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.