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Most Squads Practice 2-5 days a week |
Practice can be anywhere from 1-5 hours long. |
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Warming Up |
Gaining Upper Body Muscle |
Warming Up
As with any physical activity make sure your body is ready before you begin. Do ten kicks keeping your back straight. Next, sit with the bottoms of your feet touching, knees bent, in a 'butterfly' position. Pull your feet in as far as you can and push your knees to the floor. Next, stand with your feet apart, and bend to one ankle, causing your nose to touch your leg. Repeat to the left and center.
Gaining Upper Body Muscle
When it comes to cheerleading, a weak upper body can mean a weak link for all of your stunts. Strong shoulders are the key to building a strong upper body. The following exercises target your shoulder muscles. You will need a medicine ball for this workout to help develop core muscles in your abdomen and back.
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Directions 1.) Warm up with 5-10 minutes with low intensity cardio. 2.) Do these six exercises 2-3 times a week as part of your regular total body workout. 3.) At the end cool down and stretch all core muscles. |
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Shoulder Press
Stand tall with your feet shoulder width apart. Contract your abdomen and lift your rib cage to keep your torso upright. Hold a medicine ball in your hands and squeeze your shoulder blades together, and press the ball overhead until your arms are straight but your elbows are not locked.
Push Ups
Place your hands on the floor slightly wider than your shoulders. Step back so that your weight is fully extended and distributed between your hands and the balls of your feet Lower your body to the floor while bending your arms. Hold your torso about 2 inches above the ground hold for a few seconds, and then push your body up, by keeping your abs contracted
Bicep Curls
Stand tall with your feet shoulder with apart and hold the medicine ball at your hips with your elbows extended. Lift the medicine ball toward your chin by bending your elbows. Lower the ball back to hip level.
Triceps Overhead Extension
Stand tall with your feet shoulder with apart, and hold the medicine ball behind your head with both hands. Your elbows should face forward. Life the ball overhead and fully extend your elbows. Flex your triceps and hold for a few seconds, before returning to starting position.
Lie on your back with your knees bent, and hold the ball at your chest. Keep your elbows slightly bent and pointed to the outside. Reach back to the floor with your arms while keeping your abs stable. Contract your shoulder muscles as you pull your arms back to starting positon. -repeat-
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Stand tall with your feet shoulder width apart and hold the ball at thigh level with elbows extended raise the ball to shoulder level and hold, then lower to starting position |
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