Try-out Tips!

Try-outs are going to be here before we know it! They are quickly approaching and I want everyone to be as prepared as possible. This is a very stressful time for some kids so I am going to give you a few tips to try and ease the nerves.




1. Attend prep clinic if possible          Make sure that any open gym or clinics that your school has you are at! This shows that you are dedicated and that you really want to be part of the program. This also allows you to meet other people within the program. You will have a feel for how the program is run before you try out. It is also great because the coach will know you before the try out process begins!


2. Throw skills you have mastered
A coach never wants a try out athlete on their team. These are athletes that only throw skills at try outs. When trying out make sure you are only doing skills that you have mastered and can maintain through out the season. You also don’t want to get hurt before even making a team. When throwing a skill that you haven’t mastered yet you increase your chance of injury. If you have never tried a standing tuck before, try outs is not the best time to just go for it.


3. Look the part
No coach wants you to show up to try outs looking like you just rolled out of bed or you are coming back from the beach. You don’t need to look like you are going to prom though either. What you picture an All-American cheerleader to look like is probably how you should appear at try outs. A very clean look with natural make up, hair pulled back with a bow and an appropriate outfit. Putting on some red lipstick won’t hurt either :)


4. Have fun 
When you have fun doing something it shows on your face and makes it much more enjoyable for you and a coach to watch. Most teams that win national championships say that the performance that they won with was the most fun they every had. When ever a team has their best performance it tends to be when they have the most fun. The same will occur when trying out. If you have fun and do your best then there is nothing else you can do and it is up to the coaches if you want the team.


5. Be confident
It is a lot easier said then done I know, but the most important thing is to not be nervous and to be confident. You will be throwing skills that you have mastered so you shouldn’t be nervous about that. Right after learning the dance and cheer, make sure you practice it a lot! Memorize it and then practice, it will become muscle memory. Confidence shows in every step you take. Be so confident that you rub off onto others.




Remember you do cheerleading because it’s fun and you love it. Show the coach why you belong on the team and have fun! Smile big! I wish everyone the best of luck! If you have any questions or want more tips just ask! 

Injury Prevention Tips!

How many of you have had an injury of any kind? How many of those injuries came at bad times? Well I use to be that athlete that claimed I never got hurt. I have never broken a bone, sprained a joint, or strained a tendon or muscle. But I have been hurt before. I was (and still am) the girl that is afraid to say that I'm hurt, so I never really go to the doctor, I just work through the pain. This is not a good thing. A couple months ago I got hurt and I never stopped practicing and working out. I did not change my life style in anyway, and that caused me to continue to have issues throughout the last couple of months. Injuries are unexpected and never come at a "good" time. But if we don't take care of ourselves those injuries will linger. Injuries happen, but there are ways to treat them and ways to prevent them. 

1. Be proactive: 

Make sure you are conditioning and pushing yourself, but do not over work. Prepare yourself prior to the start of the sports season by working out, stretching and eating right. Everyone needs a day or two completely off to let their body rest, so take a rest day. Stretch before and after exercising. Make sure you do a proper warm up prior to exercising. Fuel your body with nutritionally valuable food. And finally, STAY hydrated!

2. Be aware: 

As soon as you feel like something is not right, tell someone; a coach, a parent, or a doctor. The longer you wait to get the injury looked at, the worse it can get. Do not be afraid to admit that you are hurt. Know your body, if something feels wrong, chances are there something is not right. Know your body, know your limits.

3. Be smart with treatment:

Listen to your doctor or athletic trainer. If they say not to do something, do not do it. Do exactly what they say. Ice is your best friend immediately after certain injuries to control swelling. Swelling can be a cause of pain so if you limit the swelling, you might limit the pain as well. Rest. Just rest. Continue to eat well and stay hydrated.

4. Other tips:

Don't go half on anything. If you aren't going 100% and completely committing, you are putting yourself at risk for injury. Don't do anything you are not ready for. Use technique when you are tired; you do not want to put more stress on your body in a wrong way. If you do get hurt, stay POSITIVE! You will get better.

Injuries stink, but they happen to everyone. These are just a few ways to prevent injuries from getting worse, or happening all together. 

#TheCheerMom Motivational Monday

                        Staying positive is key...                            Every Monday I will be posting motivational quotes to get us through the week on a positive note.... 

