Is strength important for jumps?⠀
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Yes - working on the appropriate type of strength is important. You need to focus on high velocity strength (see recent blog post for more detail), and absolute strength, both with little to no fatigue in order to improve! ⠀
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What is the most common cheer injury?
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Sprains and Strains - minimally more often in the lower body. This is age group dependent as we see this more often in athletes over the age of 12. To combat these injuries, it’s important to be properly conditioned. Many of these types of injuries occur from falls, so perfecting technique and proper progressions will help mitigate injury risk. ⠀
How often should I workout? ⠀
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We recommended 2-3x per week excluding practice. Remember, workouts shouldn't be overly fatiguing, they are for stability, balance, power and strength, all things that can be accomplished while mitigating fatigue. ⠀
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Sore Wrists?
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It could be that you’re doing too much volume for your body. It is also important to work your mobility and strength. We often see sore writs as a result of under-recovery or over-use. It’s also important to have your wrists assessed by a professional that knows the demands of your sport to ensure there are no present injuries. ⠀
How do I get my jumps higher?
Build up absolute strength and high velocity strength, working also on your technique, ie the weak parts of your jumps. We often see weaknesses in cheerleaders ability to appropriately activate their quad muscles by bending at the knees and ankles properly, and instead relying on the sprung floors for height. Working lower body strength in combination with technique is paramount.
How do I get my endurance better for routines?
The stronger you are, the easier your stunts will be during the routine, ultimately lowering overall fatigue throughout the run. Running the routine will condition you appropriately, additional endurance training like running distance is not recommended or required. Technique will also be important when performing skills in order to mitigate fatigue throughout the routine.
How do I get higher tucks/layouts?
Plyometric work, mitigating fatigue will be important for increasing height. It is also important to not practice these skills while fatigued as it will groove sub-optimal motor patterns over time.
How do I keep myself motivated?
Jeff Benson is a great resource for this questions, but we believe motivation comes from passion, and your love for the sport. If we’re talking about workouts specifically, we have designed the Cheer District workouts to help you increase your performance, if you put in the work, you will start to see the results, and it is those results, the new skills, the HIT routines, the easy stunts, the LOVE for the sport that will keep you going!
** we are also here to give you the extra nudge when you need it, because we know we all need it sometimes. Text our support at 254-237-5757 if you want an accountability buddy and Christina (Mazzy) will be your accountability buddy!
At what point does an athlete fatigue when repping their max tumbling skills?
The more short and explosive the movement, the shorter the rest period required. Fatigue will happen before the individual will become aware of it, so it is important to ensure adequate rest between each rep, recommended time being 60 seconds - 2 minutes.
Example:
One standing tuck - 60 seconds would suffice
Running Punch-Front Step-out, round-off handspring handspring whip double - recommend the full two minutes or longer.
Do you have questions you want answered by Dr. Scott? Send us an email at support@cheerdistrict.com or fill submit a form here.
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