Surfers only spend eight percent of the entire surf session riding waves.
The Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ) studied surfers' performance during competitive surfing events in an attempt to improve the development of surfing-specific conditioning.
The results show that surfers spend 54 percent of their time paddling and 28 percent waiting for waves.
Interestingly, in a 20-minute heat, surfers ride waves and paddle a total distance of about 1.6 kilometers (one mile).
Twelve nationally ranked surfers were also fitted with heart rate monitors and global positioning system units and videoed during the heats of two sanctioned competitions.
A Moderate-to-High Intensity Sport
Kiwi scientists found out that surfers reached the maximal heart rate band only three percent of the time, with an average of 190 beats per minute.
Two-thirds of the time was spent with heart rates in the moderate-to-high intensity range. Curiously, academics observed that peak rates happen only when surfers finish riding a wave.
"One reason for such a result could be the physical demands of riding the wave, coupled with the adrenaline release ensuing from the wave ride and fall," wrote Oliver Farley, lead researcher of the Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand.
Finally, researchers measured speed and discovered that surfers reached a top speed of 45 km/h and a maximum speed on a wave averaged 33.4 km/h.
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