CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS THESIS SIGNATURE PAGE THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN K.INESIOLOGY THESIS TITLE: THE EFFECT OF WETSUIT THICKNESS ON PADDLING EFFICIENCY IN PROFICIENT SURFERS AUTHOR: Taylor Copeland DATE OF SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE: April 18, 2018 THE THESIS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE THESIS COMMITTEE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUTREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE TN KINESIOLOGY. Sean C. Newcomer, Ph. D. L e,~ THESIS COMMITTEE CHAIR SIGNATURE Deanna S. Asakawa, Ph. D. C '4.A'l,,1,u~Abtc_X -THE-S-IS-CO-MM--ITT~E-E_M_E_MB_E_R_____ ~ NATUr Jeff A. Nessler, Ph. D. .r/2/;8 THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER ~ DATE Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency 1 The Effect of Wetsuit Thickness on Paddling Efficiency in Proficient Surfers Taylor L. Copeland Running Head: Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency A thesis for the Degree of Master of Kinesiology California State University San Marcos Department of Kinesiology, San Marcos, CA 92078 Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency 2 Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my research partner Heather N. Furr M.S. for all of the support and dedication helping with this study over the past two years. You are such a talented and intelligent woman. I am so lucky to have had the chance to work with you and get to know you these past two years. This has been a crazy ride, and I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else next to me the entire time. I would like to thank Simonne Call M.S. for always being there to for me over these past two years. I would be lying if I said this journey has been a piece of cake, and you have always been there for me through all the ups and downs. I am so blessed to have met you during this process. You have been my rock, and I can never thank you enough for that. I would like to thank Sean C. Newcomer Ph.D. for mentoring me over the past two years. Without you this study would not have been possible. You have taught me valuable information about exercise physiology, writing manuscripts, and the research process. Thank you for being there for me throughout this entire process. I would like to thank Jeff A. Nessler Ph.D. for the tremendous help with the kinematic data collection and analysis of my thesis. Your wisdom and ability to adapt to adverse situations, like when the IMU’s didn’t always cooperate, was essential to the completion of my thesis. I would like to thank Deanna S. Asakawa Ph.D. for always being there to answer my endless questions from formation graphs to using SPSS. Your knowledge and kind words were an essential part of this journey. Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency 3 I would like to thank Mackenzie Warren for always being willing to calibrate the flume for me, no matter how cold it was outside. Also, your assistance during data collection helped me tremendously. I would like to thank the KINE 326 students for assisting me with data collection and helping me develop my teaching skills. I would like to thank Hurley for sponsoring my thesis project and allowing me the opportunity to complete this research project. I have gained a lot of valuable knowledge on product testing that I will be using towards my future career. To my family, thank you for all of the love and support over the past two years. I wouldn’t have been able to complete this process without you. Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency 4 Abstract Purpose: Given the limited amount of literature describing the impact that wetsuit thickness has on surf performance, the purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that an increase in wetsuit jacket thickness would increase the oxygen consumption required while paddling. Methods: Thirty-three proficient male surfers paddled at a speed of 1.1m/s for three minutes in a swim flume after three minutes of seated baseline. A no wetsuit condition, as well as a Hurley rash guard, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0mm wetsuit jackets were investigated in this study. Heart rate, oxygen consumption, skin temperature, stroke cadence, and wetsuit preference were measured for each trial. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was run on data obtained during the final minute of paddling. Results: There were no significant differences in VO2 between conditions (control: 22.93 ± 2.59, rash guard: 22.80 ± 2.40, 0.5mm: 23.08 ± 2.49, 1.0mm: 23.36 ± 1.75, 2.0mm: 23.02 ± 2.19ml/kg/min). Heart rate was significantly lower (p<0.05) while paddling without a wetsuit (129.77 ± 20.34bpm) compared with the 1.0 (133.72 ± 20.16bpm) and 2.0mm (135.09 ± 21.96bpm) wetsuit jackets. Heart rate was also significantly lower paddling in a rash guard (130.55 ± 21.59bpm) compared to the 2.0mm wetsuit jacket. The paddling skin temperature without a wetsuit (30.53 ± 1.89°C) was significantly decreased compared to the 0.5 (32.10 ± 1.95°C) and 2.0mm (33.32 ± 1.24°C) wetsuit jackets. The 0.5, 1.0 (31.94 ± 1.39°C), and 2.0mm wetsuit jackets had significantly higher paddling skin temperatures than the rash guard (29.45 ± 1.70°C). The 2.0mm wetsuit jacket also had a significantly higher paddling skin temperature than the 1.0mm wetsuit jacket. There was a main effect found for stroke cadence (control: 35.18 ± 2.47 strokes/min, rash guard: 35.37 ± 3.44 strokes/min, 0.5mm: 34.26 ± 2.99 strokes/min, 1.0mm: 33.14 ± 3.16 strokes/min, 2.0mm: 35.88 ± 4.21 strokes/min). On average participants ranked paddling difficulty to increase with wetsuit jacket thickness. Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency 5 Conclusion: The data suggests that the wetsuit jacket thickness does not significantly affect oxygen consumption while paddling. Skin temperature and seated oxygen consumption data for the current investigation suggest that the lack of significant differences in paddling oxygen consumption between wetsuits maybe a result of an increase in thermoregulation requirements while wearing a thinner wetsuit jacket. Introduction Worldwide surf participation has increased from 26 to 35 billion participants between 2001 and 2011, respectively (Economist, 2012). Popularity growth has been attributed to technological advancements and decreased cost of surf equipment. According to research conducted by the Global Industry Analysis, the surf industry is expected to reach a staggering 9.5 billion USD global market value by 2022 (2016). Surfing is a sport that consists of intermittent bouts of high-intensity activity followed by a recovery period, with the ultimate goal of successfully riding a wave (Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2005; Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2005(2); Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2006; Lowden, 1988). Surfing requires the athlete to perform coordinated whole-body maneuvers while adapting to a range of environmental conditions (Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2005; Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2005(2); Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2006; Farley et al., 2012; Meir et al., 1991). Enhancing neuromuscular coordination while decreasing the metabolic demands of surfing may result in an overall increase in energy efficiency while surfing (Lowdon, 1988). Research has been conducted to better understand the characteristics, activity patterns, and physiological parameters that comprise competitive and recreational surfing (LaLanne et al., 2017; Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2006; Meir, 1991; Farley et al., 2012; Bravo et al., 2016; Lowdon, 1983; Lowdon, 1989; Farley et al., 2012(2); Loveless & Minahan, 2010; Méndez- Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency 6 Villanueva et al., 2005(2); Patterson, 2002; Furness et al., 2016). From this research, it is well known that surfing can be broken into four main activity categories: paddling, stationary, wave- riding and miscellaneous activities. People who are not familiar with the sport may intuitively think that wave riding would comprise the largest percentage of time in a bout of surfing, since this is the primary activity people associate with surfing. However, it has been well established that both recreational and professional surfers spend approximately 43% of the time paddling, 42% stationary and 6% wave riding (LaLanne et al., 2017; Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2006; Meir, 1991; Farley et al., 2012; Bravo et al., 2016). It has also been reported that the relative percentage of time spent in these activities does not change with increasing age (LaLanne et al., 2017). These data support the fact that paddling is the activity in surfing that comprises the largest percentage of total time and likely accounts for the greatest amount of energy expenditure during a surf session. Paddling has been reported to occur both in short bursts (1 to 20 seconds) (Farley et al., 2012) and more sustained bouts lasting upwards of 5 to 10 minutes (Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2006; Lowdon, 1983; Lowdon, 1989; Farley et al., 2012(2)). For this reason, paddling can be divided into two main categories: high-intensity sprint paddling and longer duration less powerful bouts of paddling (Farley et al., 2012(2); Lowdon, 1983; Meir et al., 1991). The interval nature of paddling likely contributes to the relatively high aerobic fitness levels reported in surfers. Specifically, average maximal oxygen consumption in both recreational and competitive surfers during simulated paddling has been reported to be approximately 41ml/kg/min (Loveless & Minahan, 2010; Méndez-Villanueva et al., 2005(2); Patterson, 2002; LaLanne et al., 2017; Meir et al., 1991; Farley et al., 2012(2); Furness et al., 2016; Lowdon, Impact of Wetsuits on Paddling Efficiency 7 1989). This is impressive considering these values were obtained when only the upper extremities were engaged in exercise.