Pickleball After 50: Fun Hobby, Meaningful Exercise, or Both?

Understanding Zone 1, 2, and 3 cardio – and the four common scenarios to help you audit your own body and reach peak performance in your senior years

Is pickleball enough exercise for players over 50? It’s the question that keeps many senior players up at night, or at least, it’s a common debate during the water break between games.

You’ve seen the two camps at your local courts.

One group swears that playing multiple hours per day, several days a week is all the cardio they’ll ever need The other group is constantly talking about their "real" training sessions at the gym, treating pickleball like a mere warm-up 💡

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So, who’s right? According to a recent deep dive from former orthopedic surgeon Cara Beth Lee on her Pickleball Prescription YouTube channel, the answer is a bit of both.

But if you aren't careful, the way you're training off the court might actually be making you slower on it.

Disclaimer: According to her YouTube bio, Cara Beth Lee is "a reformed tennis player and orthopedic surgeon turned senior pro pickleball player." For any medical advice as it pertains to pickleball, please consult your doctor.

The 'Pickleball is Enough' Camp Let’s look at the data first. According to Lee, research on older players shows that in a typical doubles match, about 78% of your time on court is active play .

Of that time, roughly 66% happens in low-to... FULL ARTICLE FOUND ON: https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/pickleball-after-50-fun-hobby-meaningful-exercise-or-both/