Upper body aerobic fitness comparison between two groups of competitive surfboard riders

The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the upper-body aerobic fitness characteristics in 2 groups of competitive surfers with different performance levels. Thirteen male competitive surfers performed an incremental dry-land board paddling test to determine specific peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak), peak power output (Wpeak) and the exercise intensity (%V̇O2peak) that elicits a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol·L−1 (LT4). As a measure of surfing performance, surfers were ranked according to their competitive season performance (RANK) and divided into 2 groups based on their performance level; European top-level competitive surfers (ELS) (n=7) and regional level competitive surfers (RLS) (n=6). ELS reached significantly higher values than RLS for Wpeak (154.71±36.82 W vs. 117.70±27.14 W; P=0.04) and LT4 (95.18±3.42 %V̇O2peak vs. 88.89±5.01 %V̇O2peak; P=0.02) but not V̇O2peak (3.34±0.31 L·min−1 vs. 3.40±0.37 L·min−1; P= 0.77). Spearman rank order correlation analysis revealed that RANK was inversely correlated with Wpeak (r= −0.65, P= 0.01) and LT4 (r= −0.58, P= 0.03). These findings identify that better surfers have higher upper body aerobic fitness scores.