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 (VO 2peak ), peak power output (W peak ) and the exercise intensity (%VO 2peak ) that elicits a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol·L −1 (LT 4 ). 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 W peak (154.71±36.82 W vs. 117.70±27.14 W; P=0.04) and LT 4 (95.18±3.42 %VO 2peak vs. 88.89±5.01 %VO 2peak ; P=0.02) but not VO 2peak (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 W peak (r= −0.65, P=0.01) and LT 4 (r= −0.58, P=0.03). These findings identify that better surfers have higher upper body aerobic fitness scores.