If you are doing some cheerleading workouts to help improve your performance when you do your cheerleading practice or at games, it is important that you make sure you take core strength into account.
Maintaining a strong core will help you get through every move you make, ensuring you never injure yourself any step along the way.
In addition, the basic exercises will help you maintain a good stability of the base so that each time you fall from a jump you can stay on your feet and continue until the next movement.
Those dancers who have poor core strength will actually struggle with this, which can significantly hamper their performance.
To help stimulate your core, let’s look at some of the top exercises to consider.
Plank on an exercise ball
The first of the basic exercises you will definitely want to do is a plank on an exercise ball. The plank itself is great for building good endurance and muscle strength, and then putting your hands on the exercise ball just builds it up.
Note that this one is pretty advanced, so if you can’t hold a normal board for at least 30 seconds on your own, work on building it first, then work your way up from there.
If you jump on the ball too early, you won’t be able to stabilize yourself.
Turn down squats with a twist
Next, also consider performing a decline squat with a twist. The fact that you will be working against gravity while performing this exercise will increase the intensity of the exercise, allowing you to improve overall strength and core generation.
A decline squat with a twist will work the core muscles that line the front of your stomach and obliques, so it’s really a great option overall.
Perform it in a slow, controlled movement pattern to maintain as much tension as possible on the muscles at all times.
the bike
Last but not least, consider the bike. This is a good option to add to your cheerleading workouts because it will affect the obliques along with the front core muscles as well. Additionally, it will also help you maintain good body control, which can be helpful when doing more advanced cheerleading moves.
When doing this, make sure your feet remain elevated off the floor at all times to keep constant tension on those lower abs.
There you have the main core moves that you should include in your cheerleading workouts. Do a few sets in every workout at least twice a week and you’ll be on your way to success.