Pickleball Is Booming: How Much of a Workout Is It?

Pickleball courts are popping up in parks, gyms and even old shopping centers, and it is easy to see why: the court is small, the rules are quick to learn and people of very different ages can play together. The natural question for anyone who cares about health is whether it counts as real exercise. This is general education, not medical advice.

How hard players work

Researchers at the University of Manitoba studied 53 players aged 29 to 73 and published the results in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity in 2022. Average heart rate during play was about 111 beats per minute, and players spent more than 70 percent of their time in the moderate-intensity zone, in both singles and doubles. The lead researcher estimated that about four and a half hours of play a week would reach the standard guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity.

An earlier, smaller study of 15 adults aged 40 to 85, sponsored by the American Council on Exercise, found heart rates anywhere from 79 to 158 beats per minute, so how hard you work depends a lot on how you play.

Fitting it into your week

• It is moderate exercise for most players, comparable to a brisk walk in effort, with bursts of harder movement.
• Intensity varies. Singles, faster partners and longer rallies raise the effort; relaxed doubles lower it.
• It takes time to add up. Because play includes pauses between points, you may need several sessions a week to reach 150 minutes.
• It is not a complete program. It does little for muscle strength, so pairing it with a bit of resistance work makes sense.

Why it might be easy to stick with

The best exercise is often the one you will keep doing. Pickleball is social, fun and forgiving, which may help people who find gym routines dull. That is a reasonable argument, though we did not find a trial showing that pickleball leads to better long-term exercise habits than other activities, so treat it as a plausible advantage rather than a proven one.

Staying safe on the court

• Warm up first. Cold muscles and sudden stops and starts are a common recipe for strains.
• Wear court shoes with good lateral support rather than running shoes.
• Build up gradually, especially if you have been inactive. A doctor can advise on the right starting point if you have heart or joint concerns.

If you like the idea of mixing in other movement, our guides to stair climbing and how many steps you need cover simple extras.

Sources

• University of Manitoba researchers. Pickleball heart rate and intensity study in middle-aged and older adults. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 2022 (reported by the University of Manitoba news service; figures from press coverage, check the paper for exact numbers).
• Dalleck LC, et al. ACE-sponsored research: can pickleball help middle-aged and older adults get fit? American Council on Exercise, 2018.