Play Padel and Extend Your Life: What the Evidence Says About Racquet Sports After 40
Most men over 40 who want to live longer are given the same short list: walk more, lift something, watch the waistline. All of it is sound. But one of the longest studies of leisure activity and lifespan ever run points somewhere less obvious, to the sports where you need someone on the other side of the net.
Padel has gone from a holiday curiosity to a fixture of London's sporting week in a few short years. This article sets out what the research on racquet sports actually shows, what it does not show, and how a man in his forties or fifties should take the game up without paying for it in his calves and elbows.
The Study That Put Racquet Sports at the Top
The Copenhagen City Heart Study followed 8,577 adults for up to 25 years and compared the life expectancy of people who played different sports with that of people who were sedentary. Published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2018, it found that tennis was associated with around 9.7 additional years of life and badminton with around 6.2. Football, cycling, swimming and running all came in lower. Health club activity, the gym-based training most executives rely on, was associated with around 1.5 years.
A second, larger dataset reached a similar conclusion. Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2017, following more than 80,000 British adults, found that people who played racquet sports had a 47 per cent lower risk of death from any cause over the study period than those who did no exercise, and less than half the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
What These Numbers Do and Do Not Mean
Both studies are observational. They show that people who play racquet sports live longer; they do not prove that the racquet is the reason. Men who are still playing tennis or padel in middle age are, on average, wealthier, more mobile and less likely to be living with a long-term illness. The researchers adjusted for some of this, but no study can capture all of it, and the Copenhagen authors were explicit that they had not established why racquet sports came out ahead.
That caveat matters, but it does not make the finding meaningless. The direction of the effect is consistent across two very different populations, and the plausible mechanisms are well understood. The honest reading is that racquet sports are at least as good for long-term health as anything else a man can do with his leisure time, and quite possibly better.
Why Racquet Sports May Outperform the Gym
It is interval training you do not have to schedule
A rally is a short burst of near-maximal effort followed by a brief recovery, repeated for an hour. That is the structure of interval training, which raises cardiorespiratory fitness efficiently, and cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest single predictors of long-term survival in men. The difference is that nobody has to talk themselves into it.
It loads bone in every direction
Sprinting, stopping and changing direction send multidirectional impact through the hips and spine, which is the kind of loading bone responds to. Cycling and swimming, for all their cardiovascular value, provide very little of it.
It is social, and it gets booked
The Copenhagen researchers suggested that the social element of partner and team sports may account for part of their advantage. There is a practical version of that point every executive will recognise: a court booked with three other people gets played. A gym session in an empty diary slot is the first thing to go.
Why Padel Suits Men Over 40
Padel is played as doubles on an enclosed court smaller than a tennis court, with the walls in play and an underarm serve. The smaller court and the walls mean rallies last longer and the game is far easier to pick up than tennis, without losing the bursts of effort, the changes of direction or the social structure the research points to. For a man coming back to sport after a decade at a desk, that combination is hard to beat.
The Risk Nobody Mentions: Taking It Up Too Fast
The heart and lungs adapt to new exercise within weeks. Tendons, particularly the Achilles and the tendons of the forearm, adapt over months, and that gap widens with age. The mismatch is why a sudden jump in playing volume is the classic route to a calf strain or a sore elbow in a man returning to sport.
The practical answer is to build up over a month or two, keep resistance training in the week alongside it, and treat the calves and forearms as tissues to strengthen rather than simply stretch. Our article on strength training and nutrition for men over 40 sets out what that training should look like.
Padel Is Not a Substitute for Strength Training
Racquet sports do a great deal for fitness and for bone, but they do little to build muscle, and muscle is the tissue most men over 40 are quietly losing. The rate at which lean mass declines is one of the better predictors of health and independence in later decades, which is why we call it the metric that predicts your next two decades. The best combination is padel for fitness and enjoyment, and progressive resistance training for muscle.
Measure Before You Assume
Whether a man needs to prioritise fitness, muscle or bone is not something he can tell from the mirror. A DEXA scan shows lean mass, fat distribution and bone density in a single scan, and an advanced blood panel shows what is happening metabolically underneath. Interpreted together by an HCPC-registered dietitian, they show which of the three his training should be built around, and give him a baseline against which the next year can be judged.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do I need to play to see a benefit?
The large studies measured whether people played rather than a set dose, so there is no evidence-based minimum specific to padel. UK guidance for adults is 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week, plus strength work on two days. Two padel sessions a week alongside one or two resistance sessions meets that comfortably.
Is padel safe if I have not exercised for years?
For most men, yes, provided they build up gradually. Anyone with known heart disease, chest pain on exertion or significant cardiovascular risk factors should speak to their doctor before starting any vigorous sport.
Is padel better than tennis?
There is no direct comparison in the research. Tennis has the longer evidence base; padel shares the features that seem to matter and is easier to start. The better sport is the one you will still be playing in five years.
Play, Measure and Talk: An Evening at House of Racquet
On Thursday 26 November, Miller Health and ALO Physiotherapy are hosting a small evening for men at House of Racquet in King's Cross: padel, short talks on fitness and longevity, and individual assessments. Places are limited to around ten. To register your interest, contact us through millerhealth.london.
For a full baseline before you start, the Explore assessment is £1,950 and takes place at 25 Harley Street, London: a DEXA scan and an advanced blood and hormone panel, interpreted together, with a personalised feedback consultation. Book at millerhealth.london.
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