Get Fit for Padel: Strength and Mobility for the Court
Padel fitness comes down to four things: calves and ankles that can take hundreds of short, sharp direction changes, legs strong enough to stay low for a whole rally, a trunk that turns and brakes under control, and a forearm and shoulder that do not complain after a weekend of doubles. Two short strength sessions a week, built around split squats, hinges, rotation work, calf raises and some grip and rotator cuff work, cover most of it. The court will give you the conditioning. The gym’s job is to make you robust enough to keep turning up.
What padel actually asks of your body
Padel looks gentle next to tennis. The court is smaller, the serve is underarm, and the walls keep the ball in play. That is precisely why people underestimate it. Rallies last longer, you are almost always in a semi-crouch at the net or scrambling backwards off the glass, and the movement is a constant series of small steps, split steps and lateral shuffles rather than long sprints.
Most of the people who come to me about padel are in their thirties to fifties, picked the game up in the last few years, and play two or three times a week because it is sociable and addictive. The pattern I see is predictable: enthusiasm outpaces tissue tolerance. Calves, Achilles tendons, knees, lower backs and the outside of the elbow take the strain, usually in that order of frequency in my experience. None of it is inevitable.
The four physical demands
- Repeated deceleration. Every change of direction means braking first. That is eccentric work for the quads, glutes and calves.
- Low positions held under fatigue. Volleys at the net and digging balls out of the corner both require a deep, stable knee and hip.
- Rotation and anti-rotation. Bandejas, viboras and smashes come from the hips and trunk. The trunk also has to stop that rotation cleanly.
- Repetitive forearm and shoulder load. Many shots are played with a firm wrist and a short arm. Thousands of them a month add up.
The strength work that matters most
You do not need sport-specific gimmicks. You need ordinary, well-chosen exercises done consistently, with load that rises over months.
Single-leg strength
Padel is played on one leg at a time, so train that way. A rear-foot-elevated or standard split squat builds the front leg through a long range, and a reverse lunge teaches you to load and brake on one side. If you only pick one, choose the split squat; our guide to the Bulgarian split squat explains the setup. Lateral lunges are worth adding because they are the gym version of the wide, low reach for a ball heading past you.
The hinge
A Romanian deadlift with dumbbells or a barbell strengthens the hamstrings and glutes that protect the back when you bend for low balls. It also gives the hamstrings some eccentric strength, which matters for anyone who sprints for a lob.
Calves and Achilles
This is the most neglected area and the most commonly irritated one. Standing calf raises with a straight knee and seated or bent-knee raises cover both main calf muscles. Go slowly on the way down, pause at the bottom, and build towards sets of 12 to 20 with load. It is unglamorous. It is also the exercise most likely to keep you on court.
Rotation that starts at the hips
Cable woodchops and Pallof presses, both done on a cable station, teach you to generate rotation through the hips and resist it through the trunk. A landmine rotation does a similar job if a barbell is available. The aim is a trunk that transfers force from the legs rather than twisting from the lower back.
Forearm, grip and rotator cuff
Slow wrist extensions with a light dumbbell, forearm on your thigh, are a sensible staple for anyone who has felt the outside of the elbow after a long session. Add farmer’s walks for grip and a cable external rotation or face pull for the back of the shoulder. Light, frequent and controlled beats heavy and occasional here.
A two-session week for padel players
This fits around two or three matches. Keep each session to about 45 minutes and leave at least a day between a hard gym session and a competitive match.
| Session A | Session B |
|---|---|
| Split squat, 3 x 8 each leg | Romanian deadlift, 3 x 8 |
| Cable woodchop, 3 x 10 each side | Lateral lunge, 3 x 6 each side |
| Single-arm dumbbell row, 3 x 10 | Pallof press, 3 x 10 each side |
| Standing calf raise, 3 x 15 slow | Bent-knee calf raise, 3 x 15 slow |
| Wrist extension, 2 x 15 | Farmer’s walk, 4 x 30 metres |
| Face pull, 2 x 15 | Cable external rotation, 2 x 15 |
Start with loads that leave two or three reps in the tank. Add a little weight or a rep or two each week while the technique holds. If you are carrying a calf or elbow niggle, keep that exercise but reduce the load rather than skipping it; tendons generally respond better to sensible, steady loading than to complete rest.
Mobility: a short list, not a long routine
Padel players rarely need more flexibility in the abstract. They need enough range in a few specific places.
- Ankles. Knee-to-wall rocks, 10 each side. Stiff ankles push the strain up into the knee in low positions.
- Hips. A 90/90 hip switch, slow, 8 each way. Rotation on court starts here.
- Upper back. Open books lying on your side, 8 each side. If the thoracic spine will not rotate, the lower back and shoulder will try to.
- Shoulders. A band or cable pull-apart and an overhead reach against a wall, for anyone who plays a lot of overheads off the glass.
Do these before you play, along with a few minutes of shuffling, split steps and easy rallying. Five to eight minutes is enough. Our thoracic spine mobility guide goes deeper on the upper back if that is your tight spot.
Conditioning: let the court do most of it
If you play three times a week, you are already doing a fair amount of interval work. Extra conditioning in the gym is useful in the off weeks, or if you want to last the third set with more in the legs. A short air bike session, something like 8 rounds of 15 seconds hard and 45 seconds easy, matches the stop-start rhythm of padel better than a steady run. Keep it to once a week and never the day before a match you care about.
Common mistakes I see in padel players
- Going from zero to four matches a week. Build up over several weeks. Most tendon trouble follows a sudden jump in volume.
- Training only the upper body. Arms feel like the limiter. They rarely are.
- Stretching the calves instead of strengthening them. Calf raises do more for most people than any amount of stretching.
- Ignoring the non-dominant side. Padel is lopsided. Do your single-arm work with the weaker side first and match the reps.
- Hard gym sessions on match day. Tired legs change your footwork, and poor footwork is how ankles get rolled.
If you have an existing injury, a heart condition, are pregnant, or are coming back after a long break from exercise, check with your GP or a physiotherapist before adding hard training on top of matches. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines are a useful reference for how matches and gym work add up across a week.
Training for padel in Highgate
Everything in the plan above can be done in our private basement studio: dumbbells for split squats and carries, a barbell for hinges, a cable station for rotation and shoulder work, and an air bike for intervals. In a session with a personal trainer in Highgate, I would watch how you move laterally, check your ankles and hips, and build the programme around your match schedule rather than the other way round. You can read more about the studio on the Highgate House homepage, or see how we approach private 1-1 coaching. If you play tennis as well, our piece on tennis strength training covers the differences.
Questions we get asked
Is padel enough exercise on its own?
It covers a good share of the UK’s recommended weekly activity, but it does not replace strength training. The guidance asks adults to do muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days a week as well.
How soon will gym work help my game?
Most people feel steadier in low positions and less sore after matches within six to eight weeks of consistent training.
Should I train before or after playing on the same day?
Play first if the match matters. If the gym session is the priority, keep the game afterwards light and social.
What about tennis elbow from padel?
Persistent elbow pain deserves a physiotherapist’s assessment. Slow wrist extension work is commonly used, but the right loading depends on your case.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
Visit The Highgate House · Private personal training
The Highgate House, Archway Road, Highgate, London N6.
