What was the most strenuous physical activity you've ever done? Me I cross country skied

[applegrove]

into Skoki lodge behind Lake Louise. (where Wills & Kate spent the night in Banff this past week). It was 11 km in but the last part was a mountain pass called Deception Pass before you get into the hanging valley. It was very high, but looked much lower because of the height of the mountains on either side of it. It was so steep you had to keep going straight up using our telemark skis. If you slowed down or stopped you would slip down the pass. It took me a hour of hard work to get up that hill. No breathers whatsoever. I was so hot I was pulling off my winter clothes as I climbed and throwing them down to my brother to pick up who had a backpack. By the time I got to the top I was wearing only a totally sweat soaked t-shirt. I lifted up my arms to yell "I did it" when a huge gust of Alberta winter wind hit me. I was turning to ice as I waited for my brother to reach the top a few minutes later.

[Aristus]

1. I swam on my high-school's state-championship team for two years.

For neither of those two years was I one of the reasons the team went to state. I was a terrible swimmer.

But I really respected the coach. He cared more about participation and enthusiasm than about going to State. His rule, always spoken on the first day of practice each year, was: "I don't make cuts from the team. If you want to be on the team, you're on the team. But IF you're on the team, you give 100%."

That was cool.

But oh! the workouts. Showing up in the dark, two hours before school started on winter mornings. Four days a week of draining, exhausting, long-distance tear-down workouts, then Friday sprints for build-up. I'd come out of a practice with my muscles feeling like jelly, and barely able to stumble to class. And mostly for nothing, for my part; I never won a major heat. I wasn't the guy the other guys cheered for. Nobody envisioned "future Olympian" next to my team photo.

But I'm glad I did it.

Oh, and being a tanker in the Army. Lots of heavy lifting. Lots of sore backs and busted knuckles. Loved it...

[applegrove]

2. That swimming must have been such a wonderful experience. There is nothing like

the life you lead when you are so in tune with your body. Everything is better when you are so physically committed and mentally focused.

[Aristus]

7. I was in pretty good shape, too.

Senior year, I quit the swim team, and my paper route, and gained 30 pounds. I was a chunk. It took Army Basic Training to work it all off again...

[abq e streeter]

3. Probably climbing Wheeler Peak near Taos; well over 13,000 feet.

[mysuzuki2]

4. I ran a 26.2 mile marathon once.

it took me 3 hours and 42 minutes and was in 1979. I've been recovering from the strain ever since.

[LeftyMom]

5. 24 hours of drug-free labor. 10 lb baby. nt

[applegrove]

9. Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!

[Kaleva]

48. Yea, but consider the 5 minutes of hard work your hubby did 9 months earlier!

[susanr516]

60. Beat me to it

I've had four kids. You worked harder than I did, though--my longest labor was a little more than 12 hours from start to finish and I was wiped out. I don't know how anyone can go 24 hours (or more.) That's the definition of tough, in my book.

[struggle4progress]

6. When we were young and stupid, my friends and I took a "shortcut" hiking through the Sierra:

it looked very reasonable on the topo map, because following the trail to where we wanted to go was about a twenty-five mile hike, but the "shortcut" was only two or three miles

Going that two or three miles took all day, dawn to dusk, and it was filled with many exciting challenges, like walking beside abrupt drop-offs and trying to figure out how to get over large obstacles without mountaineering equipment. We decided about halfway through that it was a sorta totally crappy idea, but by then it was too late to turn back, so we enjoyed a nice summer snowstorm in the thin air at the high point, before slip-sliding down icy talus slopes towards the lake far far below

Nowadays I advise against such amateurish mountain adventures

[applegrove]

10. That sounds terrifying.

[struggle4progress]

26. We thought we were immortal

[applegrove]

72. Oh yeah. I used to think I was immortal back then too.

[Liberal_in_LA]

53. scary.

[Patiod]

62. NAUI scuba class in college

The instructor was TOUGH and didn't really think women had what it took to dive safely. On top of that, he thought I was sleeping with one of the guys on the (board) Diving Team, so he was pre-disposed to dislike me. All the girls except me and two from the PSU women's swim team washed out, as did several guys. He put us through a lot of miles of laps, hours of treading water, and a lot of stress situations, like knocking masks off, clogging snorkels, making us find which 1 of 4 oxygen tanks was actually filled with air at the bottom of the dive tank while blind.

