The toe touch is the most common cheerleading jump. Many coaches require one for tryouts. In a toe touch, your legs extend straight out to the side in a straddle position. It is as if you were sitting on the ground with your knees and toes rotated to face upward. You should keep your arms in a T motion, parallel to the ground. Never reach for your toes. Instead bring your legs up to your arms.
Power Muscles
A toe touch requires you to get your body as high off the ground as you can. Your gastrocnemius muscles run along the back of your calf and they are critical to helping your toe touch get off the ground. The muscles in your upper leg, the quadriceps in front and hamstrings in back, give you height as well. Finally your glutes, or butt muscles, help you get power. Strengthening these muscles will result in increased height for your toe touch.
Leg Extension Muscles
The muscles that help you lift your legs high are a group of muscles called the hip flexors. Your hip flexor muscles connect your spine and pubic bone to your femur and help you lift your legs up. These muscles include the iliacus, psoas major, sartorius, rectus femoris, and pectineus. This group of muscles is typically overlook in strength-training, but understanding the important role that these muscles play in your toe touch should encourage you to focus on strengthening them.
Core Muscles
The muscles of your core help you stabilize your torso during your toe touch. They also assist your hip flexors with lifting your legs in the air. Your core muscles are in your torso and hip. They include your abdominal muscles: rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and external and internal obliques. Also involved in core stabilization are your back muscles: erector spinae and multifidus. The hip flexors and gluteus muscles are also a part of your core muscles. Training your core muscles will help you achieve the position required in a toe touch.
Flexible Muscles
Tremendous flexibility is required for a toe touch. Many cheerleaders aim to have a hyperextended toe touch where the legs pass the point of horizontal and start to V up toward the head. The main muscles involved in achieving this degree of flexibility are inside the thighs. This group of muscles includes the adductor magnus, adductor longus, adductor brevis, pectineus, and gracilis. The execution of your toe touch also requires flexibility of the hamstring muscles that run along the back of your thigh. Spend time stretching these muscles in order to increase your flexibility for your toe touch.
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