Stretching is such a critical aspect of life.
Stretching will not only improve your athletic abilities it will also help prevent injuries.
When you stretch it allows your joints to move in their full range of motion.This is also a great technique to get blood to flow to your muscles.
When it comes to cheerleading stretching is a huge aspect. Why? because the focus is on flexibility. When my cheerleaders ask me how to get better jumps- my answer is always to stretch daily.
So how do you stretch for cheer?
- First thing to know is that you never want to start with cold muscles. So first thing to do is is a light jog for 5-10 minutes. After that your muscled will be warm and ready to be stretched out.
- Next focus on your major muscle groups and muscles that you use frequently. For cheer, that would be your calves, hamstrings, quads and hips.It is also a good idea to stretch your back and neck.
- When you stretch your right side, make sure you are also stretching your left side.
- Hold your stretch for at least 30 seconds. Don’t bounce, that could cause injury. You should feel tension but don’t push it to the point where you have pain.
- Breathe through the stretch! Breathe normal as you hold your stretch.
- Be consistent! To maintain everything that your gain you must keep up on it. Stretching 2-3 days a week is good, but for cheer I tell my girls to stretch daily! It should only take a few minutes- so find some time to stretch. When you stretch daily you will see faster result. When you stop stretching you lose the range of motion and flexibility that you you gained.
- Get assistance. Whether you have a friend helping to gently push you or you use bands to help pull, it’s ok to have assistance.
So how often do you stretch? Have you seen it make a change in your skills? As a coach I am a big fan of stretching for flexibility, let me know if you are too.
Your Ambassador,
Julie
Julie
Julie is passionate about all things cheer and fitness and loves being able to share fitness tips and motivate others. While she enjoyed her time as a cheerleader from middle school up through college, she is finding a new love for the sport through coaching. Over the past few years Julie’s love for fitness has grown from being a hobby to being more of a passion. As a do it all rock-star, not only is Julie a coach, but also a mom of 3 very active kids. Family is very important to her and she is excited to grow closer to the cheerFIT family of ambassadors.