Tumbling for a cheerleading squad is one of the most grueling and physical positions on the team. To be a successful tumbler, you need to be fearless, have hours and hours of logged practice time to build your muscle memory and have full body strength. It takes time and dedication to reach even intermediate goals and tumbling for a cheerleading team literally becomes your life. Here are a few exercises to help those dedicated tumblers out there that want to target some weak areas of their body or who want full body strengthening exercises. As with any exercising, make sure you warm your muscles up with 20 minutes of light cardio, followed by stretching. Target Trouble Areas Wrist Squeezes: Have some fun! Grab some silly putty or a stress ball filled with sand. Squeeze 25 times in your right hand and then switch to your other hand. Slowly build up your repetitions as your muscles develop over time. Finger Push Ups: Start this exercise by kneeling down and putting your hands in front of your knees. Your hand placement should be flat on the floor and as close to your knees as possible. The closer your hands are to your knees, the easier it will be to execute this exercise. Once you are in position, push yourself up onto your fingertips without bending your elbows. Perform this exercise in repetitions. As your muscles build over time, slowly move your hands further from knees. Full Body Exercises Upside Down Pushups: Get into position by doing a handstand against the wall (you’ll be using the wall to help you keep your balance). When you do the handstand, make sure you’re not too far away from the wall by placing your finger tips as close to it as possible. Positioning yourself too far away will cause back and neck strain. Lower your body by bending your elbows, keeping your body straight against the wall. Then straighten your elbows to push back up. This exercise will have better results when done in multiple repetitions. Exercise Ball Push Ups: Get into a push up position. The only difference between this exercise and a regular push up is that you’ll have an exercise ball under your shins. Execute this as a regular push up while holding your balance on the ball. This exercise will have better results when done in multiple repetitions. Pike Position Hold: Sit on a mat with your legs together, straight out in front of you, and place your hands flat on the mat, next to your thighs. Slowly lift your body off of the ground. Your hands will be supporting your weight as you hold this position for thirty counts. Lower your body back onto the ground, rest for a couple of seconds and then repeat in repetitions. If you’re having trouble holding this position, you can modify this exercise by moving your legs into a V position, rather than a pike position. If you want more cheerleading focused exercises, check out The Weekly Fitness Post: Get Strong Legs And Be A Better Base, The Weekly Fitness Post: Core Building For Flyers and The Weekly Fitness Post: Build Strong Arms For Stunting.
Strength Training For Tumblers
