Action sports, extreme sports or adventure sports are activities perceived to be involving an extremely high degree of danger. These sports tend to involve high speed, high altitude, high level of physical activity and highly specialized equipment. They can be both outdoor and indoor activities. Extreme sports are considered dangerous because most participants in these sports operate under the assumption of danger and often use unreasonable risks to achieve their goals. They can be challenging for people of all fitness levels.
One type of extreme sport is skydiving. This sport involves high speeds, incredible acrobatics, various types of equipment that are used to assist with the parachute jump and Adrenalin rushes that came with a successful jump. Skateboarding is another type of extreme sport that involves racing down ramps or in skate parks. It involves balancing on a skateboard with one foot on each rail and rolling down a ramp or other structure with the help of various hand held devices and muscle power.
Another extreme sport is base jumping. This sport involves jumping from a specific, designated base. The jumps range in height from two feet, to more than a hundred feet. This sport requires advanced jumping skills, athletic ability and a high degree of courage.
Sports that involve extreme movements and physical strength are generally referred to as sports. Sports can either be aerobic or anaerobic in nature. They are predominantly performed using a series of activities including contact sports such as football and soccer, gymnastics and racing. Sports involve extreme movements which enable the participant to use maximal energy and exert maximal effort. These sports include sprinting, jumping, diving, basketball, rugby, wrestling and surfing.
The term extreme sport was first used by the Canadian Journal of Sport Sciences in 1977. It was then included in the dictionary by the Oxford University Press in 1980. The OJSC define extreme sports as “a dangerous form of competitive athletics requiring the use of extreme physical strength and abilities.” Today, the definition continues to describe it as a “sport that places maximum emphasis on survival, rather than competitive glory.” It is also known as a discipline in which participants attempt to test their ability in an extraordinary physical challenge, sometimes involving risks to life and property.
A sport is considered to be an extreme sport when participants fail to achieve a standard of performance within the rules of the event. For example, while skiing may be considered an extreme sport when compared to playing football in a regular league game, both involve physical exertion. In extreme sports there is usually an element of danger, often involving dangerous equipment or uncontrollable circumstances. These can cause the participant to reach a very high level of exertion that can be physically dangerous or psychologically dangerous.
The athletes who participate in these extreme sports typically have the ability to overcome significant challenges and are able to excel at what they do. They may be able to test their mental skills in a very difficult situation and are able to do so without injury. In the context of the definition provided by Oxford University Press, the definition of extreme sports also includes athletic events in which the participants have the ability to derive an overwhelming amount of pleasure from participation.
Athletes who participate in these high level actions are not necessarily at a higher level physically than the general population. It is difficult for an athlete to become over-taunted by the increased level of exertion required of them, and in many cases it takes them longer to reach a peak level of performance than those participants in more traditional sports. Because of this, the definition of extreme sports has become somewhat of a misnomer. As the definition implies, the activity involved exceeds what is considered to be safe for a normal day-to-day activity.