Michael Phelps Crowned Fittest Man Ever


The 6-pack obsessed Men’s Health magazine have just named their Fittest 100 men of all time with 18-time Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps topping the list. While it’s hard to argue with awarding the most decorated Olympian of all-time with such a title, several inclusions in the list where genuine head scratchers (cuddly aerobics instructor Richard Simmons at 20?). With a list that included as many actors as sports people, Men’s Health explained that fitness as concept that extended further then gym stats and skin fold tests.

When judging the fittest men of all-time, Men’s Health decided on a few caveats. Fitness, as we define it, isn’t just about abs and muscle tone and obscure measurements like V02 Max-but that’s all part of it, of course. Fitness is also about what you do with the body you’ve built.

Even so, Richard Simmons placed ahead of Tae Bo founder Billy Blanks (92), Usain Bolt (59), or anyone in the bottom 80 for that matter, came as a bit of a shock but Men’s Health pointed to the fact that Simmons had transformed his body from that of an over weight highschooler and “helped clients and fans lose 3 million pounds and counting” as enough to justified and extra ordinary display of fitness.

Other prominent entertainers to feature included:
82. Jason Statham
81. Jean-Claude Van Damm

75. Mr. T
74. Johnny Weissmuller
69. Harry Houdini
62. Jackie Chan
57. Brad Pitt
53. Hugh Jackman
51. LL Cool J

50. Daniel Craig
46. The Rock
22. Gerrard Butler
18. Chuck Norris
17. Marl Wahlberg
12. Sylvester Stalone

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Bruce Lee

As far as sports stars are concerned, the field was dominated by NFL and other American-centric athletes. Here are some of the dudes we’d heard of:

47. Oscar Pistorius

35. Kelly Slater
31. Karl Lewis
29. Jesse Owens
23. Bruce Jenner (Well that explains how he keeps up with the Kardashians…)
21. Michel Jordan
16. David Bekham
15. Muhammad Ali

9. Manny Pacquiao
7. Cristiano Ronaldo

So coming in at number 1, Phelpsie takes another ‘World’s Greatest’ accolade proving that he may be the best human that has ever lived.

Picture by Ronald Martinez at Getty Images

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV