At first glance, football and cheerleading do not seem to have much if anything in common, but if you dig a little deeper, you'll see some similarities in factors like training methods and energy demands on the athletes.
Anaerobic Activities
Both football and cheerleading are classified as anaerobic sports or activities. According to Interval Training, anaerobic sports require brief spurts of high-intensity activity. Both football and cheerleading use these high-intensity anaerobic bursts instead of relying on aerobic movements or endurance. Cheerleaders will cheer or dance for a brief period and then rest before the next cheer or stunt. Football players will have a fast play, then a rest or break before the next play is run.
Training Methods
Both football and cheerleading use similar training methods by focusing on anaerobic drills that focus on weight lifting and sprinting. Just about every football player lifts weights and many cheerleaders do, as both sports require strength in short bursts. In addition, both sports focus on sprinting for conditioning instead of jogging because neither sport has a demand for endurance or aerobic activities during competitions.
Game and Competition Activities
Football and cheerleading feature some of the same movements during games, even though they are performed in different ways. Both sports require heavy pushing activities, with football players pushing each other while blocking and cheerleaders pushing to hold each other up during cheers. Both sports require strength to catch or support things, with football players catching the ball or tackling an opponent and cheerleaders catching each other after stunts. Both also often require loud communication. Cheerleaders must be loud so that fans can hear them, while football players need volume to communicate with their teammates.
Games
Football players and cheerleaders most often perform in front of fans during games, so many of their activities are performed at the same time. Both have some separate time and activities away from games, like cheerleading competitions and football practices, but the bulk of the work and competitions in both sports take place during football games.
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