We all fall down sometimes, it's what happens next that matters

We have all been there, you practice everyday to perfect the smallest of details in a routine and in the blink of an eye a stunt can fall, a tumbling pass can land on your knees, or a move can be slightly off beat. After you step off the mat its easy to start blaming yourself for things that went wrong but its important to change your negative thoughts and look for a positive in your performance.

As a competitive athlete you need to understand that failure is a normal and regular process, especially in the sport of cheerleading. The skills that you perform are difficult without a doubt, and with difficulty comes the real possibility of failure. But if you never take a risk you will never improve. Failure is a great form of feedback to help an athlete understand what they need to work on for future performances.

After a poor performance it is OK to be upset, that is natural. However what you do next can determine whether your future performances will be the same or better. Take the time to evaluate everything that you did on the mat, both the negatives and the positives (yes, I said positives. I strongly believe that there is always at least one positive in every performance but it is your job to find it). After you self evaluate it is time to put together a plan for how you will work towards improving the negatives.

Answer the following questions when putting together your action plan:

1. What skill do I need to improve on?

2. What are the steps I need to take to improve this skill?

3. What will I do every week to work towards improving this skill?

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. 

Spotlight: Cheer360 Athlete Meghan Ruggiero Receives "Find Your Greatness Scholarship"

Recently, we celebrated the accomplishment of Cheer360 athlete, Meghan Ruggiero on her acceptance into Western Kentucky University and her placement on the Cheerleading squad. Cheer360 awarded Meghan with a $100, 'Find Your Greatness Scholarship.' The newly established scholarship is meant to support Cheerleaders who pursue their dreams of furthering their Cheerleading career at the Collegiate level. 

The newly established scholarship program was created to meet the financial needs of the traditionally under-served scholarship population found within the sport of Cheerleading. Scholarship money goes towards covering any incurred costs related to serving on a Collegiate Cheerleading team. 

Cheer360 was able to speak to Meghan and ask her some questions and celebrate this special accomplishment. 

Bio

Athlete Name: Meghan Ruggiero

Team and Position: Smithtown East, Flyer

College: Western Kentucky University, Class of 2018

Cheer360: Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you decided that you wanted to be a Cheerleader?

Meghan: As a young girl, I always looked up to and found inspiration from my sister, Ashley. When my sister joined cheerleading, I was able to see how it positively challenged her while at the same time, how much fun the sport was as well. In seeing this, I decided I must become a Cheerleader! 

Cheer360: What is that you like most about the sport of Cheerleading?

Meghan:  I really like the family aspect of Cheerleading, you spend so much time with your team they quickly become your family. It is really nice to have made so many memories with my team and know that should anyone need something, we are all there for each other. 

Cheer360: How has Cheer360 helped you achieve your goals and find your greatness?

Meghan: Cheer360 has made me a stronger cheerleader overall. It has given me all the skills I will need to be the best possible athlete. I only wish Cheer360 was around when I first starting cheering! 

Cheer360: What are you looking forward to most about Western Kentucky University and their Cheerleading program?

Meghan: I am looking forward to all the new challenges WKU Cheerleading will put before me. I like being challenged and I believe being part of this team will push me to my full potential and help me reach greatness!

Cheer360: Meghan, before you go, do you have any words of advice for other Cheerleaders who want to follow in your footsteps?

Meghan: I would give young Cheerleaders the advice to work hard, even when times get tough, you must stick with it and work harder. The success you achieve will all be worth it! Also, never say I can't!

Cheer360: Thank you for your time and answers. We want to wish Meghan much luck and success in her pursuits. We are confident that she will succeed and continue to make her family, friends, teammates and Cheer360 very proud.

Cheer360 is always looking to support our athletes by helping them find their own personal greatness. If you are a college bound cheerleader and wish to apply, please contact Coach Kristen (Kristen@cheer-360.com) for more details. 

Big Smiles with Meghan and Coach Kristen

Thumbs up for Success! Western Kentucky University look out! 

