Isn’t cheerleading a sport?
Do you often hear people say “Cheerleading is not a sport”? We often hear that, and our response is “Well, yes, cheerleading is definitely a sport.” According to a newly released report by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR), cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports in which girls participate.
Sports require active participation, physical effort and levels of achievement. Cheerleading meets all of these criteria and is undoubtedly a healthy, fun, and team-building sport.
Being a sport and being listed as a dangerous sport only reinforces how important it is for all levels of cheerleading to be health conscious and like all other contact and extreme sports you need to focus on your cardio, strength and flexibility if you want to excel and have a long future in cheerleading.
These are the three areas of fitness that all cheerleaders should focus on in and out of cheerleading season.
CARDIO
Cardio refers to aerobic exercise, which increases blood flow to the heart. Cheerleading routines typically only last several minutes, but time-intensive practices and routines require a lot of stamina. Cheerleaders shooting after 30 minutes can cause a team to fail or a teammate to get hurt. Stamina helps cheerleaders perform the dance, acrobatics, and cartwheels smoothly. Some suggestions to improve stamina are walking, running, bicycling, swimming, or any other exercise done for long periods of time that makes you sweat and increases your breathing.
STRENGTH
Cheerleaders use every muscle in the body. Particularly important is the core, or midsection. The core consists of the abs, obliques, and lower back. A strong core allows a cheerleader to balance and cartwheel. Flyers can balance better and bases can hold more easily. It also takes strength to rummage. Throwing your entire body into the air required tons of muscle strength. Some suggestions for improving strength include weight training by doing just a few exercises a day with weights for the hands and legs. This will increase the muscle strength needed to cheer.
FLEXIBILITY
Flexibility refers to the ability to flex or bend the body. Obviously, cheerleaders must be flexible. Splits, heel pulls, high kicks, backbends, and jumps can only be executed well if a cheerleader has the flexibility to do it. Some suggestions for improving flexibility are to complete a series of stretches every day and hold those stretches for 30 seconds.
Cheerleading has come a long way since its first display in 1898 when Johnny Campbell stood in front of a crowd during a Minnesota football game and led the first organized cheerleading squad. Today, cheerleaders still yell, but they also jump, dance, tumble, stretch, and do all kinds of gymnastics. All of which requires the use of a cheerleader’s entire body.