6 min readPickleball Game

Is Pickleball Good Exercise? Calories and Studies

  • health
  • exercise
  • calories
  • beginners
Sidewalk chalk drawing on asphalt of a pickleball paddle, a ball, footprints and a heart with a heartbeat line

Is pickleball good exercise? Yes, by the measures researchers use. The 2024 Older Adult Compendium of Physical Activities lists competitive pickleball at 5.3 (code 1552560) for adults 60 and over. By our conversion that is about 4.1 calories per kilogram of body weight per hour, or roughly 286 calories an hour for a 70 kg (154 lb) player.

This page is general information, not medical advice. The rules page covers how the game is played.

How many calories does pickleball burn?

The table shows calories (kilocalories) for 30, 45 and 60 minutes of continuous play. The formula is calories per hour = 5.3 x (2.7 / 3.5) x body weight in kg, which is 4.09 x kg.

Body weight30 min45 min60 min
60 kg (132 lb)123184245
70 kg (154 lb)143215286
80 kg (176 lb)164245327
90 kg (198 lb)184276368
100 kg (220 lb)204307409

A relaxed game with long pauses uses less. In the study below, individual players ranged from 1.5 to 7.7 METs. For a worked case, take a 70 kg player in a 45 minute doubles game: 4.089 x 70 = 286 an hour, and 286 x 0.75 hours = 215 calories.

Test any claim you read by dividing its calories per hour by the player's weight in kg. A claim of 500 an hour for 70 kg is 7.1 per kg. The Compendium row gives 4.1.

Where does 5.3 come from, and who is it for?

The Compendium of Physical Activities is the standard list of what activities cost, and its two books answer differently for pickleball. The Adult book, for ages 19 to 59, has no pickleball row. We searched its sports list and its PDF. The Older Adult book, for ages 60 and over, has one: "Pickleball, competitive", code 1552560, value 5.3.

The older-adult values use a different baseline. The authors divide oxygen use by 2.7 mL per kg per minute instead of the standard 3.5, because resting metabolism is lower in older adults. They define one standard MET as 1 kcal per kg per hour, or 3.5 mL per kg per minute. So one older-adult unit is 2.7 / 3.5 = 0.771 of a standard MET. That is why the formula has that factor. Plugging 5.3 into "MET x kg x hours" instead would overstate the calories by about 30 percent (5.3 x 70 = 371, against 286).

The authors don't publish a calorie formula for the older-adult unit. Ours is calculated from their two definitions. If you're under 60, no Compendium pickleball value exists. Use the same formula with your own estimate and treat the answer as rough. Don't borrow another sport's number.

Is pickleball better exercise than walking?

By the same book, an hour of competitive pickleball sits at the same level as an hour of walking at 2.8 to 3.2 mph, and below walking at 3.3 to 3.7 mph. Walking is steady while pickleball has pauses, and the pickleball row is for competitive play. These are older-adult values.

Bar chart of calories in one hour for a 70 kg adult: pickleball 286, the same as walking 2.8 to 3.2 mph, below brisk walking at 324
An hour of pickleball burns about 286 calories, the same as walking at 2.8 to 3.2 miles an hour.

What does a study say about the heart and fitness?

Smith, Buchanan and Dalleck measured it in 2018 (International Journal of Research in Exercise Physiology). Fifteen adults aged 40 to 85, mean age 65.2, wore a portable gas analyzer through one doubles match. Intensity averaged 4.1 METs and 50.9 percent of heart rate reserve, with an average heart rate of 108.8 beats a minute. The authors call that moderate intensity.

Their METs divide by each player's own resting oxygen use, not 3.5, so they aren't the same units as the Compendium's. Energy use, net of resting, averaged 5.9 calories a minute for people averaging 76.3 kg. The authors scaled that to 353.5 calories for an hour (ACE's write-up rounds it to about 350). That's higher than the 311 the table's formula gives for 76 kg, so treat the table as a low estimate.

The same people then played about an hour, three times a week, for six weeks. HDL cholesterol rose by 3.08 mg/dL and LDL fell by 3.67. Blood pressure fell by 4.75 over 2.50 mmHg, and maximal oxygen uptake rose by 3.11 mL/kg/min. Body weight, waist and body fat didn't change significantly.

The limits: 15 people, mostly in their 60s, one group measured before and after, with no comparison group. The authors also say older adults with balance problems, limited mobility or more serious chronic disease may need further screening before they start.

Is pickleball good for weight loss?

The table shows energy used during play. Whether your weight changes depends on everything else you eat and do over weeks. In the study above, weight didn't change over six weeks. This page doesn't say play alone changes weight. For that, ask a doctor or a dietitian.

How often should you play?

Here is the scale. The CDC's "Adult Activity: An Overview" (dated 20 December 2023) says adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week, or 75 of vigorous, and at least 2 days of muscle-strengthening. Three 60-minute games a week is 180 minutes of play. The CDC page names brisk walking as moderate and jogging as vigorous. It doesn't say which one pickleball is, so this page doesn't either.

What are the downsides, and how do you lower the risk?

Falls. In US emergency-department records for 2013 to 2022, 65.5 percent of the pickleball injuries counted were falls (Yu and colleagues, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2025). Those are counts of people treated, not a risk rate. Pickleball injuries has the full numbers.

Two named bodies give habits:

  • The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' OrthoInfo "5 Pickleball Injury Prevention Tips": take lessons, wear shoes made for pickleball or tennis, warm up, stay hydrated and know your limits. Playing too hard or long can make knees with arthritis swell.
  • Harvard Health Publishing (1 December 2023): lower-body strength exercises at least twice a week, a dynamic warm-up before playing, and agility and balance work.

Try the warm-up routine and read what to wear. If you have a health condition, or feel unwell or in pain while playing, stop and talk to a doctor.

New to the game? Start with pickleball for beginners, or pickleball for seniors. Multiply your weight in kg by 4.09 for one hour of play, then do the warm-up. The free browser game is singles or doubles against the computer. It isn't a workout tool, and we don't claim it counts as exercise.

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