Tumbling Warmup Workouts

Tumbling consists of acrobatic and gymnastic skills and is often performed by gymnasts, cheerleaders, dancers and other performers. Tumbling can place a lot of stress on your body, so a proper warmup is essential to prepare your joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments for activity. A poor warmup can increase your risk of injury.

Cardiovascular Activity

Cardiovascular activity a crucial component of your warmup because it increases the temperature of your muscles, lubricates your joints, promotes blood flow and increases your heart rate. Cardiovascular activity is comprised of repetitive movements that use large muscle groups. Traditional modes of cardiovascular activity include walking, running, climbing stairs, jump roping and bicycling. Perform butt kicks, high knee runs, bounds and skater glides for a more interesting warmup. Evaluate your facility and equipment to determine what cardiovascular activities you can accommodate.

Games

Games can add a fun component to cardiovascular activity. Individual races, partner races and relay races are a great way to warmup with friends or teammates. Try racing while performing wheelbarrows, an exercise where you walk on your hands while someone holds your ankles, or crabwalks forward, backward and sideways. A few rounds of tag, dodge ball and capture the flag are good cardiovascular warmups for kids.

Flexibility

Tumbling often requires flexibility, so you may want to stretch after you perform your cardiovascular warmup. Static stretching, a type of stretching where you hold the stretch for an extended time, is not ideal before tumbling because it can decrease the ability of your muscles to produce force. Dynamic stretching, developing flexibility while performing through sport specific movements, is best. Squats, jump squats and lunges warmup your joints, open your hips, and mobilize your ankles . They also promote whole body extension that is used necessary for many tumbling skills. The inchworm exercise helps lengthen your hamstrings and lower back while activating your core muscles; Start in a pushup position and inch your feet forward, moving through downward dog pose and ending in a toe touch. Inch your hands forward until you have returned to a pushup position.

Specific Skills

Complete your warmup by performing skills that are specific to the tumbling skills you are going to perform. For example, practice cartwheels and walkovers if you are performing side or front aerials. Practice limbers and handstands if you are performing handsprings. Choose warmup skills that won't make you too tired to tumble.

Visualization

A tumbling warmup isn't just for your body -- it can help prepare your mind for the activity to come. Visualize the tumbling skills you are going to perform, either before you start your warmup or just before you begin tumbling. Visualization can enhance motor learning and performance, as well as quell any fears you may have about performing new and more challenging skills.