As a sport that’s over 100 years old, cheerleading continues to be an activity that people of all ages enjoy and are proud to be a part of.
While cheerleading is a fun way to move your body, the benefits of it don’t stop there. The popular sport can help you get in shape while also making you a better friend, a dedicated worker, and a more confident person.
Keep reading for the ultimate list of the benefits of cheerleading.
Improve Your Endurance
Cheerleading is a fun and efficient way to exercise because it allows you to do so many different forms of activity. Whether you’re running, practicing gymnastics skills, or learning an intensive dance routine, it’s unlikely that you’ll get bored with your workout.
By attending regular practices and workouts, you’ll build up your endurance with the help of all of those jumps, stunts, and cardio.
Develop Coordination
If you’ve ever tried to learn a dance routine or step in time with a beat, you know how important it is to have solid coordination. Another benefit of cheerleading is practice in developing control over your body.
Coordination helps you stay balanced and aligned, executing the right movements at the right time. With a little cheer practice, you’ll be moving in sync with the rest of your team.
Enhance Leadership Skills
With “leader” in its name, it’s no wonder that being a cheerleader is a great way to improve your leadership skills.
As representatives of your school or team, it’s important to set a positive example for others to follow. By becoming a cheerleader, you’ll learn to encourage others, listen to feedback, and spread team spirit!
Show off your team spirit and lead by example by wearing cheer pins or sporting team colors.
Build Up Strength
Whether you’re at the bottom of the pyramid or the top, strength is an essential part of being a cheerleader.
Consistent workouts and cheer practice will build up the strength in your entire body, from your legs and core all the way up to your arms and shoulders. Strength is important for ensuring you (and your teammates!) stay safe and injury-free.
Increases Flexibility
Have you ever seen a cheerleader do a toe touch, where they jump with their legs out in a V shape and touch their toes? While a lot of that is endurance and practice, flexibility is a key factor!
Cheer practices often start with stretching to improve your body’s flexibility, helping you kick higher, tumble faster, and move easier in general.
Flexibility isn’t just a useful skill to have in cheerleading, though. It’s also good for your body and muscles, helping to prevent injuries as you get older.
Become Disciplined
Becoming a great cheerleader doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, dedication, and lots of patience to learn new routines and get better at different movements.
By joining a cheerleading team, you’ll become much more disciplined and learn how to focus on improving your skills to be the best you can be. Great things take hard work and commitment (and tons of practice!), and discipline is a life skill you can use far into the future.
Learn to Set Goals
Maybe it’s perfecting a cheer routine for a competition, or perhaps it’s becoming a flyer (the person at the top of the pyramid). Whatever the goal, cheerleaders learn to set them and then reach them!
Setting goals is a skill that you can take with you into future careers, family plans, or even passion projects. If you join a cheerleading team, you’ll get lots of hands-on practice in taking steps to achieve the things you set your mind to.
Boost Confidence
Ever wondered how cheerleaders can stand in front of crowds of people with a perfect smile on their faces and carry out a flawless routine? Lots and lots of practice!
Cheering for others and being part of a team is a great way to build confidence in yourself, and doing all of this in front of an audience only boosts that confidence even more.
Plus, spreading positivity through encouraging cheers and smiles will boost your mood, too!
Practice Good Sportsmanship
Whether the team you’re cheering for wins or loses, it’s important to show respect, support, and encouragement.
Cheering as part of a team gives you practice accepting defeat and learning from mistakes, as well as learning how to win gracefully. Again, these are life skills that will benefit you in the future.
Work on Team Building
Going along with sportsmanship is teamwork. Cheerleading is a sport that requires trust among teammates as you rely on each other to, quite literally, catch you when you fall. Without team building, this trust won’t be there and your team won’t be a cohesive unit.
As a cheerleader, you’ll support each other physically and mentally, giving you lots of practice and insight into how to be the best team player possible.
Form Long-Lasting Friendships
Those long hours of practice are likely to lead to strong bonds between you and your teammates.
As members of the same team, you’ll have shared experiences and common interests among you that will bring you closer. So once you join a cheerleading team, you’re forming friendships that will last you a lifetime.
The Benefits of Cheerleading: A Complete Guide
Now that you’ve read all about the benefits of cheerleading, maybe you’ll be ready to take the leap and try it out for yourself. With this cheerleading guide as a reference, don’t forget all of the positives the sport can bring to your life.
Interested in more cheerleading tips or health content? Check out the rest of our blog for regularly updated articles.