Hey there, young cheerleaders! Have you ever wondered why having a strong tummy is super cool for cheerleading? Well, let’s find out together!
Imagine your tummy is like the strong center of a spider web. It helps you stay balanced when you’re up in the air, doing cool tricks and jumps.
Here are a few reasons why a strong tummy is your cheerleader superpower:
Having a strong tummy and back can help you do better in cheerleading by:
-
-
- Helping you stay steady and balanced. A strong tummy and back can help you keep your spine straight and not bend or twist too much. This can help you stay steady and balanced when you are standing on one foot, holding someone up, or landing from a jump or a flip.
-
- Helping you be more powerful and fast. A strong tummy and back can help you push off the ground, throw someone up, or flip yourself over. This can help you do higher and faster jumps and flips.
-
- Helping you be more agile and coordinated. A strong tummy and back can help you change directions quickly and smoothly when you are moving on the floor, avoiding things, or catching someone in the air. This can help you do more cool and tricky jumps and flips.
-
- Helping you avoid getting hurt. A strong tummy and back can help you protect your spine from getting too much pressure or strain when you are lifting heavy things, landing hard, or twisting your body. This can help you avoid getting hurt in your back, tummy or nerves.
-
One of the best ways to make your tummy and back strong is to learn how to squeeze them properly. Squeezing your tummy and back means making them tight and hard like a rock around your spine. This helps to keep your spine straight and increase the air pressure inside your tummy, which helps to support your spine from the inside.
To squeeze your tummy and back properly, you need to follow these steps:
-
- Stand or sit with a straight spine. This means keeping your head, neck, shoulders, hips, and knees in a line. Do not arch or round your back or tilt your hips forward or backward.
-
- Grab your hands around the sides of your tummy and while holding them in an L shape
-
- Breathe in deeply through your nose and fill up your lungs with air. As you do this, make your chest and tummy bigger in a sideways direction, pushing your fingers and thumbs away from your body. This will make more room for your breathing muscle to work and increase the air pressure inside your tummy.
You can practice squeezing your tummy and back by doing exercises that make them work hard. You can also squeeze your tummy and back when doing cheerleading skills such as jumps, lifts, flips, dances, etc.
Squeezing your tummy and back and making them strong are very important for cheerleading. They can help you do better and avoid getting hurt. By following the steps above and doing exercises that make them work hard regularly, you can make your tummy and back strong and ready for cheerleading.
