A selection of sports that offer a great workout

Maintaining a gym routine or smashing any running training goals are two popular forms of exercise, although some people enjoy supplementing their gym visits and runs by playing different sports. Some sports provide more of a workout than others, though. For example, a professional snooker player competing in the World Snooker Championship doesn’t work up as much of a sweat as a boxer, such as Tyson Fury, does when battling it out in a gruelling 12-round heavyweight contest against Deontay Wilder. The increasing role of technology in sport acts to tell us what we have lost or gained, but sometimes you just know that you’ve been through the mill.

Essentially, different sports provide different challenges for the body. Additionally, some sports offer a stern workout for the upper body, while others will put your endurance to the test. Ultimately, sports that achieve the best results in terms of fitness raise the heart rate, burn calories and rev up our metabolism. As such, it’s about triggering an optimal metabolic response and working muscle groups that will leave you feeling like you’ve had a high-intensity workout.

For many fitness enthusiasts, playing sport alongside working out in the gym and running in the park also adds more variety to a fitness plan. People adore the sports they typically play too, perhaps following the big fights with friends and betting on major sporting events when they sense a particular winner. Alongside the undoubted entertainment sport provides, a selection of sports offer the mood-boosting endorphins many people crave while working out. Some sports certainly offer more of a challenge than others, though. Let’s take a look at some of them below.

Rowing

Whether you’re on a rowing machine in the gym or you’re able to join forces with some rowers on a large boat in a nearby river, rowing works all of the major muscle groups. As such, it’s a truly gruelling workout for people to endure, although it produces notable results, particularly when it comes to building a strong core. Alongside helping to improve core strength, rowing requires endurance, it will improve your coordination, and it will provide a challenging workout.

Boxing

The aforementioned boxing is one of the most popular forms of exercise around. While not everyone is looking to knock out an opponent in the ring, people adopt boxing training methods to produce a killer workout. Punching a bag is not only a challenge the longer you do it, but it also lets go of any stress and tension that you might be feeling in your body. Boxing is also a great way of burning off fat and getting ultra-lean, largely because it works some key areas of the body and provides a testing workout for people.

The beautiful game might not be as popular in this part of the world as it is in Europe, but more and more people are discovering the delights of playing soccer. Alongside the prospect of scoring a goal, the appeal of soccer is its constant motion and endless action. From small-sided games to playing on bigger soccer fields, soccer offers a high-intensity workout due to its energetic nature. A game that rarely stops for long periods of time, players have to shift between jogging and high-intensity sprinting, alongside having to jump for headers and slide for tackles. Soccer isn’t for everyone, although an increasing amount of people are exploring it right now.

Swimming

Offering a solid total-body workout, swimming is brilliant for fitness. While swimming is gentle on your joints and provides a more relaxing workout package on the whole, it can also be an immense challenge the longer you swim. Swimming will enable you to see improvements in your athletic performance in other sports, alongside helping you to feel fitter and stronger the more you do it.

Other sports that offer a great workout include dancing, rock climbing, triathlon, cycling, and hockey.