Battle of the Sportsmen

Footballers or cyclists? F1 drivers? Who really are the fittest sportsmen on the planet? End those interminable pub debates once and for all with our definitive guide...

Footballer

Strength: There’s a balance to be stuck. Lack of upper body strength means you’ll be shoved off the ball; too much will cut your pace by a couple of yards.

Stamina: Someone like David Beckham covers up to 10 miles in one game. And a lot of that is sprinting. The average top pro plays two games a week from August to May

Aerobic: To be able to sprint 50 yards, jog back, and do it again, time after time, requires top-level aerobic fitness. Try it next Sunday Morning

Calories Burned: Depends on position. But a busy midfielder burns around 1,000 calories a game

1,500-m Runner

Strength: It's not just legs that make a runner. Strong stomach muscles and shoulders and arms are crucial. Sebastian Coe could out-bench press men twice his size

Stamina: A 1,500-m runner's training includes the same drills as a sprinter and the distance work of a 10,000-m man. It's all about pace and stamina

Aerobic: The world's best 1,500-m men will run about 3 mins.  38 sec for the mile so they're lapping at a pace that would be tasty for a top 400-m runner

Calories Burned:The race itself won't burn that many calories—400 tops. Linford never used that many over 100 m either—but who'd call him lazy?

F1 Driver

Strength: Drivers get 3 G's on straights. Since just 1.5 G on the head equates to twice the wright of the head and helmet together, the upper body must be strong

Stamina: The cockpit is so hot a driver can lose up to 12.8 kg (28 lbs.) through dehydration during a race. And the toll of concentrating so hard for so long is huge

Aerobic: Pulses will be at 175 bpm for the race—like you running flat-out for two hours. In corners where G-Forces are strongest, they can go over 200 bpm.

Calories Burned:You lose salts and minerals through sweat. Forget to eat complex carbohydrates and low-fat sources of protein and it's all over

Cyclist

Strength: The emphasis is on lean muscle. Any excess—and muscle weighs more than fat-is more to lug up hills. Result is powerful lower body and wiry top half

Stamina: The Tour de France lasts for three weeks with stages as long as 250 km. Cyclists produce a power output of up to 400 watts for up to eight hours a day

Aerobic: Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain had a resting pulse rate of just 29 beats per minute. Yours, on the other hand, is likely to be 70

Calories Burned:They use up to 8,000 calories on the toughest stage of Le Tour. It's impossible to eat that much in a day, so it's no wonder so much doping goes on....

Golfer

Strength: It's timing and rhythm that count when it comes to distance. You drive for show, putt for dough—and nobody needs muscles on the green.

Stamina: You'll probably walk up to six miles on a championship course-further if your driving is awry. You'll do that four days in a row, if you make the cut.

Aerobic: Sometimes you may well break into a fast walk if you're anxious to see what sort of lie you're in. and climbing out of all those bunkers can be shattering.

Calories Burned:All right. Maybe Tiger's svelte, but he's the exception in every way.

Boxer

Strength: Apart from arms like cables, abs strong enough to absorb hundreds of hammer-like blows during a bout, and a neck like a tree truck, boxers need legs of steel.

Stamina: Each punch you take has the capacity to suck every last drop of strength from your body. Ever wondered where the phrase “punch drunk” came from?

Aerobic: Throw a series of punches and see how it feels. Imagine doing that for 12 rounds of three minutes, and factor in the worst battering of your life.

Calories Burned:Depends on how long the fight lasts. Bear in mind that boxers spend the days before a fight dieting like an obsessed model to make the weight