I Have a New Hobby. It’s Kicking My Ass.

This column first appeared in the Men’s Health email newsletter. The Optimized Man is a biweekly series from our editorial director as he tries out the latest, greatest, and weirdest health and wellness innovations so you don’t have to. Sign up here to get the next one.I’VE TRIED TO build a life free of shoulds. I’m fine with woulds and coulds and their vague promise of actionability, but when you get into shoulds, you get hung up on stuff like guilt and doubt and all kinds of second-guessing. I really should work out. I really shouldn’t eat that. You think I should try and sleep more? Thanks, man. Good tip.Shoulds, put plainly, are a problem, and this year I’ve been staring down two different shoulds that won’t quit staring back: I should probably do more cardio, and I should probably get a hobby. I’ve never been much of a cardio guy or a hobby guy, but with evidence tying both to better physical and mental health outcomes, my list of excuses for not doing either is growing short. And I think I’ve found a solution in one of the fastest-growing sports in America.It’s called padel (pronounced pa-DEL), and you might’ve come across it if you’ve been on vacation lately in Central America or southern Europe (or somewhere really exotic, like Miami). I discovered it last year on a cold winter’s night, and after playing for two hours on an indoor court and emerging sweaty, sore, and exuberant, I can report that it combines everything I like about tennis, racquetball, and squash into one hard-hitting, heavy-breathing sport.You can go ahead and YouTube the basics, and here’s the gist: You’re playing on a court that’s about three-quarters the area of a tennis court, with high glass walls along the back, some wire fencing on the sides, and a net down the middle. Instead of pickleball’s slow and endless dinking, a padel ball whirs fast off your midsize racquet (also larger and heavier than pickleball’s), and the action requires you to move. Even though it’s a doubles sport (which typically requires less movement than singles, ‘cause there’s two of you), you’re constantly chasing the ball like it’s that little golden bug in quidditch. Sprint, stop, swing, pivot, repeat. (You can also hit the ball against the back wall to launch it in reverse, back over the net, which requires a massive swing.) The first time I played, I showed up wearing sweatpants and a puffer vest over a T-shirt. Within minutes of starting I had sweat through my T-shirt, and by the end of the first set, I had sweat through the seat of my sweatpants. I looked like John Candy in Splash, post-racquetball. What can I say? I’m not a cardio guy.And there is a lot of cardio here. Back in 2024 we noticed that tennis had started billing itself as “the world’s healthiest sport,” and we asked writer Nick Pachelli to dig into the branding to see how much of it is hype. According to Nick:“Tennis involves a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercises use oxygen to perform continuous movements (cardio), while anaerobic exercises use energy stored in your muscles for quicker bursts of high-intensity movement. In tennis, your aerobic system gets a serious push as you’re running, repositioning yourself, and bouncing on your feet waiting for a return. Meanwhile, every stroke requires classic gym-built power (anaerobic energy). Both types of exercise have positive effects on cardiovascular health, and good cardio health has been proven to lead to increased blood flow (check), improved brain function (check, check), and a significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease (check, check, check).”Padel isn’t tennis and tennis isn’t padel, but I’ve been playing tennis for almost four decades, and I’ve never had my ass kicked quite as hard as when I played padel.Then there is the social aspect of it—you’re part of a pair playing another pair, and whether you’re close friends or total strangers with your partner or opponents, at least you’re not bowling alone. Nick found that when longevity researchers study tennis…“The findings show there’s a strong association between playing tennis and living significantly longer. As a possible explanation, the researchers pointed to the potential impact of social interaction and community, as the activities showing the greatest increase in lifespan require two or more people. Social connection is strongly linked to longevity, as it can help keep loneliness, which raises the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, at bay.”Aerobic exercise, social connection and community, some light competition, and a lot of laughs: Could padel be my new hobby? Could it be my main source of cardio? Winter’s coming and the indoor courts are calling, and with visions of John Candy huffing and puffing in my head, I should probably start training.Richard Dorment is the editorial director of Men’s Health and Women’s Health.