Tara

#TheCheerMom, CheerLEADER Advocate

WELCOME TO THE LAYOUT

You are now entering the FIRST blog of its kind that is run by the cheerleading community, for the cheerleading community. Feel free to click around! 

Every article is written by either a  present Long Island cheerleader (or what we like to call our CLBs) or a guest writer! Get to know our fun and quirky Cheer Leader Bloggers by clicking to their bios. We are focused on spreading the word about the hard work and dedication cheerleaders put into their sport everyday. Help us with our mission! Be sure to Like, Comment, and Share our articles.

We are always open to suggestions! 

Thank you for your support and interest!
Jessica, Editor-In-Chief, CLB

Things Cheerleaders Say That Drive Your Coach Crazy

Admit it; you are all guilty of saying at least one of these phrases before.  So the next time these sayings come rolling off your tongue, watch your coach’s reaction…we guarantee you’ll see them cringe!

1.    “I can’t.” 

2.    “Are we doing this full out?”

3.    “Do we have to tumble?”

4.    “Can we get a drink?”

5.    “I forgot my sneakers.”

6.    “Does anyone have extra briefs?”

7.    “Wait! Which side of the mat do I put my sign on?”

8.    “Do we have to roll out the mats today?”

9.    “What are the counts?”

10.  “I can't find my bow.”

Shari Tarburton is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Educational Programming.  She is a New York State Certified Health and Physical Education Teacher, a certified Personal Trainer and Mental Game Coach, and a Varsity cheerleading coach.

Do I Need Mental Game Coaching? (Assessment Included!)

The truth is every athlete from beginner to professional can benefit from working on their mental game. If an athlete wants to be the best they can possibly be they must not only train their physical game but their mental game as well.

Mental Game Assessment

Here is a list of statements, put a check next to all that apply to you.

~You do not have well-defined goals or goal specificity. You lack direction.

~You perform better in practice than during competition.

~You are so self-conscious; you worry about what others think about your game.

~You maintain many self-doubts about your sport before or during competitions.

~You worry about letting others down by not performing up to others expectations.

~You are too self-conscious and worried about how others may perceive you.

~You suffer from anxiety, worry, or excess tension when in competition.

~Pre-game jitters do not go away after the first few minutes into the competition.

~You are motivated by fear of failure and it affects your performance in competition.

~You have a fear of success and sabotage yourself when you are winning.

~You are not sure why you play your sport or let others be your source of motivation.

~You are motivated by external rewards, recognition, or praise.

~You attach your self-worth to how well you perform in sports.

~You lose focus or have mental lapses during critical times of the game.

~You go through the motions physically without mental focus or intensity.

~You are not excited enough or are too excited to perform your best in competition.

~You are distracted by things that go on around you in your environment.

~You have doubts or negative thoughts before, during, or after competition.

~Post-injury you cannot perform the way you did pre-injury even when 100% physically. When performing well you may sabotage your performance with a comfort zone (protect your lead) or expectations that limit your ability to press forward.

~You become easily frustrated because of high expectations.

~You cannot perform with freedom or trust in times of adversity or pressure.

~You focus too much on your mechanics or technique when competing.

~You do not concentrate in the here and now or focus only on execution.

~You think of too much about consequences of your performance, good or bad.

~You over analyze mistakes (technique) and thus think too much about technique.

~You suffer from low self-confidence or self-esteem.

~You limit your performance with negative self-labels such as “I am a choker” or “I can’t do this skill.”

~You have trouble forgetting or letting go of bad past performances.

~Your anger or frustration gets in the way of peak performance.

~You are frequently disappointed with your performance and wish it was better.

~You have a burning desire to be the best ever at your sport or just want to know how to improve your mental game.

If you have checked off 3 or more of the boxes above you are a good candidate for Mental Game Coaching.

Just like your physical skills take the time to acknowledge the mental skills that you are weak in and create a plan with your Mental Game Coach to help take your performance to the next level. 

*Are you interested in working on your mental game one-on-one? Did you know Cheer360 offers individual mental game coaching which can be done at the Cheer360 facility OR by Skype in the comfort of your own home! Contact us for more information.*

Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Mental Fitness.  She holds a masters degree in Sport Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal Trainer.  With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently, Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program. 

Exercise Fact vs. Myth

MYTH 1: Is it possible to tone one part of your body faster if you simply work it out more (example: doing a million crunches to develop a six-pack)?

