearchGate, Boxing News, The Conversation, AusSport.gov, Active and Runtri. Sweat loss figures for skiing have been estimated to account for the influence of the cold climate of the races.
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