At practice conditioning tips!!!!!!!

 Throughout the year while at practice running should be a big part of practice.
o Warming up with a jog for about 10 min to get your blood flowing and get your muscles lose before stretching.
o To help improve endurance a good technique to use help with stunts during a routine have the team do some sprints or run or even do up downs and then without resting do any stunts that are in your routine or even basic stunts. The reason behind this is because it helps during a routine your body is going to be tired but if you do stunts when tired you will be ready to hit it during a full run through.
o At the end of every practice the team should have to condition for a good 30 min or better to help build stamina and endurance for the difficult skills with in the routine
o Doing sprints or suicides will help improve endurance ability.
o Also do jump drills at the beginning of practice to help improve jumps is a necessity for every practice.
o Doing jumping drills back and forth on the lines to keep heart rate up and in the mean time doing pushups and abs in between running drills will build strength for the skills that are to be performed in the routine.
o Keep up with conditioning all year long it will be beneficial in the end!!! And you will feel better about your self

 Remember when working out as much as cheerleaders do you have to eat right and make sure you are drinking lots of water throughout the day.

Exercise tips for cheerleaders!

Cheerleaders are very active and have to do some intense training over the year to prepare them for the national competition or other competitions they compete in. To do well in them you have to work out on a daily basis outside of cheer practice.

- Months before a competition hit the gym and every time you go do some form of cardio warm up ( 15 – 20 min) then do some lifting to help build muscle for tumbling or stunting purposes.
o Don’t lift arm and leg muscle groups in the same day
o Pick one muscle group to focus in on that day and don’t lift to much in that one particular muscle group a day, do like 5-6 different lifts ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps if your building muscle do less reps and more weight but if you are toning do more reps and less weight).
o Also remember don’t work same muscle group two days in a row.
o Always do some form of abs every work out while at the gym.
 Abs strength can help with tucks when you have a tight core it’s easier to pull it around.
o Make sure when you get done working out to drink lots of water throughout the day and stretching so your muscles don’t get tight and really sore.
o When close to competition season stop lifting and just do an hour of cardio a day.
 Running is highly recommended and also sprinting with building endurance
 Also keep up with your abs work out while doing cardio.

The reason for stopping lifting during competition season is because while at practice you are doing run through after run through and you don’t want to be sore and worn out from a lift you had earlier. Working out for cheerleaders is very important to stay in shape all year long so you don’t have a difficult time when it comes time to running full out.

Reasons to Cheer in College!!!

1. Get to cheer at college athletic events
2. Travel to some away games with the teams to cheer them on
3. Meet so many new people because you are always seen around campus and you
are known as a cheerleader
4. Social networking
5. Cheer in a NCAA athletic atmosphere ( be on TV)
6. Academic motivation (makes you get to the library to get your hw done before a busy weekend cheering at games)
7. Competing at a National level competition against the best of the best. ( it’s an amazing experience I am going to really miss)
8. Try new skills that were not allowed at the high school level (two high pyramids and basket tosses that consist of your head going over below your hips)
9. Great way to get involved with the school
10. Meet some of your best friends that will be there forever
11. ITS FUN AND WELL WORTH YOUR TIME!!!! ( there are ups and downs but over all its so much fun and I don’t know what I would do without it)

There are many benefits for cheering in college as some of my team mates have said they wouldn’t be where they are today and wouldn’t know the people they know if it weren’t for cheerleading. Cheerleading in college really gets you involved with the school and you meet so many people. Being on a college team you get to know girls that are older that have been at school for a while and during the first few weeks of school you get introduced to other athletes at beginning of the school year at social events.

You learn so many responsibilities as a collegiate cheerleader from getting homework done on your free time rather than waiting till after practice to do it. Cheer teaches you to be responsible without having some parent looking over your shoulder telling you do to get to practice on time and get to games on time and bring this to practice and do this for school, you have to do it on your own. You learn many things from college academically but truly you will take away the most from college from being a cheerleader that will guide you down the right path in the real world.

What cheerleading means to me! how about you?

Over the years I have come to acquire a passion for cheerleading. Many people don’t understand the reason why I am a cheerleader when we aren’t even on scholarship. I tell people it’s not about the money it’s about how I feel after those 2:30 sec routines on the mat in Daytona. The feeling you get when you walk off that mat knowing you gave it your all and couldn’t have done any better is the best feeling any cheerleader could ever have. Nothing means more than the feeling of accomplishment and that all that hard work finally paid off. When you step foot on that mat with your team hand in hand right then and there is a feeling of comfort and strength that rushes through your body and makes you realize your team is there by your side giving it their all fighting for what that one goal. You will know when things are going to hit when you get the feeling of working as “1 team”.