FACT 1: You cannot spot reduce no matter how hard you try. Doing a million crunches will make your abs stronger; unfortunately, they will not remove the fat from your waste line. If you really want those six-pack abs, you need to follow a strict diet and exercise on a regular basis.  Remember, the only way to get rid of fat is to burn more calories through exercise than you consume through diet.

MYTH 2: Weight lifting has little effect on fat loss.

FACT 2: This myth is completely false. Weight lifting is more beneficial than cardiovascular training when it comes to fat loss. The fact is, the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn. Muscle is metabolically active tissue; it is tissue that constantly burns calories with every concentric, eccentric, and isometric movement.

MYTH 3: Women will develop big, bulky muscles if they lift weights.

FACT 3: Women will NOT develop big, bulky muscles when lifting weights. Testosterone is the hormone directly responsible for muscle growth. Women do not produce enough testosterone to build muscles like men. The one and only exception to this, however, is genetics. Some women are born genetically with the ability to produce more testosterone than the average female. In this case, a woman can develop larger muscles than someone who does not produce that much testosterone.

MYTH 4: Stretching is a good way to warm up before exercise.

FACT 4: Stretching a cold muscle is not only ineffective, but it is also a good way to injure yourself. Studies have shown stretching cold muscles slightly decreases muscle strength and power for up to an hour after stretching. The best way to prepare your body for exercise is to perform movements similar to the exercises you will be doing.

MYTH 5: Your muscles will turn to fat if you stop exercising.

FACT 5: The fact is, muscle and fat are two different types of tissue. When you stop exercising, the muscle fibers you have gained will start to shrink through a process called deconditioning. Once the deconditioning process has begun, side effects will occur. Fat gain is the most common side effect people experience next to diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. The fat gain occurs because you are no longer burning the calories you consume, so your body stores them as energy. When you stop exercising, your body eats muscle and builds fat, so it is easy to see why this myth has been around for such a long time.




Kent Tarburton is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Fitness. He holds Personal Training certifications through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), the American Aerobic Association International (AAAI), the International Sports Medicine Association (ISMA), and is a certified Mental Game Coach.

Perfecting Your “Cheer Face”

Facial expressions can add an enjoyable element to a cheerleading routine.  But over-exaggerated facials can actually take away from a performance.  Many judges like to see natural facials on high school cheerleaders that show they are having fun.  So, throw away the stereotypical, “a-e-i-o-u” facials and let your pearly whites show!

 

DO show your teeth and let your smile be contagious!  Show the crowd that you are having the time of your life.  Make them wish they were out there on that mat with you!

 

 

 

 

 

DON’T open your mouth like you’re sitting in the dentist chair.  The only thing that this is going to accomplish is giving you a dry mouth.

 

 

DO show an all-American image.  Somewhere in those stands there’s a little girl/boy watching you, so be the role-model that he/she deserves having.

DON’T make a duck face.  You’re not taking a “selfie,” so keep in mind that your whole family is in the stands watching you. Awkward!

 

 

 

 

 

Shari Tarburton is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Educational Programming.  She is a New York State Certified Health and Physical Education Teacher, a certified Personal Trainer and Mental Game Coach, and a Varsity cheerleading coach.

“Volumizing”—Not Just for Your Hair!

One of the first things that I’m sure you think of when it comes to being healthy is that you should probably cut down on the amount of foods you eat.  Depending on the types of food you are consuming, this does not need to be true!  By adding volume to your diet, you can actually increase the amount of food that you eat, while also adding more vitamins and nutrients to your diet.

The term that is the key to portion control and balancing consumption of certain foods is “energy density.”  Energy density refers to whether the calories in one serving of a food is very high or very low.  The more calories per serving the more energy dense something is.  You would figure this out by dividing the number of calories per serving by the number of grams one serving is.  If something’s energy density falls between 0-1.5, it is low in energy density, if it is 1.5-4.0 it is medium, and 4.0-9.0 is high in energy density.

In order to maximize the amount you eat, you want to choose more foods from the low energy density group because you can eat more of them for less calories or “energy.”  If you wanted to eat one serving of plain, vanilla ice cream that would be ½ cup and roughly 150 calories.  Yet if you wanted to eat more, you could eat 2 cups of berries with whip cream for the same amount of calories.  That’s 4x the amount of food for an equal amount of calories plus a lot more fiber and nutrients.

