Stretching? Is it really that important? By Dustin Lowrey
The simple answer to this question is- YES! To be at the top of our sport- which is a goal we hope to inspire in all our athletes at Cheer FX, takes not only strength (both mental and physical) but FLEXIBILITY. Those are the two champion ingredients individual athletes must possess in order to make that climb to the top.
Now, with the current state of the world not allowing us to go out, we are redefining normal. In this new virtual normal- we may be taking a break from the gym but we are not taking a break from discipline. Stretching is one of the most important things your young athlete should be doing right now. There are multiple reasons stretching should be not only a regular part of your daily routine, but stretching should be COOL in your house! I want to focus on three key points right now. Firstly, flexibility is crucial to your athletes progression as an individual athlete, second- flexibility separates divisions from champion’s circle to everyone else, and lastly, coming back from this break from CFX HQ, we will see very clearly who used their time the wisest and made the most of this break. It will be clear who the athletes are that want to be at the top of the pack when we return to normal life.
Our sport is so heavily reliant on strong fundamentals! Having a 180 split all the way down should be considered fundamental in your home. Coming from me, that is the bare-bones minimum. Our sport is very rep intensive, and takes daily disciplines to get to where we need to be. Flexibility and daily work is crucial in order to be strong and resilient to injury- in turn allowing for more reps to completed in the long run. Not only does your cheerleader need to be strong enough to hit and hold shapes to create powerful tumbling, but they need to be flexible enough in order to pass through these shapes easily.
Put your arms straight up in the air right now! If your elbows don’t naturally stretch past your ears- you need to work on your flexibility.
The shapes we hit in cheerleading should be comfortable and not forced. If you are uncomfortable stretching, then you need to stretch more. Nothing is comfortable or enjoyable when it’s new. The good news is- being flexible takes no talent- only hard work and the discipline to stretch every day.
Let’s move into our next point! As we saw at the NCA All-Star National Championship (the worlds largest cheerleading competition), flexibility and technique separated entire divisions. Technique is not stylized, one program may do a set of skills one way, and another program may do the same set of skills a completely different way. However, one thing that is uniform across all of cheerleading- is how we stretch! Although our top girls may pull a body position differently from another team, their fundamental flexibility and hyper flexibility is the same. When studying divisions at the All-Star National Championship and going back and reviewing video from the most competitive of these divisions, if I had to pick one factor that made the biggest difference- it easily would come down to flexibility. The programs that rose to the top of their divisions across all levels were the programs whose focus was on fundamentals and more importantly- flexibility.
A notable team to watch- Zodiac All-Stars Shadow from the UK. This is an international team that is currently blazing a trail straight to the champions circle. Watching this team, it is very clear that flexibility is of the utmost importance within the four walls of their gym.
Lastly, becoming flexible by todays standards takes discipline like I have said earlier. You know what else takes a lot of discipline? Achieving anything great. Again, being flexible takes no talent- just the determination and daily habit forming in order to achieve your goals. Discipline is defined by “small ritualistic habits formed in order to lead to mental or physical training.” Small. Ritualist. Habits. When I was still an athlete and not just coaching, I stretched at least 3 times a day, outside of practice. Remember about three paragraphs ago when I said a full split is the bare minimum? Let’s just let that sink in again. If you are stretching correctly every day, you will begin to understand why that is the bare minimum. If you are already there, good job! Now lets push further and work towards the goal of hyper flexibility!
It’s no secret that most of us have a lot of time on our hand. Don’t be that girl to come back off this break and not have all of her splits down. Stretch like it is your job! There are so many benefits to being flexible, and there are no excuses not to come off this quarantine with champion flexibility! Mum, dad, athlete, dog (shout-out to the pups that make appearances during stretching time during Zoom classes), everyone! Happy stretching!