At the end of the class, he said "you know, I didn't think you'd make it through this class" and I said, "I know, and that's the only reason I did." Looking back, I'm really glad he was tough - years later I got caught in fishing line once at 100 feet, and didn't panic. My buddy didn't have his knife to cut me out, so I managed to get to mine and hand it to him - calmly.

[pink-o]

8. I snowshoed in the sierras about 10 years ago. Almost killed me.

And for the swimmer, you have all my respect! I can run for miles, but when I freestyle just a few laps I'm ready to die.

I wanted to climb Kilimanjaro when I was younger, but it occurred to me I have only ever lived @ sea level and 19,000 feet would probably kill me!

[Flaxbee]

11. trained thoroughbreds retired from the track ...

those are strong, determined creatures. My trainer / boss would help transition race horses, and I'd help her train them to be companion animals for trail rides, etc. (Gently) wrestling big horses all day is tiring.

[flvegan]

12. I liberated hundreds of battery hens.

Best night of my life.

[WCGreen]

13. Swimming across a quarry on Memorial day 1977 when the temperature

of the water was making my lips blue...

I almost didn't make it.

[sakabatou]

14. The last martial arts test I took years ago

[DBoon]

25. Brown Belt in Shotokan 25 years ago

best shape I was ever in

[sakabatou]

39. I was in Kenpo

How's Shotokan?

[DBoon]

40. Instructor was an ex-Marine who grew up in Detroit

Slacking off = 50 pushups on your knuckles

members of our Dojo would go to Japan for competitions (not me - I had to take every test twice to advance)

A got a brown belt and figured I should move on - the Dojo required higher ranked belts to "volunteer" to help the Dojo and working in Information Technology didn't leave much time for that

[sakabatou]

42. Ha, we had the same punishment

Although, all our competitions were held in the Bay Area. I stopped at my rank due to injury/disease.

[Joey Liberal]

43. Had some hard Kyokushin-kai work outs/sparring

Also had some pretty hard runs in the Army back in the day.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Giving birth was the hardest physical activity for me.

Especially my second child, my ten pound daughter.

I had to have help, both chemical and physical, and I still worked very hard.

She was worth it, though!

[applegrove]

16. Wow. Ten pounds. That is one big baby!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. She was off the weight charts for months!

[applegrove]

18. Your arms must have been in great shape. I am a twin so I only weight 5 pounds or so.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

19. Shook big rugs.

[Mendocino]

20. Au Sable River

Canoe Marathon. 17 hours of non-stop paddling plus six portages over major dams. I slept nearly two full days afterwards.

[canoeist52]

59. Canoeing for speed is one of the best full-body workouts.

Next to the 30 hr. childbirth thingy, canoeing against the wind on a big lake was the most exhausting things I've ever done.

[Mendocino]

61. I did it in 1987,

You start in the evening, go all night, into the next day. The worst was brushing up against a strainer in the dark, dumping and getting sucked down. When I finally got up another canoe struck me square in the jaw.

[canoeist52]

63. IMO paddling at night is for loon-calling moonlit lakes only.

That must've been scary.
I just missed getting sucked under a strainer in the daylight. I managed to hold onto it and pulled myself up onto the tree while the canoe went under and came up pretty far downstream.

[denbot]

68. What is a strainer?

We ocean kayak, and I don't think we have strainer's out here.

[canoeist52]

70. Strainer is a tree with many branches which has fallen across the river

blocking the usually clear channels. People get trapped and tangled in the branches by the pressure of the current and can't get out from underwater and drown.

[denbot]

21. Hiking North rim to South rim Grand Canyon in July 2007 (112 degrees) 1 day down, next day up.

Mountain biking up Mount Wilson using the old toll/fire roads then bombing down single track paths back in the 90's.
Now a-days any time I get my old fat ass on my surfboard is an epic effort for me.

[Mendocino]

66. I went down the Bright Angel

just down to Three Mile House last year. That was a chore. Rim to Rim perhaps someday.

I was amazed though how some people went down, with little sun protection, wearing flip-flops and maybe with a 16 oz water or a soda. The rangers must just shake their heads at these rubes.

[alphafemale]

22. Not so much strenuous as stressful. Tire blow out on a dark country road.

No spare. No cell early 90s.

Walking about ten miles to the closest convenience store/rest area was pretty wretched.

[HopeHoops]

23. I can think of a few sex romps that qualify.

[Joey Liberal]

44. Me too

Been in some threesomes (me and two ladies) that were a great workout:)....

