The world of modern sporting events requires participants to be at an elite level of fitness. Some sports may require the athlete to run at speed for several kilometres during a team game. Others may require extremely quick reactions such as tennis. In this sport, some of the best players serve at over 125 miles per hour and to return a serve at this speed demands lightening quick reflexes. Other sports require rapid changes in movement or the need for extreme levels of endurance and conditioning to compete at the highest levels. It should come as little surprise that most professional sports (apart from sports such as golf that take place at a more sedate pace) require the athlete to be at the peak of physical fitness and conditioning. In this article, three different sports are discussed in detail. Each of these requires supreme levels of both overall fitness and endurance.
Football
Football (or soccer to American people) is a game which requires truly elite levels of fitness at the highest levels of competition. It is estimated that the average professional football player will run for 7 miles during a 90-minute match. This will be a mix of jogging to hold a specific position or formation and sprinting when attacking or tracking back to defend when the opposition has the ball. Football players at the highest levels of the sport will need to train regularly to ensure that they can compete. All professional football teams will also have a wide range of fitness staff and coaches. These staff will be present to ensure that any sporting injuries receive the best possible treatment and recovery times are kept at a minimum. In addition, the coaching staff will develop bespoke training routines for both the team and individual players to ensure that the team performs as a unit and at the highest levels.
MMA
MMA stands for mixed martial arts and is a form of competitive fighting that often contains a range of styles and specialties. Many top-level competitors will be qualified to the highest level in their chosen style of combat. This can involve being a black belt in Karate, Judo, or other martial arts. Some styles involve the fight moving to the floor where ground-based techniques may seek to incapacitate an opponent or cause them to “tap out” and end the fight. The popularity of MMA has grown rapidly in recent years thanks to the elite level of competition and physical fitness that is required. Gyms such as fightcitygym.co.uk specialise in teaching the skills needed to become a professional MMA athlete.
Basketball
Basketball is another sport that requires peak levels of fitness when played at a top professional level. It is one sport where all team members spend the course of a match in almost constant movement. The pace of the game is such that players will need to move from attack to defence in a matter of seconds throughout the match. Consider in addition that players who specialise in “dunking” the basketball through the hoop will need to jump to a height of above ten feet off the ground to reach the basket. This requires extraordinary levels of physical strength and explosive movement.