Be Your Best with Breakfast

The verdict is in and without a doubt breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  One of the main reasons for its importance can be found by picking apart its name: “Breakfast.”  You are essentially “breaking the fast” when you have your first meal of the day.  Think about it.  Sometimes you have dinner at 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening, and if you don’t have an after dinner snack, it could be almost 15 hours until you eat again.

Many people think that by skipping breakfast they are eating less food and therefore giving themselves a better chance at weight loss.  However by skipping breakfast, you are actually hurting your chances at weight loss because you are stunting your metabolism.

Metabolism is like a fire; if you don’t keep adding to the flames, the fire and its ability to burn will weaken.  The longer you wait before breakfast, the harder your metabolism has to work to burn calories once you eat again.  If you start your day with breakfast when you wake up, you are starting that fire and giving your metabolism the best start to efficient calorie burning all day.  The same principle goes for why you shouldn’t wait too long between meals, because you don’t want that “fire” to go out again.

Many people feel the challenge of eating breakfast is too little time in the morning.  When people are given the choice to sleep an extra 15 minutes, or use that time to get up and make a quick breakfast, they will usually choose the sleep.  However that ends up hurting you double because not only will you have skipped breakfast and weakened your metabolism, that extra sleep won’t mean anything because you will be more tired from growing hunger.

There are many quick and healthy breakfast options out there like whole grain cereals with low fat or soy milk, instant plain oatmeal, Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts, and if you have a little extra time, cook up an omelet full of veggies!  Breakfast doesn’t have to be difficult and it offers you such a healthy start to the day!

What is your favorite breakfast to eat?

How to Create Effective Personal Goals

With a new season quickly approaching your head is filled with big hopes and dreams of what you want to personally accomplish. The skies the limit for your goals and you are giddy with the idea of being the best you have ever been. This excitement of all the possibilities that could be is great, however if you do not follow a few simple steps for setting goals you may find yourself loosing steam mid-season.  Here are Coach Kristen’s suggestions to help keep your eye on the prize throughout the entire season.

1. Break your goals down into three categories:
1. Dream Goals: long term goal, 2-4 years from now.
2. Individual Season Goals: personal goals to accomplish by the end of the season.
3. Short Term Goals: something you want to accomplish within the next few weeks.

2. When you write down your goals answer the following questions:
1. How long will it take to reach this goal?
2. What is my first step in achieving this goal?
3. What results may or may not occur due to this goal?
4. What are the steps that are required to meet this goal?

3. Your goals should be “SMART”:
1. S- Specific
2. M- Meaningful
3. A- Attainable
4. R- Rewarding
5. T- Trackable

4. Evaluate your goals often: goal setting is only effective if you constantly evaluate where you are in relation to achieving your goal. Setting goals at the beginning of the season and then never looking at them again is as ineffective as never creating goals in the first place. Every week you should go over your goals, what you are doing to achieve your goals and altering your plan of action to achieve your goals as necessary.

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. 

Snack Attack!

Even though school is approaching an end, summer doesn’t always offer the most relaxing schedule.  Whether you find yourself on a summer sports league, working part time, attending several social events while still trying to fit in some relaxation time at the beach, your schedule can be just as busy during the summer as the school year.

When you are busy it can be a challenge to eat healthy.  You also might find yourself going long intervals in between work or practice and if you are rushing to leave in the morning, you might not have time to make a sandwich or a full lunch.  Enter snacking!  Snacking is a great way to keep yourself feeling full so you don’t overeat when the opportunity to sit down for a meal does arise.

Here are some great snack ideas that are quick to prepare and are nutritious too!

Greek yogurt+fruit—This balance of protein from the yogurt, carbohydrates, fiber and nutrients from the fruit and about 20% of your calcium needs, this combination is easy to grab from the fridge and start your day with if a full breakfast isn’t in the cards.

Nuts- There are so many varieties of nuts and a little goes a long way!  A quarter cup of almonds (about 15-20 depending on the size) can provide you with healthy fats, lean protein and filling fiber.  They are easy to stash in the glove compartment of your car or even make up your own trail mixes with some dried fruit and dark chocolate chips!  Remember to eat the right serving though because too many nuts will lead to an overdose of fat.

