Health & Fitness

A cheerleader at Azusa Pacific University near Los Angeles, California, is suing the school and
cheer coach after she suffered a traumatic brain injury.

The cheerleader filed a negligence suit, claiming the squad was performing a stunt it  was not prepared for. According to her complaint, she was required to do tumbling, a standing back handspring, stunting, and flying.

The cheerleader said she suffered one major and one minor concussion in August 2012 while performing with her squad. She said she was told she could return to flying after those injuries, and then suffered a “traumatic brain injury with resulting impairment.”

The lawsuit alleges the team wasn’t properly trained for the stunts, the cheerleader shouldn’t have been allowed to participate after the initial injuries, and the coach “had no
head trauma protocol for cheer team participants, despite the
national recognition of concussions being a major cause of traumatic brain injuries in students involved in cheer stunts.”

You can read more on the lawsuit from the
San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

What do you think? Is this cheerleader right to sue the school and coach for her injuries, or is it her responsibility to make sure there are safety standards in place and that she is comfortable with the coach’s experience before agreeing to join the squad?

As a cheerleader, it’s essential that you upkeep your fitness around the calendar year. If you aren’t on the grind gearing up for a performance, you’re training for tryouts, or even camp! There’s no off-season for cheerleaders, and that means there’s no time to let your fitness regimen slide. It’s okay, though, because after a while, you get addicted to working out from all those endorphins you’re producing. So, hooray for the gym! But, working out is only half the battle: no matter how hard you push your fitness routine, you won’t truly get into top-notch shape unless you pair your efforts with a well-rounded diet. If you don’t eat right, it doesn’t matter how many hours you spend at the gym! So, in the spirit of staying in shape, here are some things to consider when it comes to what you eat.

GMOs are the sworn enemy. Processed foods with GMOs aren’t good for your health anyway, but if you want to be in peak physical condition, GMOs are your official sworn enemy. You simply cannot get excellent muscle definition without eating clean. Plus, GMOs are known for complicating your digestive system, making your body feel more sluggish than it should. Fuel your body forward with food all-natural ingredients, or even eat organic! The easiest way to avoid GMOs is to start reading the labels on your food products‚ you’ll be surprised to find things you’ve never even heard of lurking in your food! A good rule of thumb is, if you’ve never heard of it, can’t pronounce it, or think it sounds like it was made in a secret laboratory, chances are that ingredient isn’t good for you. Do your body a favor, and do your due diligence to find out what you’re actually eating.

Sugar isn’t helping. Sure, you might be young and at low risk of serious diseases like diabetes, but lowering your sugar intake while you’re young does more than just setting you up for a diabetes-free future! In fact, sugar is addicting and habit-forming. It’s true! Your body metabolizes sugar into glucose, which triggers happy feelings in your brain in the form of dopamine. High dopamine levels in your brain make you feel elevated, and when they return to normal, they make you crave things to get that “feel-good feeling’ again. That’s why you feel good when you eat sugary treats and then feel really bad when you crash. Sugar gives you a short burst of energy, granted, but you can get that energy in better ways‚ like through protein or in extreme cases, caffeine. Glucose also lurks in your fat cells, making them harder to breakdown and eliminate when you’re trying to get in shape or build muscle. So, since sugar isn’t doing anything for your mental or physical health, you might want to try avoiding it on training days. Don’t think you can’t have any sugar! Eating in moderation is key, and you deserve to reward yourself from time to time. You’re working out so hard, after all!

You can sleep even better at night. Your mind may be asleep at night, but your body isn’t! While you’re passed out, your body is actively trying to restore what you’ve put yourself through during the day. If you didn’t eat right for dinner, your body can react to it by waking you up in the night, or feeling really bad the next morning‚ both physically and mentally. Have you ever gotten a full night’s sleep, but still awoken to feeling dazed? That might’ve been diet related! Eat right, and look better, feel better, sleep better. It’s that easy!

In what other ways does having a balanced diet benefit cheerleaders? Tell us your tips in the comments!

Tumbling For Cheerleaders Week 4 – The Pro’s Moves

Get tips for more tumbling moves in the free
Tumbling for Cheerleading Guide, available now!

Tumbling is a form of gymnastics that requires athletes to use their bodies to flip, twist, roll and jump. Tumbling is most often used at cheerleading competitions and during
gymnastics routines at the Olympics, but dancers and other stage performers also tap tumbling to give their show a “wow!’ factor. To excel in tumbling, you must be disciplined, skilled, fast and strong with maximum flexibility and stamina.

