For many athletes and people of other age, proper motivation is what gets them to keep up their training schedule.
The same goes for pickleball players of all ages. While you need to stay driven to do the pickleball game regularly, there’s no denying it can be quite a challenge, especially with the hectic lifestyle that most of us lead nowadays.
This is why you should get familiar with all the top benefits so you can remind yourself that the effort is worth it, no matter what age you are.
We’ve put together a list of the social benefits, positive effects on the mental health and other health benefits of pickleball can have on an individual’s health of all ages. Let’s get started!
1. Pickleball Burns a Lot of Calories
This is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the health benefits of any activity. Well, pickleball is no different; it can help you lose weight since it’s a form of exercise.
According to the USAPA, a 150-pound individual can burn around 250 calories if they play pickleball casually for 30 minutes, whereas a 200-person can burn about 335 calories.
If you play aggressively for 30 minutes, you can burn around 360 calories if you weigh 150 pounds and about 475 calories if you weigh 200 pounds.
According to the American Council of Exercise, this is more or less the same result you can get from a 30-minute run.
As such, it’s clear that pickleball participation can offer a major advantage when it comes to losing pounds and maintaining a healthy weight.
2. Regular Pickleball Put You at a Lower Risk of Injury
Engaging in regular moderate exercise such as pickleball reduces the risk of sustaining various injuries. This is because you’re keeping your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones active.
As a result, your body becomes used to the movement and you prevent your muscles and joints from going stiff. Since you’ve built up good endurance, there’s a lower risk that your body experiences pain and overuse when you move around.
Pickleball puts less strain on your joints and muscles unlike tennis or jogging. Consequently, pickleball players do not have to go far to maintain the ball in play, which reduces the pressure on their knees and hips. Also, the court size is smaller as compared to a tennis court. Further, the pickleball moves slower compared to a tennis ball. Hence, it is suitable for players of all ages.
3. Pickleball Improves Flexibility and Balance
Pickleball can help enhance your body’s flexibility because it makes you move all sorts of body parts during its games. This helps enhance flexibility and maintain the vitality of your joints while preventing or delaying the onset of arthritis and other joint and bone problems.
Additionally, playing pickleball can be an effective way to improve balance. Regular exercising of the legs keeps them strong and supports healthy blood flow through their blood vessels.
4. Regular Pickleball Lifts up the Mood
If you’re yet to experience the “feel good” state that one usually gets after working out, you should get moving right away!
Doing any sort of exercise regularly can do wonders for an individual’s physical health, but did you know it can also have many positive effects on your mental state?
That’s right, pickleball playing on the regular can lift up your mood, boost your confidence, and help you feel generally better about life and yourself.
This is simply one of the results of engaging in aerobic exercise.
It triggers your body to release endorphins and serotonin, which are chemicals capable of elevating a person’s mood within a short period. You can call it a “workout high”.
The more regular you are with pickleball and other sports/workouts, the less temporary such good feelings will become. Soon enough, you’ll turn into a generally happier and more productive person!
5. Pickleball Offers Positive Cardiovascular Effects
Another health benefit of engaging in pickleball regularly has a lot to do with your cardiovascular health since it gets players hearts pumping.
Since moderate activity is involved in pickleball, it can significantly improve and support the work of your cardiovascular system, just like playing badminton.
Because it can help strengthen the heart, pickleball can be particularly good for older people to practice. It can lower their risk of heart disease, strokes, and attacks.
6. Playing Pickleball Can Help You Sleep Better
If you often have trouble falling asleep or find it difficult to have restful sleep at night, this activity can help you fall asleep.
You see, doing pickleball every day is considered moderate exercise
Exercise can also help reduce the dependence of people on sleep medications, which contributes to better sleep.
Tip: make sure not to work out within 2 hours before bedtime to avoid the alertness effect resulting from the released endorphins.
7. Pickleball Can Help Manage Diabetes
Finally, if you suffer from diabetes, pickleball moves can be effective in managing your condition.
On one hand, physical activity can improve the production of insulin inside your body. On the other hand, it can also increase your sensitivity to insulin.
To get optimal results, you should aim for a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. You can easily achieve this by playing pickleball for around 20 to 25 minutes every day.
Wrap Up
Pickleball is now one of the fastest growing sports in America and has positive effect on health and social lives. Pickleball participants will have improved social connections. Since pickleball is a group sport, it can improve social interaction
