Ahhhh cheer tryouts soon?!?!?! please help!?!
Question: ok i am trying out for cheer in middle of april. i have been working with a coach since january. i have pretty solid motions and i a doing ok with the dance,cheer,chants,ect. what i am worried about r my jumps! i am flexible, and can do pretty good jumps on the tramp, but if i want to make the team i need to improve my jumps(toe touch and herkie). i stretch almost everynight, practice the exersizes my coach gave me, do it all but my jumps arent improving that much. what can i do to help? is it strength related? my core? what?
please help me cause i have been working really hard and i want this soooosooooosooooo much and i am willing to do just about anything to improve these jumps! please dont give me stupid or mean answers.....just help. thanks!
Answers: ok i am trying out for cheer in middle of april. i have been working with a coach since january. i have pretty solid motions and i a doing ok with the dance,cheer,chants,ect. what i am worried about r my jumps! i am flexible, and can do pretty good jumps on the tramp, but if i want to make the team i need to improve my jumps(toe touch and herkie). i stretch almost everynight, practice the exersizes my coach gave me, do it all but my jumps arent improving that much. what can i do to help? is it strength related? my core? what?
please help me cause i have been working really hard and i want this soooosooooosooooo much and i am willing to do just about anything to improve these jumps! please dont give me stupid or mean answers.....just help. thanks!
ah okay this probably isn't the most reassuring answer but the most important thing is you just need to do them EVERY day. when i did all star cheer with practices 3x a week, we did such hardcore conditioning but i saw very slow improvement with my jumps. In high school when i started doing jumps every day or just many times during a game, they REALLY got a lot better. I think there's a learning curve or something in there, because all of a sudden it's like my muscles "knew" how to get that extra "mph" to make them in that nice V (vs upside down V or X) shape.
You can also try:
Hip Flexors (toe touch): straddle as wide as you can on the ground and place both your hands on the ground in front of you. Point your toes and try to lift both your legs at the same time. Go for sets of 10-12 and DON'T LEAN BACK. you might try this against a wall.
Hip Flexors (Herkie): Lay like you're doing a situp on the ground, but use your elbows to support your torso. Take one leg and extend it and and yank it up to nose (or your ear on the same time) as fast as you can for 30 seconds. repeat on the other leg.
Dynamite: In the same reclined position, extend both legs together (in a pike, but off the ground, so your butt is the only thing touching). SLOWLY raise them towards your nose, then when they almost get there, whip them apart and backwards in a V (TOES POINTED). Try for sets of 10.
Gravity Splits: On your mattress,lie on your back facing a wall. Go in a straddle so you legs will be in a vertical V and scooch so that your legs are pressing against the wall. Relax and after 10 minutes or so your legs should have sunk. Read a book and the time will go by like that!
Fire Hydrant: my friends and I thought it looked like a dog peeing but not really ;D. Sit on the ground in a straddle, but tuck one leg off to the side behind you, but not all bunched together, like the position of a herkie. It should look like a chicken wing, if you know what i mean.
Before you jump, make sure you stretch properly. One useful, sort of unorthodox one is just to do a really wide, sumo-like squat and just really relax and lower yourself deep so you stretch those hip flexors.
And bigger calves = higher jumps. Jump rope, weights, running, anything to build those calves. During commercial breaks, stand with your feet together, squeeze your butt, and try to raise yourself on your tiptoes, up down, up down, throughout the entire commerical. Your calves should burn!
GOOD LUCK! you can do it!
good for u for working so hard but seriously try playing a REAL sport like basketball, volleyball, or softball jeeeeez i hate cheerleaders
I used to be a cheerleader and jumps were my thing. I am not sure if this is safe so you may want to run it by your coach, but it worked for me. I got ankle weights and practiced my jumps using them. My jumps were awsome. I geuss it made me stronger or something. hope i helped.