“When athletes are more aware of their muscle groups, they are more aware of how to control them. These are the conscious efforts that you see in those stunts that just look so effortless.
To the crowd watching a cheer squad put up multiple stunts, they must be thinking about how easy it looks. However as a coach I know how hard these girls have worked to master such a skill.
Stunting is about so much more than just going through the motions. Having the proper motions do not always produce a successful stunt, or “make it look easy”. These girls have to have full body awareness when going into a stunt.
Body awareness is simply being aware of the placement of all of your body parts. This sounds simple but in reality when you are so focused on one thing you lose sight of what else is going on. In cheer a flyer could be worried about lifting one leg for an arabesque and completely forgetting to straighten her other leg, or flopping her arms around.
Most people can guess that to be a flyer you must have great core strength. But being a flyer is truly a full body workout. These girls need the upper body strength to hold themselves up. They need to control their load-ins and gently place their feet in their based hands. Having upper body strength will also assist in a proper full down. The core is important, but I can tell you as a flyer myself, my glutes and legs were always burning by the end of practice. Being able to squeeze and stay tight is the key to happy bases.
Your flyer should be aware of all of her body parts, placement and staying tight all over!
TIP #1: Have your flyer lay on her beck flat on the ground. Place your hands under her heels and lift up. She should be in a straight line from her heels all the way through to her shoulders. It is the same story for bases and back spots. They need full body workouts to really master all their skills. When you are used to strengthening all of your body parts you are more able to control them when necessary.
TIP #2: A good way to make athletes more aware of their body is to just talk through it. Step by step through your stunt or even through a tumbling pass and jumps. Discuss what muscle groups are functioning at what time. Ask what she can do to assist the other girls in her group.
TIP #3: Ask if everyone in the group is not only aware of her own movements, but also aware of the other girls movements. This is especially true for bases. They must be able to be in sync with one another.
TIP #4: Talk about your workouts and why you are doing each move. Explain how each workout will benefit each muscle group.
When athletes are more aware of their muscle groups, they are more aware of how to control them. These are the conscious efforts that you see in those stunts that just look so effortless.
Let’s Talk! If you would like some support or have a question about your workout – leave a comment or sign up for a free consultation and we can talk through why you are doing each move and what it helps with!
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.