What Fitness Do You Gain With Cheerleading?

While a competitive cheerleading routine may last only two minutes and 30 seconds, it is packed with high-level athletic skills such as stunting, tumbling, jumping and dancing. Perfecting these skills requires many hours of practice. Cheerleaders train to increase muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility, which leads to mastery of the high-level skills required to win championships. In addition, improved fitness levels reduce the risk of injuries.

Muscular Strength and Endurance

Stunting requires two to four squad members -- known as bases and spotters -- to physically lift another squad member, known as the flyer. When performing extended stunts, the bases and spotters hold the flyer overhead with their arms extended. When performing tosses, the bases and spotters propel the flyer into the air. While tumbling, your arms and legs push off of the floor to propel your body into the air. Jumping uses lower body strength to push down and drive your body into the air. Training to perfect these skills improves the ability of your muscles to exert force, resulting in increased strength and endurance gains.

Flexibility

Flexibility, the range of motion -- or the distance -- reached through a joint, is a key component of cheerleading. Skills such as jumping and kicking require high levels of flexibility in the hips. Stretching exercises involve muscle and connective tissue elongation. Achieving improved flexibility improves the height of jumps and kicks. Flyers require high amounts of flexibility to perform stunts such as heel stretches and arabesques.

Cardiovascular Endurance

Cardio fitness is classified as anaerobic and aerobic energy production requiring your heart and lungs to supply blood and oxygen to sustain an activity. Cheerleading training improves both. Aerobic training involves elevating your heart rate and respiration while using large muscle groups for a minimum of 20 minutes. Anaerobic training consists of short, explosive bursts of energy. While practicing competition routines, squads may repeatedly perform a routine for as long as two hours. Every performance of the routine is an "all-out" high-energy effort.

Body Composition

Body composition is the percentage of lean body mass and body fat. High-intensity training to improve cheerleading skills increases metabolism, the rate of calories burned. When the amount of calories burned is more than the amount of calories eaten, excess body weight and body fat is reduced to optimal levels. This improves health levels and reduces the risk of heart problems.