This week I’ll cover two pro tumbling moves: the front and back tuck. These moves are extensions of the
beginner, rookie and expert tumbling moves covered earlier this month. You need to have those moves mastered before attempting to learn these advanced moves. Don’t expect a “shortcut’ or “quick way’ to learn any tumbling moves –
they don’t exist. Attempting any tumbling move without the proper training and supervision can result in serious injury. Use mats, training equipment and spotters until you have mastered tumbling moves. Don’t forget to properly
stretch and warm up!

How To Do A Front Tuck

The front tuck, like the front handspring and roundoff, is a staple move for tumbling passes in cheerleading. The front tuck can be done as a single move, but is often done as part of a longer tumbling pass in cheerleading. As a beginner, and while learning this move, you should practice the move on its own with a running start. Once you can do the move alone, you can add it to a tumbling pass, such as off the rebound of a roundoff.

Click above to view large image

• Start a front tuck with a power run, but keep your steps limited to about 3 steps. At the end of your last step, take a small but powerful hop, and swing your arms straight up over your head. Land your hop with your feet together, and bend your knees.
• Use the momentum from your hop to leap up (not forward!), punching from the balls of your feet. A good practice is to continue to look forward or slightly toward the ceiling as you jump, to help you get the height you need to complete your rotation. Your jump can have a slight forward angle, but your body should be elongated. Keep your arms and your neck extended. You don’t want to tuck your head too soon because it will stunt your rotation.
• As you reach the peak of your jump, swing your arms down in a snap to help propel your rotation forward into the flip. This is also the step in the move that you will want to bring your head down and tuck your knees. Be sure to pull your knees to your chest – do not push your chest down into your knees because that will cause you to lose height. Once you are in the tucked position, hold it tight with your whole body, including your shoulders, through the rotation.
• Hold the tuck until your back is parallel to the ground. When you reach that position, pull out of your tuck and push your legs down and under your body. It will take practice to get the timing right, but remember that if you untuck too soon, you will end up landing with too much of a backwards lean. This will cause you to fall backward.
• As you are nearing the ground, your legs should be extended. As you land, you want to bend your knees to absorb the impact of the land. To keep yourself from falling forward or backward, land on the balls of your feet and swing your arms upward. You’ll end this move in the same position that you started in.

NEXT:
Pro’s Guide To Tumbling For Cheerleading: Back Tuck

Once you have mastered all of the tumbling moves covered in this series (and not a moment before!), you can start combining them with other moves to create tumbling passes and help you craft your technique into controlled skill. Start slow, and work on getting faster
after you are comfortable with the changes and shifts in movement.

Make sure you wear the correct
cheerleading shoes and practice wear when you are learning how to tumble. Your shoes should be flexible and supportive, and your practice wear should be tight-fitting so your body won’t get tangled in extra material.

Cheerleading tryouts will be here before you know it, and taking steps now to be tryout-ready in time will save you from stress and set you up for a successful day! You can
learn chants and cheers closer to tryouts, but getting in physical shape is something you have to put in the time early for.

Doing cardio exercises will give you a solid foundation for the physical aspects of tryouts. This will help you function at high levels throughout the day and not fade toward the end
‚ plus, you don’t want to be out of breath after just a few minutes of choreography!

When it comes to cardio, not all workouts are equal. Doing a longer, slower cardio session like a couple mile jog or a half hour on an elliptical or stationary bike doesn’t pack all
the benefits of doing a high-intensity interval workout. An interval workout is when you do parts of the workout  at a slower, easier pace, then increase the intensity for a short segment before dropping back down to your easy pace. This gets your heart rate up temporarily, then gives you a chance to recover before going hard again.

When you’re trying to build up your cardio level, it’s a good idea to do a few  interval workouts like this each  week along with with one or two traditional  cardio workouts where you keep the same pace. Here are some workout ideas to help you
get your fitness level up for tryouts:

Interval workouts (3-5 times per week)

• 5-minute slow warm-up jog, 10 minutes of running hard for 30 seconds and jogging for 1 minute, 5-minute cool-down jog
• 3-minute slow warm up on stationary bike; 5 sets of 15 seconds fast pedaling, 30 seconds slow, 20 seconds fast, 40 seconds slow, and 30 seconds fast, 1 minute slow; 3-minute slow cool down
• 6-8 laps around a track jogging or walking the curves and running the straight stretches
• 5-minute easy warm up on the elliptical; 10 sets of 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off; 5-minute slow cool down

Traditional cardio workouts (1-2 times per week)

• 3-5 mile jog
• 1-hour outdoor bike ride
• 30 minutes to an hour on an elliptical or stationary bike

Bring a friend along or listen to some music, and these workouts will fly by, giving you a solid fitness level for tryouts!

