Is Padel Good Exercise? The Honest Answer for UK Players

Everyone who tries padel asks the same question after their first session: "why am I this tired?" Padel looks like a gentle sport from the outside — enclosed court, doubles, underarm serve. In reality it's an excellent cardiovascular workout with a surprisingly high calorie burn. Here's the full picture.

Calories burned in padel

Calorie burn varies significantly based on your weight, intensity and fitness level. Competitive club matches burn more than casual social sessions. As a general guide: a 75kg player burns around 450–550 calories in a 90-minute session of moderate intensity padel.

What muscles does padel work?

• Legs — the constant lateral movement, lunging and split-stepping works your quads, hamstrings, calves and glutes intensely
• Core — every shot rotates through the core. Regular padel builds rotational core strength quickly
• Shoulders and arms — the racket movements work your shoulder girdle, forearms and wrists
• Cardiovascular system — the stop-start nature of padel (short explosive bursts followed by brief recovery) is excellent interval training

Is padel lower impact than tennis?

Yes — significantly. The smaller court means shorter sprints and less extreme direction changes. The underarm serve eliminates the shoulder stress of tennis serving. Most players report that padel is much kinder on their knees and hips than tennis, making it a more sustainable long-term sport.

Padel vs other exercise