20 of the best physical competition shows ever created

Survivor has been around for many years, and rightfully so. Jeff Probst has done a great job hosting the strategic reality series, which brings several civilians together to compete on a remote island with little to no food for a massive cash prize.

Fans of reality competition shows already knew MTV's The Challenge would be listed here. Like its sister show, The Real World, this series is one the first and has continued to break barriers with the number of seasons, new cast members, and spin-off, The Challenge: All-Stars.

The winner of American Ninja Warrior may win one million dollars, but the real prize is making it through those intense obstacle courses.

The Amazing Race is exactly what it sounds like... one big, amazing race. In the show, contestants are paired up with somebody of their choosing as they travel around an unfamiliar part of the world, like Argentina, Germany, and South Africa. During their trek, they compete in numerous physical and mental challenges (usually about the location's history and culture) against the other teams, hoping to be the sole winners of the show's one million dollar prize.

Physical 100 is a Korean competition show that aired on Netflix. The 100 competitors (who all have shredded figures) have to compete in a handful of physical challenges that put their bodies to the test. After each challenge, challengers are eliminated until the last player remains, winning $240,000.

American Gladiators took amateur athletes and made them compete against "gladiators" in entertaining physical challenges. It aired from 1989 to 1996, and it's a shame it's no longer airing because the throwback clips look epic.

Fox's Special Forces puts reality stars, actors, and athletes in the middle of nowhere with former Navy Seals to see if they have what it takes to survive the world's toughest test. Some drop out early, while some make it through the finish line; however, none of it is without blood, sweat, and many tears. 

Another Phil Keoghan-hosted series is the CBS competition show Tough As Nails. Its cast comprises regular, everyday citizens taking part in physical challenges that test their strength, endurance, and mental toughness at job sites. Some obstacles have occurred on a farm, a construction site, and a hardware store.

Very rarely are reality TV producers allowed to let contestants physically fight without breaking it up, but that's not the case on The Ultimate Fighter . The UFC produces the series and brings together professional MMA fighters hoping to win a massive contract with the company they've grown up admiring. Some UFC champs who appeared on the show include Rashad Evans, T.J. Dillashaw, and Carla Esparza.

Tough Enough featured a format similar to that of The Ultimate Fighter; however, these contestants were vying for a WWE contract rather than one with the UFC.

John Cena hosted the rebooted series Wipeout, during which the contestants participated in intense challenges that tested their athleticism (or lack thereof). The show was canceled in 2024.

This competition dance show featured artists popping, locking, and dropping all across the stage for the title of "America's Best Dance Crew." Mario Lopez hosted, and Lil Mama, JC Chasez, and T-Pain judged the series.

Alone is a different type of competition show. There's no physical challenge between contestants, but they go through a grueling experience trying to survive in the wilderness with little to no resources. A winner is only crowned and given the one million dollars when every other player has either "tapped out" or failed a medical check, barring them from moving forward.

This Peacock series has a mix of physical and mental elements... and, of course, shocking blindsides. Season 2's cast included some of the competition show greats, including CT Tamurello and Johnny Bananas from The Challenge and Dan Gheesling from Big Brother.

We all love singing competition shows like American Idol and The Voice, but we can't forget about Cat Deely and So You Think You Can Dance? Of course, there are other dancing shows, like DWTS, but this Fox series featured amateur dancers laying it on the floor to win it all, and that'll always be something we think is worth watching.

Derek, TJ, and JJ Watt hosted the Fox game show Ultimate Tag, which was based on the popular childhood game. It featured amateur players trying to avoid being tagged by the professional stuntmen, most known for parkour. If they could make it to the final round, the winner snagged $10,000.

We can't sleep on Netflix's The Mole. It's a mix of physical and strategy, featuring a team of people competing for a share of a large cash prize. The catch, though, is that one of the players has been pegged "the mole," tasked with sabotaging the challenge so they could win the money themselves.

It may be easy to brush this show, which aired for several seasons on CMT, under the rug, but if you did, you'd be making a big mistake. These cheerleaders go through it all, like an intense training camp, emotional ups and downs, and explosive situations with teammates and coaches.

Even though this series doesn't feature the physical challenges that occur in some other shows on this list, it's still a competition that many fans get deeply invested in. It features actors, athletes, and many other public figures moving their hips and tapping their feet weekly until a winner is crowned.

Oxygen's Bad Girls: All-Star Battle was a Bad Girls Club spin-off, so there was certainly tons of drama, shady moments, and a few physical fights. But for the most part, this series' focus was on the physical challenges and the journey the cast members went through to try and win $100,000.