Skip to content
2 min read

Need A Fun, New Workout? Try Pickleball!

News Stacie Townsend 08-21-2020

If you are looking for a fun, new workout, then you have to try pickleball. As a racquet sport, pickleball engages your entire body, gets your heart pumping, and increases your cardiovascular fitness, with lots of short bursts of energy and movement. And, most importantly, it is a ton of fun!

According to the Harvard Health Letter (and the Compendium of Physical Activities, 2011), here is how the sport of pickleball stacks up to walking, running, and other racquet sports in terms of metabolic equivalents (also known as METs, which measure how much oxygen the average person uses during an activity):

METs Per Activity
  • 1 MET = Amount of oxygen the average person uses while sitting quietly
  • 2 METs = Twice the amount of oxygen as sitting quietly
  • 3 METs = Three times the amount of oxygen as sitting quietly
  • And so on…
Activity METs
Brisk Walking (3 mph) 4.0
Running (6 mph)  9.8
Table Tennis 4.0
Pickleball 4.1
Doubles Tennis 4.5 – 6.0
Badminton 5.5
Raquetball 7.0
Squash 7.3
Singles Tennis 7.0 – 8.0

 

To note, higher-level pickleball players (e.g. professionals) will likely reach levels much higher than 4.0 METs.

Who knew hitting a ball back-and-forth over a net could be so much fun and a great workout?! 

READ SIMILAR STORIES

View All

10-17-22

Stacie Townsend

5 Pickleball Tips to Master Misdirection Shots

In pickleball, it is important to mix up your shot selection and remain unpredictable. One way to keep your opponents guessing...

6 min read

09-18-23

Stacie Townsend

Competing Pro Pickleball Tours “Agree to Merge”

As quickly as the tentative merger between two major entities in professional pickleball—the Professional Pickleball Association...

2 min read

07-11-24

Stacie Townsend

The Minto US Open Pickleball Championships Selects DUPR as Exclusive Ratings Partner

The Minto US Open Pickleball Championships announced that they have chosen DUPR as their exclusive ratings partner. Each...

6 min read