Cheerleading today is an elite athletic activity that requires endurance, strength, flexibility and balance. Participating in cheerleading offers you the chance to improve your physical fitness, especially in the area of muscle strengthening. The training necessary for cheerleading, such as drills for jumps and tumbling, improves your strength. However, the actual components of cheerleading are muscle strengthening as well.
Motions
All cheerleaders must learn and perfect arm motions; they are used in cheers, dances, jumps and stunts. Proper motions will not only be well-placed, but they will be sharply executed. Hitting cheerleading motions with the sharpness required will result in stronger, more sculpted arms. You must spend a great deal of time perfecting your motions because they are used in so many different parts of cheerleading. Therefore, you will build strength through the large number of motions you will perform.
Jumps
Jumps make cheers, dances and routines more exciting. To properly execute a jump, you need to get significant vertical height off the ground and lift your legs high into the air. Both of these feats require and build strong muscles of the lower leg, thigh, and even hip flexor. Jumps also build strength in your core muscles. Lifting your legs up into the jump positions calls upon the muscles of your abdomen and back.
Tumbling
Tumbling has become more prevalent in cheerleading. It gets the attention of your crowd at games and of the judges at competition. In order to tumble, you need full body strength. Your arms need to be able to hold your full body weight for skills like a round-off or a back handspring. Your core muscles need to be strong to hold the hollow position of a handstand or snap your legs up into a pike position. Finally, your legs need the strength to get your body off the ground for front and back tucks. Practicing these tumbling elements will strengthen the muscles of your body.
Stunting
Stunting requires cheerleaders to lift or toss another cheerleader into the air. Whether you are stunting as a base or as a top person, you will build strong leg, core and arm muscles. The power for basing a stunt starts in your legs. It calls upon your core muscles and uses your arm muscles; therefore, a base will get a full body workout from stunting. Acting as top person in a stunt is more than just being lifted or tossed into the air. A top person builds strong legs to jump off the ground when loading into a stunt and strong arms from holding herself up as the stunt loads. Finally, she builds strong core muscles from the activation of her abdominal muscles as the stunt builds and while balancing at the top of it.
Member Comments