Is Pickleball Good For Your Heart?

While pickleball is similar to tennis as both involve hitting a ball over a net, pickleball is usually believed to be less intense and strenuous.

However, pickleball also has its physical challenges and a range of health benefits, including supporting your cardiovascular health. This makes it an ideal sport for both younger and older players.

In this article, we explore the health benefits of pickleball (see also ‘How To Get Better At Pickleball‘) and we find out if it’s good for your heart.

Heart Health Benefits Of Pickleball

As pickleball is a sport where you need endurance, agility, and a good fitness level, it’s a great activity that benefits your heart and cardiovascular health.

Reduces Risk Of Strokes And Heart Attacks

One of the biggest benefits of playing pickleball is that it reduces a player’s risk of stroke and heart attack.

When you play pickleball regularly, then your heart becomes stronger over time. Your heart rate increases during the game which means your heart gets a regular workout.

In addition, playing pickleball also helps to reduce stress which is commonly a big factor for heart diseases.

A good pickleball workout also releases happy hormones and endorphins. This will make you feel more content and satisfied, which means your heart has to work less hard after exercising.

Plus, when someone feels happy, then their stress levels come down and this can also improve overall health.

With the overall improvements in heart health, pickleball players also reduce the risk of needing heart surgery to place stints or repair arteries as they get older.

Lowers Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is a common issue in our society. It occurs when it’s harder for the heart to pump more through your arteries and veins.

This does not only put more pressure on your heart but also on the rest of your body, causing serious long-term health issues.

When your heart gets stronger with playing pickleball, then it can pump more blood through your body without great effort.

This also has positive effects on the arteries which are less strained. This means they stay healthier for longer.

Regular exercise brings your blood pressure down which leads to fewer issues with your heart and also less medication.

In addition, it’s important to eat a healthy diet with your workout. This will add to the positive heart health effects of playing pickleball.

Other Health Benefits Of Pickleball

Pickleball isn’t just a sport that boosts your cardiovascular health but it also has a lot of other physical and mental health advantages.

Lowers Cholesterol Levels

Just like other types of sports, pickleball can lower your cholesterol level.

As a rule of thumb, it takes only half an hour of moderate exercise each day a week to keep your cholesterol at a healthy level.

This means, the more often you exercise or play pickleblall, the more healthy you will feel. This can keep cholesterol down long term without needing medication.

Improves Strength And Balance

Pickleball is a lively and intense game where you have to regularly move to get to the ball that you want to hit.

You will need to judge where the ball lands and then move forward. This requires a good amount of balance.

As we age, our sense of balance requires regular exercise to ensure that it works just as well.

It’s a good idea to practice your sense of balance with other exercise routines, such as aerobics or yoga.

A good sense of balance also means that you can improve your strength, agility, and overall control over your body.

Muscles that are exercised regularly allow a better blood flow which is beneficial for your heart health and the health of many other organs.

Supports Weight Loss

Pickleball is an active game where you have to move regularly. But it’s not just the active movement that makes playing pickleball a great sport for weight loss.

You also use a range of muscles which usually don’t get worked out. This means you move and tone certain muscle groups at the same time.

As pickleball is a moderate exercise game, it’s suitable for older adults who don’t want to engage in heavy workouts or strenuous activities.

A pickleball court is much smaller than a tennis court or badminton court. This allows you to move around much faster, burning more calories and fat.

With a healthy diet and lifestyle changes, you can easily integrate pickleball into your workout routine for losing weight.

Boost Your Mood And Mental Health

With all the positive exercising during a pickleball game, players get a lot of physical as well as mental health benefits.

Improvements in your overall physical fitness levels are not just fun, but they also lead to an improvement in your mood and mental health.

The moderate exercise level of pickleball means a player releases feel-good hormones, which leads to lower stress levels.

And lower stress levels mean your mood is more positive and your outlook on life changes.

Reduces Depression

Thanks to the happy hormones that are released by our body when we exercise, we will feel much more confident and satisfied.

This is not just a mood booster but it can also support people through phases of depression and anxiety.

When you play pickleball regularly, then this can keep off your worries. This improves your mood over the day and helps you sleep better at night.

Improves Social Connection

Pickleball is a team game and a very social sport. You can play pickleball with friends, family members, or just as part of your community.

One of the big advantages of pickleball is that anyone can play the sport, so you can include all generations.

This allows everyone to engage with each other and promote social interactions which is a big booster for quality of life, especially with the older generation.

You’ll be able to make friends and create some strong bonds on and off the pickleball court.

As a group sport, pickleball can also help to increase player confidence by learning from other players.

Improves Flexibility And Agility

On the physical side, pickleball is an easy game for everyone who is a little older. It’s much slower than tennis but still involves the whole body.

Pickleball requires a relatively lower level of physical fitness to get started, and it improves your body’s flexibility as you train regularly.

It’s ideal for anyone who wants to prevent future heart health issues as well as arthritis or other joint conditions.

With the workout, you can keep your joints flexible and tone your muscles, so they stay agile.

Saying this, it’s important that you play pickleball within your limits and ensure that you know exactly how far you can push your body.

Final Thoughts

Pickleball is the perfect moderate exercise game to keep your heart healthy. But it’s not just suitable for improving your cardiovascular health.

Playing pickleball allows you to stay physically and mentally fit. Plus, it is a team sport, so you can have a lot more fun than with weights and gym equipment.

While pickleball has a range of great health advantages, it is important that you listen to your body and only push yourself as far as it feels comfortable for you.

Hi, my name is Anthony Maritato, PT and I wrote this article.  I have been a physical therapist since 2006 and a content producer since before I can remember. I am passionate about the profession of physical therapy and this website is my chance to contribute in some small way to helping amazing physical therapists gain exposure and influence in the healthcare community. If you are a therapist like me please consider creating your own, personal profile so that more prospective patients have a chance to learn more about you and how you can help. Visit Total Therapy Solutions for more information about Total Knee Replacement Physical Therapy.