Tumbling For Cheerleaders Week 2 – The Rookie Moves

Get tips for more tumbling moves in the free
Tumbling for Cheerleading Guide, available now!

Tumbling is a form of gymnastics that requires athletes to use their bodies to flip, twist, roll and jump. Tumbling is most often used at cheerleading competitions and during gymnastics routines at the Olympics, but dancers and other stage performers also tap tumbling to give their show a “wow!’ factor. To excel in tumbling, you must be disciplined, skilled, fast and strong with maximum flexibility and stamina.

This week, I’ll cover three rookie tumbling moves: the front and back walkover and the roundoff. These three moves are extensions of the fundamental tumbling moves that I covered last week, and serve as the entries into complex tumbling passes. (If you missed the beginner’s article, be sure to
review it here; you’ll be using those techniques to perform advanced moves.)

Before you start, remember that it is important to
always be safe! Use mats, training equipment and spotters until you have practiced and mastered your tumbling moves. Don’t forget to properly
stretch and warm up before practicing and performing any tumbling moves. Attempting ANY tumbling without the proper training may result in serious injury.

How To Do A Front Walkover

The front walker is a simple move, but it is difficult to master. You need to be very limber and flexible, and also have control over your body’s weight for balancing. Learning this skill is well worth it, and vital if you expect to move on to advanced tumbling moves.

Click above to view large image

• Stand facing forward, with one foot slightly in front of the other (with your toes pointed) and your arms straight up over your head. Exhale, tighten your abdominal, and begin bending forward to place your hands on the ground (fingers pointing forward). Prepare to lock your elbows when your hands hit the ground.
• As you reach your hands for the ground, kick your back leg up into the air. Kick hard enough to throw your entire body over, but be careful not to lose control. To maintain your balance, keep your hands flat and shoulder-width apart, with your fingers spread out slightly.
• As your first leg is approaching a vertical position, you should kick your other leg into the air as well, shifting your weight to your arms and shoulders.
• Your movement should continue to follow through, keeping your legs extended as you pull them up, over and behind your shoulders. Keep your legs an equal distance apart, straight, with your toes pointed.
• As you pull your leading leg toward the ground behind you, also begin to slightly bend that knee to absorb your landing. Your other leg will simultaneously be reaching a vertical position.
• Shift your weight to your leading leg as it touches down, and push off the ground with your hands. Use your abs to bring yourself back into a standing position. You will finish in the same position that you started in.

Make sure each step is done quickly and consecutively to result in one continual motion.

Watch your form and positioning; hips should be pressed forward. Don’t rush standing up, it will only make you fall backwards. Let your natural momentum help push you upright, with your head and arms coming into position last.

NEXT:
Rookie’s Guide To Tumbling For Cheerleading: Back Walkover
Rookie’s Guide To Tumbling For Cheerleading: Roundoff

Once you have mastered these rookie moves (and not a moment before!), you can start combining them for more complexity. Here are some moves you can try that will help you craft your technique into controlled skill:

• Try a one-handed roundoff. You’ll always match the hand you are using to your leading leg. The hand that you are not using should be bent at the elbow and tucked in close to your side.
• Pause your cartwheel in the middle, when you are in the handstand position. Instead of resuming the cartwheel, try transitioning from the handstand position to a front walkover.
• To start prepping for tumbling passes, try doing several basic moves consecutively. Move into a back walkover immediately following a cartwheel, then into a front walkover, then a handstand.
• Perform a single move several times in a row. This will gety our body ready for the jumble of passes by helping you work on your balance and teaching you to control your dizziness.

Make sure you wear the correct
cheerleading shoes and practice wear when you are learning how to tumble. Your shoes should be flexible and supportive, and your practice wear should be tight-fitting so your body won’t get tangled in extra material.

Keep practicing these moves, and I’ll see you next Friday to go over the steps for the next level of tumbling moves!

This is a general overview of some basic cheer motions with the focus on the position of the arms. You may perform them, or see them performed, slightly different. These motions can be used while a cheerleader is on the ground or up in a stunt, and the position of his or her feet will vary from being shoulder width apart to being together, depending on when and the motion is being used.

You may also know some of these moves by different names, since
cheerleading teams might refer to a move by a unique, regional name.

Review our other cheer motion articles to get tips to you help you perfect all your motions and strengthen your arms!