[ohiosmith]

24. Climbed the Great Wall of China with a broken foot. I thought is was just sprained. When I got home

I found out it was dislocated and broken in two places.

[rrneck]

27. Farming, followed by martial arts. nt

[applegrove]

32. Oh yeah. I once went to a demonstration on Parliament Hill for farmers.

What we noticed was the size of the farmers hands. They were huge. Those people know how to work.

[rrneck]

33. Yep.

My uncle always knew exactly how long five inches was because that's how wide his hand was. I miss him. You brought back some pleasant memories. Thank you.

[rbnyc]

28. Free-climbed Bell Rock

[rug]

29. I once got up to change the channel.

:scared:

[Kali]

37. ...

:spray: :rofl: :spank:

[Throd]

30. Cut up an entire 60' oak tree that fell from my yard into the street.

My tree, my responsibility, so I had to remove it as quickly as possible.

[Hepburn]

31. Demo Tapes for Jazzercise...

...whew! Hours of aerobics!

[surrealAmerican]

34. 100 km. bike ride ...

... which I could have done without too much trouble were it not for the wind: mile after mile of side winds, pushing me out into traffic.

[Canuckistanian]

49. Me too. I used to do "Century Tours"

That's 100km. or more in a single day. I once did 120 km.

[bluedigger]

35. Probably a 24 hour relay.

I did a couple of 24 hour relays for charity, once in high school and once in college. You have 10 person teams and take turns running a mile on a track. In hs our team was 5/5 male and female and we set a national record for distance run. I don't remember.:rofl:

It's easy at the start, but running a mile once every hour, or less, means you can't really sleep either. When I got home I slept for about 18 hours straight. And lost about 10 pounds, when I was already pretty skinny. I've done a lot of other exhausting things, but that was the longest recovery time.

I also x-c skiied competitively. That'll gas you out.:fistbump:

Then there was Air Assault School...:rofl:

[Kali]

36. birthing

no doubt - hardest thing I have ever done - twice

probably pretty intense getting born too, but I don't remember that:P

[RebelOne]

38. Sky-diving and then walking for a mile

to find the pick-up van while dragging a 30-pound parachute strapped to my back.

[GoneOffShore]

41. Training for and riding in Philly to DC AIDS ride.

On a mountain bike. 15 years ago.

Started training in March for the ride in June. Rode anywhere from 18 to 100 miles a day for the training. Then rode 85 miles a day for 3 days.

Following summer did 2 days out to Harrisburg PA from Philly and 2 days back.

[kwassa]

45. 50 mile bike race from Tijuana to Rosarito Beach,

me and 15,000 of my closest friends. Most of the course was at sea-level on an old coast road, however, the road turned inland, and climbed 800 feet in about a mile to an inland plateau, where it was also much warmer. The climb was, well, brutal.

I had been misinformed that it was the last climb of the route, and since this wasn't a very serious race, I stopped at a cantina along the route and slugged a Tecate before traveling further. I and several hundred other riders.

I had been lied to, and there was one more big climb at the far end of the plateau, and that cold beer felt like an ice brick in my stomach. I finally reached the final summit, and the temperature dropped 30 degrees as I came down the mountain on the ocean side, trying to brake as little as possible in order to maintain speed, but the curves were pretty scary.

I will never forget that trip.

[TorchTheWitch]

46. Ballet n/t

[grasswire]

47. 8 day backpack in the Spanish Peaks of Montana

It wasn't bad except for the last up miles of the last day. I literally had to say to myself "this step is for my mother"..."this step is for my father"

Oh and I earned myself a hernia portaging a canoe. Heh.

[petronius]

50. Probably climbing Mt. Whitney on the way into the JMT

But there's been more than one mountain pass that seemed like it was going to take my last ounce of energy...

[GreenPartyVoter]

51. It's a toss-up between hiking up a mountain trail and cheering. The mountain trip was

an easy climb, but it took literally all day to get up and back. My knees were wobbling the whole way down.

Training for cheering competition was pretty tiring because I would get up at 4am to do aerobics with weights, and then after school spent 3 hours doing the routines over and over again. Not as long and drawn out as the hike, but lots of 3 minute bursts of intense activity.

Editing to add childbirth to the list, but I don't think of that as an "activity" per se. LOL

[TK421]

52. worked in a tire warehouse in Florida...fucking brutal, only lasted 3 weeks n/t

[csziggy]

54. Halter breaking foals

Putting the halters on them for the first time. Training them to respond to the lead rope. Teaching them ground manners, including picking up their feet, getting baths, grooming, etc.

