Welcome to the first in our mini-series of guest blogs by Danielle, the Founder of CHEERFIT - an online cheer workout program and fitness community for cheerleaders. Danielle is a fitness expert for cheerleaders and today she is going to share her best tips for drills and exercises. Danielle will talk about why fitness drills are important for cheerleaders, how to do them correctly, and most importantly, how to have fun while working out!
So let’s dive in…
1. Can you explain a bit more about drills, what they are and why they are important for cheerleading? Cheer fitness drills are exercises every cheerleader should be doing to improve their strength, advance their skills, and prevent injury. Cheerleading today is NOT what it used to be - cheerleaders are of the most elite athletes around the world, and we NEED to condition our bodies to keep up at that level. Our cheer fitness drills help give athletes the strength and confidence they need to keep up (mentally and physically) with the sport of cheer.
Benefits of cheer fitness drills:
1.Prevent injury
2. Advances skills
3. Improves strength (in both body and mind)
4. Builds confidence
2. How does an athlete prepare themselves for drills?
The key to success is having a plan. We all know fitness is important, but how do you know what exercises are specific to cheerleaders, what drills to be doing, what to not be doing, and how long to workout for?! Fitness can be intimidating, but don’t sweat it - we are here to help!
My best piece of advice is to focus on total body exercises - these are exercises that double the results in half the time. Click here for November’s free workout plan.
3. How often and how long should an athlete spend working on their drills?
I love this question and it all depends on where you are in your season. Preseason is a great time to ramp up your workout routine (3-4 times a week) and competition season is a great time to focus on rest and recovery (working out 1-3 times a week).
Rest is an essential component because it allows your muscles time to recover and grow. Many of us forget to rest and that is when injuries creep in.
As for time working on drills and doing your workouts, I’d recommend doing a quick 15-20 minute workout. You don’t need to spend hours working out, but doing quick, total body cheer workout can help you get the results you want without overdoing it.
Everyone is busy, so my best piece of advice to help you stick to a workout schedule is to have a plan, schedule in your workouts, treat them like any other practice, and have fun!
4. What’s the biggest mistake you see athletes making when working on their drills?
The biggest mistake I see when working out is doing a workout that is NOT effective and wasting time. For example, instead of spending countless hours running - do a strengthening workout that builds endurance!
Also, a lot of athletes think working out is a punishment - it’s not, it’s a privilege : ) Instead of doing burpees because you dropped a stunt, I want to help athletes realize the benefits of working out : ) The more you condition your body, the stronger you will be, the easier it will be for you to get new skills and the more confidence you will have.
Remember, fitness builds strength and strength builds CONFIDENCE!
5. Any top tips for making drills fun?
Of course! You always want to make fitness drills fun and here are my top 5 tips : )
1. Do your workouts with a friend - and laugh a lot!
2. Have an awesome playlist to help pump you up
3. Get a cute workout outfit or new mat to motivate you
4. Write down your goals and know that each cheer workout will help you reach your goals
5. Do quick 15-20 minute workouts that you enjoy - you don’t need to spend hours working out
Enjoy the tips and we can’t wait to see your sweaty selfies and workout pics - share your pictures on Insta’ and TAG us at @clicknclear_ and @cheerfittraining
You can join CHEERFIT today and get 24/7 access to hundreds of cheer workouts, fit tips, and an online community - motivating each other and holding each other accountable. Reach your goals and see results with CHEERFIT.
Sign up to be the first to read Danielle’s next guest blog with ClicknClear in which she gives you even more awesome tips and advice on improving your strength.
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