Basic Cheerleading Motions: Part 1

Basic Cheerleading Motions: Part 2

Basic Cheerleading Motions: Part 3

Basic Cheerleading Motions: Part 4

Candlesticks

Extend both of your arms straight out in front of you and hold them chest level while keeping them parallel to the ground. Your hands should be in fists, with the insides facing each other so that your thumbs are on top and your pinkies are on bottom. Your thumbs should wrap around your fingers, not rest on top of them. As always, keep your head up, facing forward and your shoulders back.

Muscles

From the T motion, rotate your arms so that the fingers of your fist face upwards. Then, bend both arms so that your forearms are vertical, facing up. The fingers of your fists should be facing in toward your head. Do not pull your arms in toward your chest. Keep your head up and your shoulders back.

Buckets

Buckets are essentially the same as Candlesticks, except that the fingers of your fists should face down toward the floor.

Cross Buckets

From the basic Buckets position, cross one arm over your other at the wrist. You don’t want to push the “cross’ up the arm at all. Keep it tight by making sure that your wrists continue to rest on top of each other.

You likely started your summer break with the best of intentions to get so much accomplished, like getting in shape before the fall cheerleading season starts. But then TV and lawn chairs and ice cream trucks distract you and steal your motivation. You can get it back though! Here are six ways to get your motivation back and conquer your summer fitness goals:

1. Sneak your workouts into your other activities. If you know you should be working out, but you are in the middle of a really intense TV marathon, you can still make it work by planning a commercial break workout. Every commercial break, do a different exercise. The first one could be 15 pushups, the second 30 squats, the third one-minute front and side planks, the fourth 20 lunges, and so on. If you’re on a Netflix binge and don’t have commercial breaks, you’re not off the hook. Make a workout game. Pick things that happen in your show. If you’re binge watching Friends, for example, do 10 pushups every time Joey says “How you doin’? ” and 15 jump squats every time Monica cleans something. Make a similar workout game for whatever show you’re watching.
2. Make an inspiration board. This can contain pictures, quotes, goals, anything that makes you want to go out and reach for the stars. Maybe you have a picture of your team winning a competition last season that makes you want to work really hard to defend your title. Maybe there’s an athlete you look up to who makes you want to put in the work required to be great. Put her picture on your board! When you’re done creating it, put it in your room or any place you will see it often.
3. Leave yourself inspiring notes. This is similar to the motivation board, but more spread out. Use sticky notes or small pieces of paper to write inspiring quotes or messages on and spread them around your room or house. 
4. Tell everyone your goals. Accountability is a huge factor in sticking to a workout plan. If your friends and family know that you are trying to reach a fitness milestone or stick to a particular workout plan, not only can they remind and encourage you, but you’ll also push yourself harder knowing that other people are watching. 
5. Find a workout buddy. When you combine hanging out with your friends and working out, you’re more likely to make time to exercise‚ and truly enjoy it! You don’t even have to do a traditional workout‚ plenty of fun summer activities double as workouts, like hiking, swimming, and bike riding.
6. Make it a routine. Here’s the thing: If you decide at a certain point that you are going to do something every day, that takes the burden of decision off you. That means you don’t have to think to yourself, “Should I do a quick workout or skip it today and go to the mall? ” because you already made the decision weeks ago. You don’t have to decide it now and potentially give into temptation. Just get out there and stick to your routine. 

What helps you stay motivated during summer break?

It seems every year there are dozens more cheer shoes. While having options is great, it can also be overwhelming. After you read a few descriptions, everything starts to blend and sound the same. And then there’s the shoe terminology that sounds like a foreign language. Phylon? EVA? Lock-lacing system? We’re here to help you decipher the language of cheer shoes and have a better idea of what will be the best cheerleading shoe for you.

First, some terminology:

E.V.A

A synthetic compound used for outsoles. Ethylene Vinyl Acetate provides cushioning in the foot and is easily molded by heat and pressure, which means it will fit your foot much better than your average shoe.

Footbed

The insole of the shoe. Usually removable, the footbed is contoured and provides comfort and insulation for your foot.

Instep

The top front of a shoe, covering the area of the foot between the toes and the ankle.

Insole

The cushioned part of the shoe the foot rests on.

Outsole

The bottom of the shoe that touches the ground.

Midsole

The part of the shoe between the bottom and where the foot sits. It is a cushioned layer generally made from rubber and foam in order to provide shock absorption.

Shank

A strip in the sole that adds support.

Slip Lasting

A typical athletic shoe is board-lasted, meaning it’s made with stiff fiberboard and provides stability. Good cheer shoes are instead slip-lasted, meaning it is made without a support board and instead the upper shoe layer is glued to the sole. This makes the shoe much more flexible and allows for a wide range of motions, which is key for cheerleaders.

