Land-Based Conditioning For Surfers

Physical demands of surfing

In an analysis of an hour of recreational surfing, Australian research by Meir and co-workers reported that 44% of the time was spent paddling, 35% was spent sitting waiting for waves, 5% was spent actually riding waves with the remaining time comprised of other activities such as duck diving, retrieving the board and wading. Similar findings were reported by Mendez-Villanueva’s research team for competition surfing. Mendez-Villanueva and Bishop also reported that during a simulated competition heat the mean heart rate of surfers was 84% of their laboratory-measured peak heart rate and that they spent over a quarter of the time in excess of 90% heart rate peak. That is some pretty intense physical work.

In a separate study, Méndez-Villanueva’s research team investigated the upper-body aerobic fitness of two groups of competitive surfers (European and regional levels). Thirteen surfers performed an incremental dry-land paddleboard test to determine peak oxygen uptake, peak power output and the exercise intensity that corresponded to a lactate concentration of 4 mmol∙L^-1 (this value is considered by some exercise scientists to represent lactate threshold). The participants were also ranked in accordance with their competitive season performance. Two notable findings from this study were that peak power output and the exercise intensity at a lactate concentration of 4 mmol∙L^-1 were statistically greater for the European-level surfers than the regional ones, and that peak power output was the most strongly correlated variable with the ranked position. Although the authors did not determine causality, these data would suggest that upper body power output plays an important role in surfing performance. It is plausible that upper body power output is required for the power strokes and the pop-up maneuvers performed at key moments when catching a wave. In their book Surfing Science, Butt, Russell and Grigg note that, in general, the larger the wave the faster it is moving, and as such more power would be required to catch larger, more technically demanding waves.

Making sense of it

During the paddle out, considerable upper body muscular endurance and aerobic power are required. These components are often developed as a result of the time spent paddling during free surfing sessions (which is the major issue for me). They can be developed further by incorporating freestyle swimming and swimming ergometer workouts which can be used to address any shortfall in training load when surfing conditions are poor. In addition, the upper body must be capable of producing intermittent power during the power strokes and the pop-up. Sitting in the line up, duck diving and maneuvering the board require a considerable amount of core strength to remain balanced. During the pop-up, the lower body must move explosively into position and once upright and riding the wave, leg strength, power and balance are needed. In addition, high levels of flexibility, coordination and proprioception are required.

Surfing-specific exercises

Like most sports, surfing requires flexion and extension movement patterns and the hip knee and ankle (referred to as “triple extension” in conditioning parlance) and requires the body to be orchestrated in a coordinated and powerful manner. As such Olympic lifts and ballistic exercises (such as squats, power cleans, power snatches, split jerks, presses, rows and pulls) should form the basis of a surfer’s training plan. In addition to working the muscles over the full range of motion and helping prevent injury, these exercises also enable surfers to maximize the return on their efforts because they work major muscle groups simultaneously thus freeing up time and energy to devote to other aspects of their technical surf training. This is an important aspect as Mendez-Villaneuva and Bishop note that technical mastery of surfing skills is the most important contributor to surfing performance and competitive success is entirely based on the qualitative assessment of wave-riding ability. Whilst these fundamental exercises are integral to a surfer’s training program, it is not the purpose of this article to review them as they are detailed extensively elsewhere in general conditioning literature. Rather, I want to review surf-specific exercises and practices that have been claimed to enhance performance.

Surf-specific exercises:

Surfboard riding occurs in one of the most unstable sporting environments and logically requires core stability and balance. As such functional exercises that enhance neuromuscular responses to an unstable environment, such as those performed on balance boards and stability balls, are routinely purported to be key aspects of surf training. Such exercises heavily feature anecdotal internet training advice and are summarized in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Surfing-specific stability exercises