Warm Ups and Stretching
Warming up and stretching is a crucial part of cheerleading. "You want to warm up at the beginning of every practice so your muscles are ready for jumps and running through the routine." (Webber 30). You always want to do a warm up, such as running or jumping jacks, before stretching because you never want to stretch cold(Webber 30). You can do many different variations, such as alone and with a partner. There is also a number of different stretches for each muscle. Below are some stretches that Varsity's Ultimate Guide to Cheerleading recommends.
Hamstring
While doing this sitting stretch you want to put your legs in front of you and reach for you feet. You can do the same thing but in a standing position but with you feet spread apart. This stretch helps a lot with your jumps so you can get your legs to extend higher (Webber 31).
Hip and Lower back
Stand with your feet wider apart than your shoulders and pull your shoulder back, pushing the opposite leg back. For your hips you can go into a deep lunge and then reach down and touch the ground. This is another great stretch for your jumps.
Arms and Shoulders
Pull your arm across your chest until you feel a good stretch in your shoulder. For the next stretch you want to bend your arm behind your head and gently pull it towards the opposite side of your body (Webber 33). Another stretch I like to do along with my arms is my wrist. This help for bases when stunting so you can get your hand fully under the flyers foot.
Along with these stretches from Varsity's Ultimate Guide to Cheerleading I like to add in some more leg stretches. This helps you to have more flexible jumps and kicks. Partner stretching is great for flyers because you can do more positions that help with different body positions while in the air. I like to stretch every night even when not at cheer practice. This helps keep my muscles loose and puts me in my best flexibility for cheer.
I'd like to know what other sports find stretching helpful?
The Editors of Varsity, and Rebecca Webber. Varsity's Ultimate Guide to Cheerleading. N.p.: Poppy, 2014. Print.
Your post looks really good! You thoroughly explain how to stretch in certain places! I find rotating your ankles in a circular motion very helpful in soccer. Since you are running and not very often you get a perfect flat field without holes doing this can help avoid bad rolls of the ankle.
ReplyDeleteGreat work Marissa, you look like you are invested into getting better by working harder at cheer! Volleyball has a large amount of stretching, mainly legs and arms like you show, and I will try these my next practice. These stretches are beneficial to me tank you.
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