Does Pickleball Make You Live Longer?

 1/24/2025 Issue #4



            Fit Tip: Be OK with OK.     

You carved away that time for the workout, but you realize your back is a lil’ stiff and you probably won’t even be able to squat that much today. Or you suddenly have less time to workout than you had planned. Do not skip it! Even if the excuse is a legitimate excuse, just adjust; do the shorter or easier workout. Be OK with an imperfect workout. An imperfect workout done consistently beats a perfect workout done inconsistently. Most of the time, it will end up being a better workout than you thought anyway. I can tell you from experience that heavy squats at 5:30am are never exciting or eagerly anticipated, but I can also attest that more often than not, what I thought would be a brutal, uncomfortable squat session ended up being a great workout. So embrace your inner Shia LaBUFF and “JUST DO IT!”


           Good News: Pickleball Might Save Your Life . 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27895075/

This massive study included over 80,000 participants ages 30-98 and followed them for an average of 9 years. The goal was to find out both all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality rates and how they differed among individuals and their associated sport. Most would correctly assume that at least some kind of activity will improve their longevity, but there were some surprises from the study: 

Risk of death from any cause or specifically from cardiovascular disease had no significant association with playing football or with running/jogging, but it did have a significant association with swimming and aerobics. The sports that came out on top were, you guessed it: racquet sports (tennis, badminton, pickleball)  with a 28% lower risk of death from any cause and a whopping 56% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. 

Sidenote: Don’t misinterpret the results and think that running is pointless; this was simply in comparison to all the other sports. Runners vs. people who do nothing have a huge advantage. Also walking was not included in this study, but has been shown in many others to have a great impact on cardiovascular health and all-cause mortality. 




            .Challenge for the Week: Get Some Sleep.


While you can get by easily with little sleep, it dramatically affects your health. Adults don’t need quite as much sleep as children or teens, but they still need 7-8 hours of sleep for optimal health. Your brain and body need the recovery of a full night of sleep. You don’t know what you are missing if you haven’t had consistent quality sleep. How do you get better sleep? One way is to go to bed and wake up at the same time each night and day, preserving your circadian rhythm. The challenge for the week is to do just that: go to bed and wake up at approximately the same time every day. Want more sleep tips? Check out my cheat sheet: 



Know someone who might enjoy this newsletter? Share it with them, or have them ask to be added to the list; simply email me at: potjer.training@gmail.com 


Win the weekend!


Brad


Durable Dad Training

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