Is Pickleball Really a Workout?

A team of American researchers from Western State Colorado University outfitted eight women and seven men between the ages of 40 and 85 with portable units designed to determine how much energy they expend during a game of pickleball. They also took a before and after snapshot of their cardiometabolic health to see whether pickleball had a positive effect on their fitness and health after six weeks of regular play.

A group of researchers from Brigham Young University in Idaho looked into the game’s physiological demands, hoping to discover how 30 minutes of doubles pickleball compares with a 30-minute walk. They gathered 25 pickleball players (15 men and 10 women) with an average age of 38 and equipped them with sensors to measure heart rate, step count and calories burned while walking and playing pickleball.

Our experience has been that a couple of hours in a good rec game can burn anywhere from 800 to 1,000 calories.

Full story and conclusions by Jill Barker in the Vancouver Sun as to whether Pickleball is a workout (as if we needed confirmation) here…