The foals are about 80-120 pounds when they hit the ground. We usually handled them from the day they were born, but after having one filly injure her neck when we were early halter training, I stopped haltering them until they were at least a month old. By then they weighed a bit more.

Most were not bad to train since they had been handled, but we'd get the occasional hard headed foal that wanted to take off for parts unknown and would hit the end of the rope at full speed. And some, even those that had been handled continuously, would have frisky days even when nearing their first birthday.

That is why I had to stop training my own foals. One of my colts reared and snatched my left arm, pretty much destroying my rotator cuff. It was rebuilt but the surgeon cautioned me that if it ever was damaged again, there is not enough good cartilage to rebuild it another time.

The second most strenuous activity was loading hay into the loft. MY job was on the hay trailer, dragging bales to the block and tackle, hooking them on so they could be lifted up by the guys upstairs. The last time I did it was while my left arm was non-functional, waiting for the rotator cuff surgery. I don't so that kind of work anymore.

[applegrove]

55. I went haying one time. I had your job. That is the definition of hard work.

[csziggy]

56. At least I never got the job of picking up bales out in the field

Now THERE is a hard job! We had a nice deal with the hay guys - while they were baling they needed as many trailers as possible to get the hay out of the field as fast as they baled it. They would take our flatbed trailer, use it while they were baling and bring it back loaded. We got a discount on the hay, but had to unload it ourselves.

When that hay guy retired, our new hay guys would bring full loads and unload it, but would not put it in the loft. In fact, we had to tear down the loft a few years back - the posts had rotted and it was not safe. We set aside a stall, fill it with hay to the rafters. The people running the farm for me still do that - their 17 year old son works the hay fields moving hay for their hay guy.

[Swede]

57. Working on a tie gang on the railroad.

8 hours of backbreaking work,every day.

[bikebloke]

58. Working on a moshav in the Negev Desert

For melons, we would stretch a long sheet of plastic over each row, with hoops as supports - I called them moon tunnels). Then I had to go down and shovel sand over the foot of the plastic on each side of the tunnels(about a metre high), so the wind wouldn't blow it away. Blimey, that was hard.

Then in Nepal going over the Sharang-La Pass at about 18,800 feet. It wasn't so strenuous as the lack of oxygen. A few steps, then some panting. A few more steps, then more panting...

[jmowreader]

64. Unexpected 14-mile forced march with 100-lb rucksack

This was at Fort Stewart, where we went on a field exercise. A sergeant and I got dropped off to stay in a hide for three days. We had 12 batteries, a Watkins-Johnson 8640 receiver and a portable radio called a PRC-77 (which is pronounced "prick-77"). You SHOULD be able to get twelve hours out of a battery on either of those, but we got part of a bad batch of batteries and only got four hours out of a battery. So after a day we had no batteries, which meant we had no mission. After the last battery died the day after we got there, the sergeant made a command decision: he felt no need to camp out with nothing to do just for the fuck of it, so we're walking back to base camp, which was six miles away, or back to 124th MI headquarters fourteen miles away so we could get on the radio and tell them to come get us. We packed our shit and started walking. We got to where our battalion CP was supposed to be, but they moved and couldn't tell us because they jumped after the batteries all died. So...we walked back to garrison.

At the time I weighed 130 pounds.

[BarbaRosa]

65. I worked at a welding supply co.

Even after you learn the tricks, those cylinders are heavy and awkward. And a box of welding rod is heavy no matter what.

[oneshooter]

67. USMC Basic/Advanced Training. n/t

[Brickbat]

69. I started playing ice hockey as a 38-year-old mother of two. After I joined the women's team, I

stopped yelling at my kids when they played.

Labor was easy for me -- I pushed nine times with one kid and three with the other.

[Rhythm]

71. Packed up our whole house in two days' time...

Moving at the last minute sucked, and i'll admit i procrastinated on the packing.
Still, i did an entire two-story house in 48 hours, including the loading and half the unloading.

Wanted to just die afterward... will NEVER procrastinate like that again.

[xmas74]

73. 48 hours of labor.

It was worse than any runs I'd ever been on, any bike rides, any swims, any digging, etc. I ran cross country in high school and used to go on bike rides of more than thirty miles on a regular basis. I once helped a friend dig out an entire root cellar and another friend a storm cellar-with just shovels.

All of those activities would eventually end. I thought after nearly two days of labor I was going to die. I really thought I was going to die.