Over the past couple of years, many Malaysians have changed the way they spend their evenings and weekends.
Padel courts are appearing in converted warehouses and shopping mall rooftops across the Klang Valley, and peak slots are booked out days in advance.
Pickleball, once dismissed as a retiree’s pastime, is drawing players in their 20s and 30s to community halls and repurposed badminton courts.
Reformer Pilates studios have multiplied across the city, complete with waitlists and monthly packages.
Running clubs that struggled to fill a WhatsApp group five years ago now cap their weekly sessions.
The clearest signal yet is Hyrox, the fitness race that combines eight one-kilometre runs with eight functional workout stations such as sled pushes, rowing and wall balls.
Kuala Lumpur will host Malaysia’s first Hyrox event on December 12 and 13 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC).
If the regional appetite is any guide (tickets for the Singapore edition were snapped up within minutes of release), demand will be fierce.
The money is following the movement.
Oura, the Finnish company behind the smart ring that millions now wear to track sleep, heart rate and recovery, filed confidentially for a United States listing last month at a valuation of around US$11bil (RM45.6bil).
It has sold more than 5.5 million rings and expects revenue of close to US$2bil (RM8.3bil) this year.
Its rival Whoop, maker of a screenless fitness strap, raised US$575mil (RM2.39bil) in March at a valuation of US$10.1bil (RM41.9bil).
Investors are not pricing these as gadget makers – they are pricing them as health platforms, betting that ordinary people will pay a monthly subscription to understand their own bodies.
Why now?
Part of it is a quiet backlash against screens.
After a decade of doomscrolling, many people have concluded that another hour on the phone makes them feel worse, while an hour on a court makes them feel better.
Part of it is also the search for community.
Padel and pickleball are sociable by design, played in doubles, easy to learn and hard to take too seriously.
Gyms and run clubs have become the new kopitiam for a generation that drinks less and works remotely.
And the wearables feed the loop: once your sleep and training strain are quantified, exercise stops being a vague aspiration and becomes a measurable habit.
Increasing injuries
As a doctor, I want to be clear: this is good news.
More than half of Malaysian adults are overweight or obese, whilst diabetes, hypertension and heart disease impose an enormous burden on families and on our health system.
Regular physical activity remains the cheapest and most effective medicine we have.
It lowers blood pressure, improves insulin sensitivity, lifts mood, protects cognition and adds years of healthy life.
But there is a catch, and orthopaedic and sports medicine colleagues are seeing it with growing frequency: the injured weekend athlete.
The typical story is a man or woman in their 40s or 50s, desk-bound for two decades, who discovers padel or signs up for Hyrox with friends and goes from zero to four sessions a week within a month.
The heart and lungs may adapt quickly to this enthusiasm.
Tendons, ligaments and cartilage do not; they strengthen over months, not weeks, and they punish sudden jumps in load.
The injury patterns are predictable.
Padel and pickleball demand explosive lunges, sharp changes of direction and overhead smashes, which is why calf tears, Achilles tendon injuries, knee ligament strains and shoulder problems are climbing wherever these sports take off.
The numbers can be startling.
In the US, analysts at the investment bank UBS estimated that pickleball injuries alone would generate between US$250mil (US$1.04bil) and US$500mil (RM2.07bil) in medical costs in a single year with the heaviest toll among players over 60.
Hyrox-style training brings its own risks, particularly lower back and knee complaints from heavy sled work and high-repetition squatting performed with fatigued, imperfect form.
None of this is an argument against playing.
Important pointers
It is an argument for playing properly, and it points to three things to think about.
The first is coaching.
Demand for qualified padel and pickleball coaches already outstrips supply, and the gap is being filled by enthusiastic players with no formal training in technique or load management.
A good coach does more than improve your backhand.
They build the foundation that prevents injury: movement screening, graded progression, and strength work for the calves, shoulders and trunk before intensity ramps up.
Facility operators riding this boom should treat coaching pipelines and basic injury-prevention programmes as part of the product, not an optional extra, and our sports bodies and training institutions have a window to certify coaches at scale while the wave is still building.
The second is how we respond to pain.
Malaysians are remarkably stoic about musculoskeletal complaints and the instinct to “play through it” is precisely how a minor tendon irritation becomes a chronic tendinopathy requiring months off, or a small tear becomes a rupture requiring surgery.
The rule of thumb is simple.
Muscle soreness that eases within a day or two is normal adaptation.
Pain that is sharp, persists beyond 48 hours, causes swelling, wakes you at night or changes the way you move is a signal to stop and get assessed.
Early review by a doctor or physiotherapist usually means short, structured rehabilitation and a quick return to sport.
Ignoring it usually means a longer absence and sometimes a permanent one.
There is a third point that deserves honest acknowledgement: this boom is currently overwhelmingly urban and overwhelmingly middle class.
An hour on a padel court in the Klang Valley can cost more than RM100, a single reformer pilates class often runs to RM60 or more, and a smart ring or fitness strap costs four figures before the monthly subscription begins.
These activities are flourishing in Bangsar and Mont Kiara; far less so in rural districts or our cities’ low-cost flats, even though the communities carrying the greatest burden of chronic diseases live there.
The policy task is to widen access: keeping public courts, fields and pools maintained and affordable, opening school facilities after hours, supporting community-level coaching through local councils, and designing health promotion that does not assume everyone can pay boutique prices.
A fitness culture that stops at the boundaries of disposable income will deepen our health inequalities rather than narrow them.
Public bodies that hold sporting assets can lead by example: the Kuala Lumpur Sports City at Bukit Jalil and similar venues could be opened far more deliberately to everyday use, from safe, lit evening running routes to affordable bookings and coached community programmes.
The fitness boom sweeping Malaysia is worth celebrating and worth protecting.
The wearable on your finger can tell you how you slept, but it cannot build your tendons for you.
Train gradually, invest in proper coaching and respect what your body tells you.
The aim is not to look good on social media platforms.
The aim is to still be on the court at 70.
Dr Helmy Haja Mydin is a consultant respiratory physician and Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia chairman. For further information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