The nerves are racing the body shaking and standing there with your head held high waiting for the music to start, you look around and see people everywhere staring at you and in your mind you think what do I do next. Next thing you know your music is on and your body takes over, muscle memory takes you through your routine. The energy is rising and the team is doing what they know to do and before you know it it’s over and you’re sitting there with so much adrenaline that you could get up and do it again. Many of you passionate cheerleaders know what this feels like to walk off and know you couldn’t have done anything better. But we also know the feeling of not doing our best and no cheerleader ever wants to tell them self I could have done this better or done this differently. Leave it on the mat… give it your all and have no regrets!!!

Cheerleading is my life and without it I would be lost and confused and bored with nothing to do. I would do anything for this sport and will stand up for what I believe in and will always defend cheerleading when people say it’s not a sport. You come do what we do and tell me it’s not a sport! I have been cheering on a messed up foot for years now and finally got it fixed but I hope this isn’t the end of my cheerleading career I am not ready to be done, I am not ready for cheer to end, one more year is all I want to finish it off strong.

Leave a comment and tell me what cheerleading means to you!!!! It will be interesting to see what all the passionate cheerleaders have to say!

crazy basket tosses!

Baskets are by far the most dangers stunt in cheerleading because you throw the girl up high in the air and she is released from your hands. There is a strong possibility that the flyer could hit the ground if she isn’t caught correctly. Bases lock hands in the beginning to form a plat form for the cheerleader to stand on. The flyer then jumps onto their plat form and at the same time she holds her weight in her arms. They then dip together and release at the top till their arms can’t go any farther and then she flies into the air and performs dangerous skills at excessive amounts of heights. All bases need to watch their flyer at all times when in the air as a back spot watch the flyers head and shoulders at all time so it doesn’t hit the ground and bases should as well watch the flyers head and hips. Catch the flyer tight and set out. Oh the baskets cheerleaders are doing these days…. Watch video to see!

Tryout tips!!!!!

Yes its tryouts time even though some of you just got done working all year long with only a few weeks break to now have to start all over again. Some of you may have already had tryouts some of you may not have had them yet but here is a few things to remember before going into tryouts. Most importantly stand out from the rest they look for people who are sticking out.

 When learning cheers or chants stand near the front
 Be sharp and go full out every time when showing off your skills especially when you are doing it in front of the judges.
 Be willing to try new positions when it comes to stunting without getting an attitude and be willing to work with different groups. Even if it isn’t hitting still try hard to make it hit so the coach can see you are trying.
 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE…. After learning things at tryouts go home at night and practice what you learned so when you come back it shows you have worked on it and that shows dedication and show how bad you want it. Also work on skills during down time at tryouts.

What coaches look for at tryouts when picking their team?
 Coaches not only look at skills they look at their determination and their ability to learn skills.
 They look for commitment and someone who arrives on time to tryouts is ready to go with shoes on, hair up, no jewelry on and someone who shows how bad they want to be on the team by practicing.
 Show you are confident and willing to prove you will do anything to be on this team.
 Coaches want to improve their team over the year so taking constructive criticism is well looked at.
 Make the coach remember you, first impressions are always the most important.
 Looks for someone who makes eye contact.
 They look for girls that catch on to things quickly and adjust to changes easily.
 Most importantly someone that is there to work hard but have fun at the same time.

Why it is important to be flexible as a cheerleader?

Just take one look at any cheerleader and you have to realize they have to be flexible to do the skills that we do. Jumping, kicking your leg high in the air or pulling your leg over your head in a stunt requires great flexibility to be able to perform these specific skills. Many hours should be spent stretch and working on your flexibility to help reduce pain and discomfort during certain skills. What is the definition of Flexibility? “Flexibility is the ability of a joint to move in a full range of motion. It is the ability to stretch your arms, legs, and other joints of your body. It is also the elasticity of the muscles and ligaments surrounding the joint. Stretching improves flexibility.”
There are many benefits for being flexible and here is a list of just a few of the reasons why it’s important to be flexible.

• It improves your performance, when more flexible it takes much less energy to move in a different way then normal.
• It will help prevent soreness and injury. If flexible it decreases the resistance of tissue which can help reduce injury and soreness.
• Increases blood supply which promotes greater elasticity and improves performance.
• Improves muscle coordination.

It takes time to improve your flexibility it just doesn’t happen over night, so stretch over time and your muscles need to be reminded their ability to stretch. You can stretch while reading a book, laying around, watching TV, on the phone, sitting on your lap top and like a friend of mine did she laid in bed in her splits. Its good to stretch your muscles out after a hard workout so they don’t tighten up and get sore.
Few tips to think about when stretching:
1. Stretch every day, even a few times a day is good.
2. Warm your muscles up with a light jog or bike before you stretch your muscle never stretch a cold muscle.
3. Stretch till you feel a slight tug in the muscle.
4. Hold a stretch for 10-30 sec then relax and repeat again. Go farther down at your own rate.
5. Equally stretch your body, don’t stretch one side more then the other.

Stretching all the time will help cheerleaders in more ways then you can imagine and not just flyers need to stretch every one needs to stretch and keep muscles loose and flexible to be able to perform intense cheer skills.