Pickleball Helps Older People Achieve Recommended Activity Guidelines

According to the results of a pilot study, a small group of older individuals achieved their recommended weekly quota of moderate to vigorous physical activity playing pickleball.¹✅ JOURNAL REFERENCE DOI: 10.1177/15588661231156139

The researchers wanted to know if older individuals who played pickleball were getting sufficient moderate to high-intensity activity to achieve the level essential for cardiovascular health.

This pilot study presents objective data that supports pickleball participation as an activity that helps promote physical activity in older individuals and helps them meet the CDC recommendations.

The tracked the physical activity of 33 individuals who were 65 years and older and played pickleball at a minimum of twice a week. Their steps were tracked as well as physical activity intensity for 2 weeks making use of Fitbits.

3,477 more steps were achieved on average on days playing pickleball, and more time was also spent engaging in “fairly active” and “very active” physical activity.

Over 68 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity were achieved on average in each session playing pickleball. An average of 86.77 minutes in 3 increased heart rate zones was also achieved in an average pickleball session.

There are 3 necessary factors for aging healthily. No. 1 is physical health, and keeping not only physically active but participating in physical activity where the heart rate is increased, otherwise known as moderate to vigorous physical activity. There are also benefits from creating and maintaining social connections, and the psychological health that comes from life satisfaction and a feeling of well-being.

Regarding physical activity, the CDC recommends older individuals get 150 to 300 minutes of weekly moderate-intensity activity or 75 to 150 minutes of weekly vigorous-intensity activity. Participating in pickleball was the reason that the majority of individuals achieved the physical activity recommendations in this study.

The researchers isolated their pickleball activity as opposed to everyday activity, and the main result was that pickleball was the only reason the majority of individuals met the CDC recommendations. Participating in pickleball was what helped them achieve that threshold.