Lace Locking System

Helps shoelaces stay tied and secure, which is ideal for movement.

Second, consider your position on your cheer squad:

Are you a base or a spotter? A flyer? Is your focus on tumbling or choreography? Are you looking for shoes for the sidelines or competitions?

If you’re looking for a sideline shoe and your team doesn’t rely on a lot of tumbling, you can choose a heavier cheer shoe, which will be more durable and can last longer. If you’re looking for a competition shoe, your main priority should be weight. Since you’ll only be wearing those shoes on the competition mat, you can choose a shoe that isn’t as durable, but is very lightweight and low profile.

If you’re a spotter or base, a good shoe feature to look for is grip. Since your feet should be nearly glued to the floor when spotting or basing flyers during group stunts, you want a shoe that won’t slip. For bases and spotters, check out the
Kaepa Awesome and the
Kaepa Elevate, both of which provide superior foot traction.

If you’re a flyer, look for a shoe that has hand grips, which help your bases to hold you up. Another good feature is slip-lasting, which as you know from the definition above, will make your sure flexible, allowing for a wide range of foot motions. As at tumbler, slip-lasting is also key, as is any sole that provides bounce. For flyers, we like the
Asics Tumblina and the
Chasse Cloud.

Sideline Shoe Picks

If you’re looking for a good sideline shoe (and you won’t be relying heavily on advanced stunts or tumbling), these are some great picks (you can click on each shoe to learn more about its features and pricing):

Power Flash

Nike Sideline III

Asics Cheer VII

Chasse Core

Competition Shoe Picks

These shoes are not only great for competitions, but they’re also great picks for tumblers. These shoes are lightweight, low profile, and designed for the athletic cheerleader. While some of these can also be worn on the sidelines, check each shoe’s details, as some should only be used on mats.


Nike Cheer Compete

Power Rise

Chasse ProFlex
Asics Flip ‘n Fly

Each new year brings predictions for new trends. For food, 2013 was the year of the cronut (a donut-croissant hybrid). For fitness, it was all about spinning classes. In the fashion world, we saw an uprising in leather pants, leather jackets, leather baseball caps…you name it. And in tech news, 2013 was a big year for mobile shopping and posting too many selfies on Instagram.

So what will it be this year? We can’t predict the future (yet…), but we
have done enough research to know about a few fitness trends that cheerleaders should add to their
workout routine. Not only are these new trends fun, but they’ll also spice up your regular workout routine that may have grown stale.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Huh? That’s what we said at first. According to several fitness studies, this is likely to be this year’s biggest fitness trend. HIIT, in the simplest of terms, is short but high-powered exercise. In 30 minutes or less, one performs several quick bursts of activity, followed by short periods of rest. This exercise is ideal for cheerleaders and those with a busy schedule who don’t have time for an hour and a half yoga session. The other big bonus is that you can do this training whenever, wherever.
According to Shape magazine, you can burn more calories in 15 minutes of HIIT than jogging on a treadmill for an hour!

Personalized Training

Many predict that 2014 will be the year of the personal trainer. As more and more specialized fitness certification programs are created, the more educated and knowledgeable fitness trainers are. As a result, many are relying on a trainer to create a personalized plan. This is great for cheerleaders, as many have specific training needs. Flyers will want to focus on abs,
flexibility, and balance, while bases and spotters will want to work on leg and
core strength.

Yoga and Pilates

Yoga and Pilates aren’t going anywhere! These two workouts will continue to be popular through the year. Yoga and Pilates are
great for cheerleaders to incorporate weekly into their schedule. It not only increases balance and flexibility, but it also helps alleviate stress.

SoulCycle

SoulCycle is spinning meets zumba. With energetic and rhythmic music booming in the background, participants get a major workout cycling on indoor stationary bikes for an hour.

App-Enhanced Workouts

Thanks to the ever-changing tech world, your phone can now help you exercise. This year, we’ll continue to see new health and fitness apps. Forget last year’s calorie counters and try Tempo Run. The app figures out the
tempo of your music (whatever you have stored in your library on your phone) and categorizes all your songs based on the running speed they’re best geared for. You won’t ever have to interrupt your workout to change a song again.

If you like running (or want to work on your stamina) but want to make it livelier, try the app Zombies, Run! Thanks to great writers and actors, running becomes a whole new adventure with this app as you try to escape from zombies while collecting supplies to distribute along the way to other apocalypse survivors.

However you choose to workout and exercise, make it fun and keep it fresh!

Will you try any of these workout trends? How do you currently exercise? Comment below!