Pickleball is similar to tennis, badminton or any other racket sport in that you will get a full body workout. Pickleball is a great sport for improving your health and potentially losing weight. One of the reasons is that it works all sorts of muscles in certain areas of your body. Here are the main muscles you’ll work after a solid Pickleball sesh.
The Heart
Let’s start with the most obvious benefit of regular play – Pickleball is good for the heart. If you weren’t aware, you’re heart is actually a musclular organ. It is the most important muscular organ in our body. Pickleball has repeatedly shown evidence of being a great sport to play for your cardiovascular health. While the court is smaller, you still have to move quickly from side to side and front to back to keep up with your opponent, which keeps your blood pumping.
Abdomen
Pickleball works your core muscles including your abs and the muscles surrounding it. In order to play Pickleball well, you have to keep a low center of gravity and move quickly. This engages all the body parts that your abdomen helps to control including hips, stomach, and lower back. Additionally, in Pickleball you have twist your body quickly when hitting the Pickleball to put power behind each of your shots. This power is mostly drive from your mid section if you are doing it right, and engages your abs each time to return the Pickleball to your opponent.
Calves, Hamstrings and Quads
Last but not least, we come to all of the muscles in the legs. Now truthfully, if you play a full day of non stop Pickleball, you’re gonna feel it most in every muscle and ligament in your legs. You might not even want to get out of bed the next day if you were glued to the court the previous day! The main muscles you are working in your legs when you play Pickleball are your calves, hamstrings and quads. The reason these muscles in your legs get such a great workout is that you are engaging each and every one of them on every point. You never know which way the Pickleball will bounce, and so your have to quickly accelerate and move in every direction on the court. By the end of an hour or two of play, you’ll feel every muscle in your leg worked.
Conclusion
Muscles in your legs and core get the most out of Pickleball, so if you are looking to keep these muscle groups engaged, Pickleball is a great sport to dive into.