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Visit Sidelinestar.com& Read our whole series of Cheerleading Information & Articles
DRILLS, STRETCHES &CONDITIONING forCHEERLEADING JUMPS
CHEERLEADING JUMPS
Cheerleading jumps have been a part of cheer since…well, since cheer wasinvented! Lawrence Herkimer was the first to feel such a burst of spirit, thatenergy ignited with a giant leap into the air and was forever deemed the“Herkie” cheer jump! Cheerleaders are known for having explosions of spirit,and cheerleading jumps are a great way to express your enthusiasm – whilewowing the crowd, of course! Some people are born with great strength andflexibility for cheerleading jumps, others have to work a bit harder to achieveHerkimer-like jumps. In this article, you’ll find tips for cheerleading jumps,exercises and drills to improve your cheer jumps.
START WITH THE STRETCH
Every athlete has a warm up routine. Cheerleaders should always begin witha 15-20 minute stretching routine before attempting cheer jumps to avoid ahigher risk of injury. Cheerleading jumps work your whole body, soremember to warm up your shoulders, arms, neck and torso as well as yourlegs! Here is a list of suggested leg stretches to use as a guideline, add morestretches as needed and to improve flexibility.STANDING STRADDLE – With legs wider than chest width apart, bend at thewaist to touch the floor. Walk your hands over to the right and hold, keepingyour leg straight, but avoid locking your knee. Repeat on the left. Walk handscenter again and hold.RUNNERS STRETCH – Start in Standing straddle position, walk hands over tothe right. Keeping your left leg straight, bend your right leg to a 90 angle,keeping your knee over your ankle. Repeat on left side.
 
STANDING QUADRICEPT STRETCH – a good one for balance and stretching!Standing with feet together, bend right leg back and grasp your right footwith both hands behind your back. Tighten core ab muscles to remain stableand hold for 15 seconds. Repeat with the left.SITTING STRADDLE – While seated in a straddle position, reach both handsforward down the center. Concentrate on keeping your back straight, so thatyour belly button approaches the floor, not your nose. Walk your hands tothe right leg and again, concentrate on taking your chest down over yourleg. Repeat to the left.SPLITS – Be sure to do both your right leg in front and then repeat on the left.Point your front & back toes, and keep that back leg straight. Keep yourweight over the center, not off to one side. You want to be sure to workflexibility on both legs, not just your strong side!SITTING PIKE – With both legs together and straight out in front of you, reachdown over your toes. Hold the stretch with flexed feet, then hold the stretchwith pointed feet.
CHEER JUMP DRILLS
Here are some drills that involve plyometrics training, abdominal and coretraining, as well as muscle memory and strengthening.CHEER JUMP EXPLOSIONS – This drill works on height for your cheerleading jumps. It also trains your body how to absorb the landing safely. Start withyour feet together (this is the usual start position for any cheer jump). Take aslow dip with your knees, but do not pass the ninety degree angle. Withoutusing your arms, jump into the air as high as you can. As you land, bend yourknees slightly to absorb the landing and return to the ninety degree angleand explode again. Start by doing 3 sets of 5 controlled jumps, one after theother. Work up to doing 20 jumps in a row.STRADDLE LIFTS – This exercise really works your hip flexors, a muscle that’srarely used in other exercises. You’ll definitely feel it the first couple timesyou try this drill, so take it slowly in the beginning! Sit on the floor in astraddle position, keeping your back straight. Place your hands on the floorin front of you. Lift one leg at a time, about 2 inches off the ground for 1,2.Do each leg 5 times, working up to holding each leg for a count of ten.SITTING CHEER JUMPS – This exercise is a variation of the Straddle Lifts, so itworks your hip flexors, but also engages your abdominal muscles, like acheer jump in the air. Sitting in a straddle position, back straight and toespointed, hit a T motion with your arms. Count 5,6,7,8 and lift both legs up,tightening your abs and hold that position for 1,2,3,4. Set them down on the
 
next 5,6,7,8, and repeat. Try 3 sets of 3 eight counts to begin with, buildingup to 4 sets of 4 eight counts.SITTING TUCK-TOE TOUCHES – Balance, abdominals, explosion power and hipflexors are all key in this exercise. Sitting in a tuck position with feet off thefloor and arms in a dagger position, find your center balance. Quicklyexplode you legs into the toe touch position, and bring them right back intothe tuck position without letting your feet hit the ground. This drill will take acouple times to find that center balance, but it helps your body get thefeeling of “sitting back” in your toe touches to rotate your hips out andachieve that hyper-extended toe touch all cheerleaders dream about. Startwith 3 sets of 5 toe touches, and work up to 3 sets of 20 reps all in a row.
CONDITIONING TIPS FOR CHEERLEADING JUMPS
Here’s a drill that will improve your squad’s cheer jumps. Be sure to work onindividual cheerleading jump technique before moving on to this teamoriented conditioning drill, or you’ll practice bad habits! Put the squad into aformation (be sure to rotate spots in the formation from practice to practice,so all are seen). Put on some fast-paced music and work your cheer jumps tocounts! Here’s a routine to an 8-count:1-Clap2-Hold3-High V4-Hold5-Swing arms/Whip6-Hit Toe Touch7-Land8-Hold1– Stand/Clap to repeat, if desiredUsing this 8-count format, work through the following cheerleading jumpsas a team. Be sure your team is properly stretched and conditionedbefore attempting this routine. Your squad may have to work up to thislevel of cardiovascular workout and cheer jump conditioning:5 tuck jumps, 5 left hurdlers, 5 right hurdlers REST * 3 eight-counts5 pikes, 5 toe touches, 5 front hurdlers REST * 3 eight-counts5 sets of double-whip toe touches. Here are the counts for the double-whip toe touches:1-Clap
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