College Cheerleading Workout Plan

As a competitive cheerleader, your cheerleading routine might just be two and a half minutes long, but it takes a lot of strength and discipline to be perfect. Since the performance is so short, people expect to be impressed. To do so, you have to stick to an effective cheerleading workout plan. 

As a cheerleader, you need to get used to jumping, to cheer, tumbling, stunting, and dancing within these three minutes. This is a highly athletic activity that requires a lot of energy and endurance. An average person would easily run out of breath within the first 30 seconds. 

To maintain balance, flexibility, and the level of strength required for this activity, you need to train regularly. The best way to achieve it is to work as a team. Make sure you create time among each other to work together for uniformity and coordination. As you know, all cheerleading performances are done as a group.

As a student, do not forget to work on your academic excellence as well. You need to strike the perfect balance between your academic life, your personal life, and your extracurricular life. Having other things you do other than pursue your dream course ensures that you leave college as a well-rounded student. To be mentioned by sports writers as one of the best competitive cheerleaders is a huge win for your future career. Such successes go ahead of you and ensure you’re easily recognized in different fields. 

Here is a comprehensive guide on the right workout plan for college cheerleaders. 

Building Endurance

As we’ve already established, cheerleaders perform very rigorous skits, which require a lot of endurance. That means that the work out regime you adopt should help you build endurance. 

For one to perform continuously and intensely for two and a half minutes, they need endurance. You’ll require to adopt cardiovascular exercise into your workout regime. 

While you’re exercising, you’ll also need to perform at least three to five sequences of your competitive routine. This helps you get used to staying active without your body giving in. An average person would feel weak in the knee if it was their first time taking part in such an activity. However, when you do this, repetitively, performing for three minutes, becomes manageable. Of course, you’ll get tired after, but not so much that you’ll want to fall. 

If you’re training as a squad, you should also add running to your routine. This is an easy exercise to manage because everyone knows how to run.

Outside your regular routine, also incorporate aerobic activities like biking, rollerblading, and aerobic dance classes. Most of your days should involve serious and intentional training to help you increase cardiovascular endurance. 

Strength Training

Aside from endurance, you also need a certain level of strength to pull off cheerleading performances. These stunts are usually energetic and jaw-dropping. The squat has less than three minutes to impress a huge crowd. 

Aside from holding your body weight in tumbling, there is also a lot of body lifting involved in cheerleader performances. This is not something anyone can do without sufficient training. Strength training is most effective as a squat because this way, you’ll be encouraged to keep going.

Incorporate bodyweight exercises like push-ups and sit-ups as these can be done without any workout equipment. 

If you do independent training as well, venture into lifting weights. Make sure you start small and build your strength as you proceed. When you’re lifting weights, make sure you’re working with a supporting partner because the weights can easily fall on you. Such accidents can set you back for months, so it’s better to take safety precautions and avoid them for positive results, make sure you take part in strength training at least three days a week.

Stretching and Flexibility

At number three, we have flexibility and body stretch. As you know, jumps and tumbles require a lot of flexibility. Stunting positions require cheerleaders to be extensively flexible. To improve your flexibility, take up static stretching. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but wait until you try it. 

You should stretch on a daily basis if you want positive results, and it should follow a thorough warmup. Make sure you incorporate head-toe stretches to involve all your major muscles. 

Aside from general body stretches that target different muscle groups in your body, also do cheerleading-specific stretches too. These include backbends, spits, and straddles. For each static stretch, hold for 30 seconds and repeat them three to five times.

Better Balance

Cheerleading performances are all about balance because the stunts involve holding people on your shoulders. If the person on the ground is not stable, the whole stunt crumbles. The last thing a cheerleading team is for them to fall during a performance. 

You can fall as many times during practices as long as the main performance is perfect. Jumps and tumbles require steadiness and focus. Everyone in the team should focus on making the performance a success. 

A good regime for training is standing balance yoga poses. Yoga allows you to be in touch with your center, and this is the perfect way to achieve balance. Make sure you hold balance poses for at least 30 seconds for positive results. Throughout the workout session, breathe in deeply and take your time exhaling. 

Conclusion 

As a competitive cheerleader, you need to find a workout regime that makes you better. Since this is a competitive sport, you should work on making your performances flawless. As a squad, find time to work out together to improve your balance and coordination. 

Featured Image by Eric Perlin from Pixabay