Top 10 Sports to Get you Ripped

Many people play sports to get in shape, but which is the best? Which delivers the most lean and muscular athletes? I focused on sports that will get you ripped just by playing or practicing the sport without supplemental weight training. Excluding bodybuilding (which is pretty much get ripped "the sport") here is a list of the Top 10 Sports that will get you ripped:

Sport #10: Sprinting

"Da fuck? I'm Usain Bolt.

If your looking for arms, legs and a six pack, sprinting is the way to go. The 100m, 200m and 400m dashes are pretty much the definition of fast twitch fiber activities, forcing every muscle in the body to fire in unison as fast as physically possible. Notice how I didn't include any race above the 400m dash; this is because the longer the race the more an athlete relies on slow twitch muscle fibers that are usually long and stringy. The fast twitch muscle fibers are the for big bulky body we're looking for, so it's a good idea to stay away from the long distances.

On top of the amount of fast twitch muscle fibers called upon by sprinters they are usually extremely lean due to the amount of time they put in and the fact that running is a full body exercise therefore burning ten times as many calories as doing, for instance, push ups.The particular muscles that will be doing most of the work though, also the muscles that you will see the most gains in, are the legs, arms and abdominal. Legs because this is running, abdominal to stabilize you and arms to counter balance the force from your legs for further stabilization. Put hurdles on the track and you have a muscle building machine!

That monkey action.

Big and lean, that's what we're going for in this article.

Sport #9: Swimming

That chest though.

"Mmmmm look at that swimmer's body" or "What broad shoulders you have" is a term common among females at the beach and for good reason. Swimmers usually have an extremely impressive upper body due to the fact that swimming incorporates almost all of the upper body (sorry triceps not much use for you) as well as the abdominal although the legs are something left for consideration. There is a reason why Michael Phelps isn't the captioned picture I have in this article, although Phelps is ripped in his own respect Mark Foster holds the record in the 50m butterfly(supposedly the hardest swimming method there is) and due to the science (yes science) I explained in the sprinting entry above, the shorter the race the more fast twitch muscle fibers you'll incorporate in the movement and the 50m version of swimming races is the shortest, and fastest, there is. Also swimming is an all movement exercise therefore it burns tons of calories per second.

Sport #8: Basketball

Although most basketball players tend to be on the slim side this is usually because of their enormous height. Regular sized people who play basketball will receive benefits in their legs, abdominal, shoulders and arms without the weight training most basketball players do for supplement.

Yeah, probably in the weight room just as much as he's in the gym.

Basketball players recruit immense amounts of fast twitch muscle fibers for a multitude of reasons. Sprinting and changing direction on the dime are two great highlights but the reason this is ranked higher than running is because of the jumping. Jumping incorporates nearly the entire body the two main compound muscle groups involved being the shoulder and legs. The ability to dunk a basketball, if not already ridiculously tall, requires a tremendous amount of muscle and an even smaller amount of body fat.

Basketball players run for long periods of time so the slower twitch muscle fibers are recruited more than every other sport on this list but when the fast twitch muscle fibers are appear they are EXPLOSIVE.

Sport #7: Football

Honestly it looks like it hurts to be that ripped.

You knew this was coming. As an American I have an obligation to say that just watching football will get you ripped DAMN IT! 

Hold on a second.....

Ok maybe you do have to play the sport but this sport is a winner when it comes to recruiting fast twitch muscle fibers in every part of the body. Football incorporates the legs, arms and shoulders in a extremely short time span from 10 seconds to just around 2. Pushing, pulling, sprinting and jumping makes Football one of the most dynamic sports of all time and therefore one of the most calorie burning activities that you can do. Just where some pads and avoid the concrete.

Sport #6: Ballet

Ripped + Dancing Abilities = Chick Magnet

Ballet is extraordinarily underrated as a sport and as exercise that can get you extremely ripped. The whole body will be utilized in this activity (maximizing the calorie burning potential) but the highlights of ballet are the gigantic calves, abs and shoulders, especially if done with a partner. The jumping will incorporate the fast twitch muscle fibers while the prolonged stances will train the legs and abdominal to a whole new level of muscular stability. While if done with a partner the lifts are pretty much extremely graceful shoulder presses. Plus you learn how to keep a beat.

Sport #5:Wrestling

Ripped.

We've gotten to the point in this list that every sport utilizes the entire body and wrestling is undeniably one of the highlights. If your not pulling your opponent to you(back, biceps and forearms) your pushing them to the ground(shoulders, chest and Hamstrings) or pushing them off of you(quads, hamstrings, shoulders and chest) in a desperate attempt to not lose. Unlike the previous sports every muscle will undergo massive growth do to this ancient sport. Better get a partner and go at it.

Sport #4:  MMA

Ok for this match lets do something called "not fighting".

Kicks, punches, and wrestling makes MMA a formidable sport. Burning through huge amounts of calories this activity gives you the option to do pretty much anything and therefore utilizes a lot of dynamic movements and when you throw grappling into the mix you are directly using sheer strength to overpower your opponent. A true beast of a workout

Sport #3: Boxing

That thing on your face it's called Pain.

Boxing dynamic agility and sheer upper body power results in massive gains. Punches also must be thrown at lightning fast speed with a great amount of intensity to truly connect. No matter what weight division you find yourself in boxer's upper body's are impressive to say the least. The legs propel them too and must absorb a lot of the punches that come to the body. This is why many time later on in the match it is common to hear "His legs are gone.". The great part about boxing is that it maybe one of the only fighting sports that you don't need a partner to fight with. Shadowboxing is a fantastic way to get ripped going as fast as you can and utilizing the very muscles your body activates to stop and change directions. 

Also many studies have shown that boxing is one of the if not the best exercise for burning calories.

Sport #2: Weightlifting

The definition of a pump.

Ok so this one is kind of cheating but since you aren't doing it specifically for aesthetics I let it slide. The general rule is that if you lift more weight the bigger you get and weight lifters are the biggest they come. Obviously relying on strength they don't do many repetitions of the exercise they are mastering but the exercise is usually the compound of compound exercises (such as the clean and press) and therefore use nearly all of the muscles in the body and burn an extraordinary amount of calories. If you've never done a clean and press, you'll be surprised with how fast you gas out; they are pretty much the burpee of weightlifting.

Sport #1: Gymnastics

If batman is doing, why.....why the hell aren't you?

And finally we come on to the mother of all sports that is GUARANTEED to get you ripped: Gymnastics. Think about when was the last time you saw a tiny adult male gymnast.

The answer: Never.

Gymnast are the definition of ripped. They use their own body weight to build strength in extravagant movements. There is a reason why this is the Dark Knight's hobby; the variety of moves are all compound exercises therefore burning enormous amounts of calories not that you can have an excess of fat to achieve these movements either, gymnasts must maintain a fat percentage of under 7% which results in amazing ease to move through the air with a great six pack to boot. 

If if there's any sport to participate in it's gymnastics.

Any sports that I missesd