Joust going to the gym...

KNIGHTS in shining armour are as fit as top athletes.

English Heritage jouster Roy Murray demonstrated how fit riders have to be. He completed physiological tests, commonly used when training Olympic athletes, at the University of Bath.

Roy’s body fat was 7.72% — the average man has between

15% and 20% and a professional footballer 8-10%. Tested to exhaustion on a treadmill, his maximal oxygen consumption test score put him in the same category as an elite tennis player.

He has twice the upper body strength required for entry to the police and his alignment and balance were “comparable with leading acrobats”.

Sport scientist Jonathan Robinson said the results are “very impressive”.