Total Cheer Performance

Bouncing Back from Injury

4/13/2022

So you’ve had an injury, gone through the healing process, maybe started rehabilitation, and have started to get back into the sport. Many times, athletes get discouraged that they aren’t at their pre-injury level right away. While this can definitely be frustrating, it is very normal. Coming back from an injury, whether minor or serious, can be a difficult process for many. Here are some steps you can take to help you get through it.

If it hurts, stop. When recovering from certain injuries, it may be possible to start having pain again once you get back into sport. It is important to be able to distinguish between pain and soreness (read this article here to help learn the difference). If something is hurting and causing pain, stop. It is not worth pushing through and re-injuring yourself.
Take it slow. Don’t rush right back into where you left off. Pushing yourself too hard too quickly puts you at increased risk for re-injury.

Set Small Goals. Say you are a level 6 cheerleader, wanting to get your double full back for the upcoming competition season. Yes, this is a fantastic goal, but may not be something that is achievable right away. Set smaller goals such as doing a full, doing a double on the tumble track or rod floor, or maybe even just getting your back handspring back. Setting these smaller goals not only makes the larger goal more attainable, it gives you more positive feedback with things that you are able to achieve more easily and quickly.

Learn to love taking a break. Many athletes who are injured just want to think about getting right back into it. A lot of times, taking a break from the sport due to injury is one of the best things you can do. It allows your whole body to recharge and recover from all the pounding it has taken over the years. Overtraining is rampant in sports these days, and sometimes taking a break is one of the best things you can do. The break could be 5 minutes, a day, a few weeks, or as long as you feel is necessary.

Seek support when needed. Injuries can be stressful and difficult to cope with for many athletes. You may feel like everything you have worked for has come crashing down. Seek support from coaches, teammates, friends, family, or even professional support if you need to. Talking about your feelings is more healthy than keeping them bottled up inside.
Focus on form. When you start working skills again, focus on your form and technique. This will not only make your skills look better, it will help to decrease risk of re-injury.

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5 Ways to Help Prevent Injury

7/14/2021

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Injury prevention is often overlooked in sports. Many programs tend to focus on gaining skills, the routine, and competitions. While these are all very important aspects to focus on, athletes getting injured are going to put a damper on all of it.

Here are some ways to help prevent injuries:

Maintain Muscle Balance

We often see certain muscle groups used more often in cheer, such as the quads in the legs and biceps in the arms. However, many times other muscles such as the hamstrings, hip abductors, and triceps are weak. Having these imbalances throughout the body places increased stress on the muscles, and inherently the joints (knee and shoulder injuries are common), resulting in an increased risk of injury.

Here are some ways to help prevent injuries:

Maintain Muscle Balance
- We often see certain muscle groups used more often in cheer, such as the quads in the legs and biceps in the arms. However, many times other muscles such as the hamstrings, hip abductors, and triceps are weak. Having these imbalances throughout the body places increased stress on the muscles, and inherently the joints (knee and shoulder injuries are common), resulting in an increased risk of injury.
Proper Warm Up
- I’ve seen numerous cheer programs have improper warm ups. Static stretching with no dynamic warm up is a recipe for injury. A dynamic warm up program is key in helping to reduce injury risk.
Quality over Quantity
- Technique has become more important in cheer over the last few years, which is a great thing to see. With the quality of the skills being rewarded more, focusing on the little things not only helps to increase your score, it also helps prevent injury.
Avoid Over-training
- Practicing for too long at a time or too many times in a week may seem like a good idea to get more repetitions in, but too much can lead to increased risk of injury. If the athletes are showing signs of fatigue, let them rest. Doing these dangerous skills while tired is a recipe for injuries.
See a Physical Therapist!
- Physical therapists are not only experts in treating athletes after an injury, they can be a vital asset in injury prevention. They are equipped to perform full body assessments to detect muscle imbalances, joint restrictions, and other impairments that often place athletes at an increased risk for injury.

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Abuse in Cheer

9/15/2020

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This is a hard topic to talk about, but something that needs to be discussed. The recent news that hit the cheer world likely came as a shock to many, however it is one of many reported and unreported cases of abuse in cheerleading. Unfortunately, abuse is alive and well in many forms throughout all sports, and cheerleading is no exception.

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Injury Spotlight: Wrist Pain

9/14/2020

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Think about the amount of pressure that your wrists experience during a typical cheer practice. Whether you’re doing a back handspring series or basing a stunt, the wrists sustain a lot of force in various aspects of cheer. A lot of force gets placed through the tiny joints of the wrist and this can lead to different injuries.
Here are some ways that you can help to keep your wrists in good shape and prevent future injuries:

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Tips to Avoid Over-Training

7/28/2020

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What is Over-training?
Over-training is what happens when an athlete or individual progresses exercise too much, too quickly. This can lead to injuries, general fatigue, severe muscle soreness, among many other symptoms.
In order to improve your skills and fitness level, it is necessary to push yourself to see results. However, if you push yourself too hard, it can result in injuries that may limit your overall progress toward your goals.

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Strategies to Help Break Through Mental Blocks

8/26/2018

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The dreaded mental block. Something all coaches, parents, and athletes hope they never have to encounter. While mental blocks can be very frustrating for everyone involved, there are different ways to help diminish the effects of mental blocks on athlete performance.

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How to Improve Your Scorpion

6/3/2018

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The scorpion is one of the more difficult body positions for flyers in cheer. As with the other body positions we see flyers do, the scorpion relies heavily on flexibility. However, the strength of your body is another key component of the scorpion. Especially as we see many teams doing a “kick-up” scorpion, which combines the need for flexibility and strength even more.

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Injury Spotlight: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

4/17/2018

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Patellofemoral pain syndrome, often referred to as “runner’s knee”, is one of the most common causes of knee pain. PFPS is a common injury seen in adolescent athletes, particularly females. It is caused by an imbalance of forces placed through the patella, or kneecap. The amount of stress placed on the patellofemoral joint varies during certain activities, ranging from about ⅓ to ½ of body weight during walking, 3 times body weight with stair climbing, 5 to 6 times body weight with running, and up to 7 times body weight with squatting. As you can imagine, there is a good amount of running and squatting involved in cheer and this places athletes at an increased risk of developing PFPS.