Cheerobics® | the No.1 Cheerleading Fitness Programme

A report by the health charity Nuffield Health found the average waist measurement for women is almost 5cm larger than the recommended healthy size of less than 80cm. Researchers says it could lead to higher risk of cancer, diabetes and fertility problems.The report says that:

57% of women have a larger than healthy waist size 52.5% have a body mass index that exceeds the healthy rangeWomen in the north of England have the largest waists, averaging 87cm

Cheerobics® - in partnership with Russell Athletic, wants to extend a challenge to kickstart a healthier 2013: try the Cheerobics® 6 Week Challenge and in return, we will give you a free book and a free hoodie!

1) Take a picture of yourself in some workout clothes that can show us your starting point (we don't need to see the face if you don't want to). Take note of your bust, hips and waist measurement.

2) Buy or receive your free copy of our mini-book, Be Fit, Be Happy: The Keynotes (£4.99 on Amazon. To get it free just write a review of our Cheerobics DVD on Amazon and we will send you a free copy of the book within 7 days)

3) Attend a Cheerobics® class or do the DVD twice a week (or one of each) - and follow the guidelines of Be Fit, Be Happy: The Keynotes. Do this for 6 weeks

4) Take a picture yourself in the same clothes as the first photo, and take note of your new measurements.

5) Send us your before and after pictures with a short testimonial and your before / after measurements. Email all this to info@cheerobics.net along with your postal address to where we can send your Russell Athletic Hoodie.

Jessica Zoo, founder of Cheerobics, has launched a new project to help Cheerleaders around the world become fitter athletes in order to prevent injury but also maximise potential. With our Cheerobics blog, where else can be better to discuss fitness for Cheerleading? Jessica kicks off the new blog series by sharing the pilot episode of the new CheerCoach tutorials, which is an online series which will be released in Spring 2013. What topic did she use for the Pilot episode..? Fitness, of course!!

Enjoy!

---------

5 Most Useful Cheerleading Conditioning Exercises

Physical fitness is the foundation of every sport. As a community we are constantly fighting our corner to get Cheerleding accepted as a sport and we are seeing competitive teams achieve the impossible - year after year at World. What makes these teams so great? Dedication, hours of training, but mostly - they treat their body like a temple. They are ATHLETES.

Whilst it is not realistic to get every team training like a Worlds programme, ALL CHEERLEADERS could all increase their performance and maximise their potential if they dedicated a bit more time to be fitter. A few adjustments to your training, your eating habits and your approach to make yourselves better cheerleaders could transform your potential and turn you into the athlete you always wanted.

In our Pilot episode of our CheerCoach tutorials, I look at the top 5 Conditioning Exercises that will help you become a better Cheerleader:

Squats: Will help your posture, leg power for jumps but especially beneficial for bases to drill your dips! When you do your squat, control the movement, keep your back straight, core engaged and hips tucked under. Dip to the lowest point that you can whilst keeping a 90 degree angle - your knees should not go over your ankles. REPETITIONS: Try doing minimum of 12 repetitions, or if you can stick your favourite song on and go on for a whole 3 minutes!!

Burpies: Great to develop your explosive power for jumps, baskets and tumbling. In this one you need to make sure to do down to the plank position or it won't be of any benefit.. so keep your core engaged, lower the hips to form a sturdy, straight plank. REPETITIONS: You should do a minimum of 8 repetitions, and up to 3 sets. Make sure you breathe and that every burpie has got as much technique and power than the rest.

Jump Points: Here we work the holy grail of pointing toes. It's a lot harder than it looks! But when we jump, fly or tumble, our feet don't always point when we kick off the ground - this is why this exercise is so useful. Plus it will develop your jumping power. REPETITIONS: As we are training power, not endurance, this exercise works best when you do a few VERY powerful jump points, rest your leg muscles, and then do more. Here I suggest lower repetiions, but more sets and on a more regular basis. Do just 3 sets of 8 every day and you'll have the best form on your cheerleading team!

V-Up Straddles: We all know that V Ups are the best way to train the inner thighs for your toe touches and heel stretches. We've varies this exercise to make it a bit more fun to do with your team, but it's equally as effective. REPETITIONS: You should do a minimum of 8 repetitions, and up to 3 sets. Make sure you breathe and that every burpie has got as much technique and power than the rest.

Tricep Dips: Did you know that the tricep is the biggest muscle in your body? Do you know where it is, how to use it and how to train it so that it can help you in stunting and tumbling? You will be surprised at how much this muscle is neglected in cheer training, even though it's one of the main muscles you will be using! Training your triceps will mean stonger bases and make your life A WHOLE LOT easier when you're lifting. As a flyer it will help you hold up your weight in the sponge / smuch position so that you're almost weightless to you bases. Make sure that you keep hands pointing forwards, and your hips UP. remember it's a TRICEP DIP, not a HIP THRUST!! So you will only get benefit from it by bending your arms, not bouncing up and down with your behind ;-) REPETITIONS: You should do a minimum of 12+ repetitions, and up to 3 sets. Make sure you breathe and that every burpie has got as much technique and power than the rest.

Happy conditioning - please tweet me any questions at @JessicaZoo or join our https://www.facebook.com/groups/120591968095572/" target="_blank">Facebook group, Fitness For Cheerleading

Our Cheerobics® Instructor Course is now available to everyone, regardless of previous qualifications! This means we can spread more of the cheer love, and anyone with an interest in cheerleading and fitness can now teach their own classes! Find out more about about the newsbreaking decision:

Why is it now accessible to everyone? Cheerobics® is my brainchild - and one thing that is important to me is quality assurance. Before making the course available to everyone I wanted to trial it with Cheerleading coaches and Fitness Instructors before I made it open to everyone else. After consulting with a number of leaders and experts in the cheerleading industry, receiving such fantastic feedback from students and watching carefully over the development of the trained instructors, it was agreed that the Instructor Course gave significant knowledge in both Cheerleading and Fitness compared to other courses available in those fields. Addtionally, the throrough examination process which requires students to be assessed both theoretically and practically, ensures that all instructors trained through the programme must show evidence of knowledge, skill and ability to teach efficiently to all students.

Denise Van Outen says: "Absolutely loved it! Great to do with friends. Very high-impact aerobics that gets you sweaty and brings out the high-school, inner teenager in you.”

Top 10 reasons to do the Cheerobics® Instructor Course

1) It's the only cheerleading fitness instructor training endorsed by Skill Active Council and REPs members receive 16 CPD Points on completion

2) Multi-level teaching for mixed ability groups - teach beginners to advanced

3) No license fees for gyms

4) No additional costs for instructors (just renew your license every year for £80.00 if you wish to continue teaching the programme)

5) New and exciting class to add to your current portfolio and expand your horizons

6) Attract new clients seeking a different style of class. If you already teach cheerleading this is a great way to expand classes for the mums and the community

7) Advertise your classes on the Cheerobics® website, get lots of marketing support and be part of a brand that gets LOTS of media exposure!

Detailed, fitness-based course and qualification much of which can be directly applied to your cheerleading coaching

9) A great way to start cheerleading classes if you want to start at grassroot - participants will learn the basics of cheerleading whilst keeping fit before they choose to move on to competitive cheerleading

10) Get discounted pompoms - at £8 a pair (industry average is of £15.00 a pair)