Hummus and vegetable sticks- It’s always fun to dip! Hummus is made from chic peas which are a good source of lean protein and because of it’s growing popularity comes in a variety of flavors.  Pick your favorite vegetables to dip for a super healthy snack.

Sandwich separates- Sometimes making a sandwich seems cumbersome and you don’t always have everything you need to make the perfect one.  Instead, take a low-fat cheese-stick and break it up into cubes.  Roll each cube in a piece of low sodium deli meats for a sandwich snack.   Though cheese can be an enemy to the health conscious, if it is consumed in moderation and in low fat varieties, they are actually a good source of protein and calcium.

Whole grain chips and salsa- Salsa is a great way to get in vegetables and it is very low in calories. Two tablespoons is only about 30 or so calories so you can scoop salsa to your hearts desire!  It’s a much better option to heavy cream dips and high calorie ranch.  Whole grain chips have filling fiber as well!

Use snacks this summer to keep you full and get in some key nutrients that you might miss if you are skipping meals.  Packing your own snacks is a way better option than hitting the concession stand or vending machines.  Happy summer snacking!

You Know You're A Cheerleader When

1.     You have more cheerleading shirts than regular clothes.

2.    You’ve said, “I can’t. I have cheerleading."

3.    You hear a song that reminds you of an old routine and instantly you start performing it.

4.    Counting to 9 seems weird to you.

5.    You can do more push-ups than most guys in your Physical Education class.

6.    You’re ready at any moment to defend cheerleading when someone says it’s not a sport.

7.    You have a pair of soffee shorts in every color.

8.    You feel the need to stunt anytime, anyplace (pool, hotel lobby, kitchen, classroom).

9.    You pray for a snow day from school but hate when you realize that means practice is canceled.

10.  You have more bows than a five year old.

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.

Make Friends With Fat

Throughout the later part of the 20^th century the mentality surrounding weight loss was that less fat in the diet meant less fat on your body.  However the surge of low-fat and fat-free products in the stores only lead to American obesity rates skyrocketing as we entered the 21^st century.

If you examine many of the low-fat and fat-free products that were created, you would see that while the fat is not present, more sugar or sodium usually was.  More sugar in the diet eventually leads to body fat formation as well as increased risk of diabetes.  More sodium in the diet increases the risk of cardiovascular problems.  This is ironic because it was low fat diets that were being recommended to help people at risk for such health problems problems.

What we know now is that not all fat is created equal.  Starting at the bottom we have trans fats. Trans fats are the worst kind of fat.  You find them in certain fried foods and in packaged foods such as snack foods and icing.  These fats were man-made in a lab and are not natural to our body.  Not only do they clog your arteries, but they also attack HDL cholesterol, which is the “good” cholesterol that helps to remove the “bad” cholesterol from blocking your arteries.  Trans fats should not be consumed at all in the diet as they serve no benefit to the your health.  Saturated fats are the other fat that should be limited to only about 7-10% of the fat you consume.  It is solid at room temperature and found in animal fat such as meats, butter and cheeses.  Saturated fat also clogs arteries and is a main culprit in poor cholesterol.

Now we move on to friendly, unsaturated fats.  These include monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.  Both are liquid at room temperature and reduce bad cholesterol and cardiovascular problems as well as provide nutrients for cell development.  Many monounsaturated fats are also high in vitamin E, which is an antioxidant vitamin that protects against disease.  Monounsaturated fats can be found in olive, peanut, canola and sunflower oil.  They are also found in avocado and peanut butter.

In addition to being found in walnuts and seeds, polyunsaturated fats can be found in the form of omega fatty acids which are crucial to the body because we can’t make them on our own.  Many studies are coming out about the importance of omega fatty acids to improving our overall health.  Many doctors now recommend taking them in supplement form or getting them by eating fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and trout a few times per week.

Contrary to what was thought in the late 20^th century, not all fat is bad!  Now monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and omega fatty acids are seen as a crucial part of our everyday eating in order to fight against many of the problems we thought fat caused.  Replace high fat cheeses in sandwiches with half an avocado, replace meat meals with fatty fish a couple of nights a week, and snack on nuts and seeds to get the fat that you need to stay healthy and protect your health!