Here are some easy ways to add volume to your meals:

Breakfast: If you like oatmeal, cereal or yogurt to start your day, add fruit, nuts and seeds to fill you up and start your day great.  If you have a little more time in the morning, add vegetables to your omelets.

Lunch: If you prefer to have a sandwich, instead of loading it up with cold cuts, use spinach, slice veggies, use spreads such as hummus or avocado instead of mayonnaise and cheese.  If you are making a salad, use beans and nuts to make it more filling instead of fried proteins or other energy dense toppings.

Dinner: Still want pasta?  Go for it! But instead of piling it on your plate, shred zucchini with your vegetables peeler into spaghetti like strands, or better yet, hollow out spaghetti squash which looks exactly like the pasta.  Sautée it in garlic and oil and toss with your pasta dish.  If you like mashed potatoes, use roasted or boiled cauliflower in place of half the potatoes.  Blend or mash them together and you will lower the calories and up the nutrient content!

Eating healthy does not need mean eating less!  Use energy density to help you understand portion control and you’ll be full and feeling great!  Let us know about any meals you volumize this week!

Why "can't" is a curse word!

As athletes we all experience self doubt at times but have you ever counted up how many times you say “can’t” at a practice?  Chances are it’s more than you think and this one small word could be hurting your performance!

Self-talk is the dialogue that we have with ourselves all the time.  Whether we choose to be positive or negative our self-talk will impact us either way by directly affecting our attitude which will than directly affect our behaviors.  Saying words like “can’t” negatively affect us which is why we should become aware of how much we say this word and take steps to replace it with a more positive word or statement. 

While this may seem easy to do its harder than you may think!  The next time you are at practice be consciously aware of how many times you say “can’t’ or a negative word/statement, write that number down.  Then spend time developing positive words and statement to replace the negative ones.  Every time you practice and you think or say “can’t” correct yourself by using a positive word or statement. 

Over time your self-talk will lean more towards positive than negative, which will change your attitude and ultimately change your behavior.  Take the time to work on your self-talk to give yourself the optimal environment to succeed.

Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Mental Fitness.  She holds a masters degree in Sport Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal Trainer.  With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently, Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program. 

Behind the judges table: 3 tips to get you ready for tryouts

Cheerleading tryouts for some athletes can be an intimidating and nerve-wracking experience.  Many cheerleaders tend to focus their energy on major skills that coaches often look for (stunts and tumbling) but forget about the basic components that can improve your score tremendously. 

Tip 1: Show up to tryouts with a competitive mindset.  Showing a tremendous amount of spirit, no matter what you’re doing, can set you apart from your competitors.  This begins by arriving to tryouts every day at least ten minutes before the practice is set to begin.  This will allow you time to put your stuff away, put your sneakers on, and begin to mentally prepare for what the day is about to bring.  “Looking the part” is extremely important as well.  Make sure you are wearing the designated clothing required for tryouts, your hair is pulled back neatly with a bow, you have removed all jewelry from your body, and your nails are cut short.  All of this shows the coaches and the judges that you are invested in becoming a part of their team and ready to meet any challenges that await you.

Tip 2: Work on improving basic technique and skill level during your off-season.  As a coach at the high school level, I expect all cheerleaders to show up to try-outs with perfect jumps.  This does not mean that you have to have the highest jumps, but what it does imply is that you should have perfect technique in your approach to your jumps and throughout the skill.  As a cheerleader, the only way to improve on this fundamental skill is by practicing them every day on your own!  Setting aside at least 30 minutes a day to work on stretching and your jumps in front of a mirror can help you obtain the flawless jumps that you have been working towards, impressing everyone that is watching you.

Tip 3: Take care of your body when you are away from the mat.  Make sure you’re eating a well-balanced diet to ensure you are gaining proper nutrition.  This will allow you to have enough energy to get through anything that tryouts may bring.  Getting enough rest each night is equally important because it helps your mind and body recover from all the stressors that tryouts brings, helping you to prepare for the upcoming days.  Lastly, make sure that your aerobic and anaerobic endurance is at its peak performance.  This comes from implementing an aerobic and anaerobic training program at least 6 weeks prior to tryouts.

 

 

Shari Tarburton is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Educational Programming.  She is a New York State Certified Health and Physical Education Teacher, a certified Personal Trainer and Mental Game Coach, and a Varsity cheerleading coach.