Always Be Prepared 1. Cheer Shoes Your cheer shoes are very important for cheer practice, especially for flyers. They are designed specifically for stunting and tumbling. It is smart to always keep them in your gym bag so that you always have them for practices and competitions.2. Water Bottle It is so important to have a water bottle with you...

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A proper warm-up is important for any sport, but especially when it comes to cheering. The high impact of tumbling skills and flexibility required for jumps and body positions takes a big toll on the body. If you're not warmed up properly, injury is a high likelihood. Preparing for practice is more than just the warm-up before. As an athlete,...

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Balance and "proprioception" usually take a back seat in many training programs, but what most fail to realize is that our movement all begins with how our brain senses the floor. Ever feel like you aren't as stable as you'd like? Single-leg tasks are harder than they should be?Maybe you haven't noticed these things at all yet. Try this: Stand...

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"You have a weak core, that's why you have back pain." This is a statement that gets thrown around within the medical and exercise communities without much consideration. Not only does this lead to a societal assumption that back pain and "core" strength go hand in hand, but it creates a belief that our spines are structures that are fragile...

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Believe it or not, many active individuals (even professional athletes!) struggle with how to make a great smoothie, recovery shake, or meal replacement shake! The standard methods used to make these drinks can sometimes lead one to feel sluggish, bloated, or even worse, the athlete does not ingest the necessary nutrients or calories they need for performance and recovery. Involuntary...

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There are three groups of people, those who are struggling to find motivation to train, those who are struggling to come up with creative ideas for training, and people with home gyms. Home gym, folks, well done, you don't need this, but you may want it. If you're struggling to get creative, or maybe you're just not motivated because training...

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Whenever we hear the word 'energy,' physical strength immediately springs to mind with the general belief that the human energy field is only physical. In the bestselling book, The Emotional Energy Factor, famous psychotherapist, and author Mira Kirshenbaum, debunks this myth. She embarks on research, and her subjects are experts in sports medicine, nutrition, and endocrinology. The question posed in...

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Welcome to the most important class you will ever take in high school. Every year, this is my standard introduction for new students in my High School Weight Training Class. My statement is met with a few smiles or laughs by the students. It has been ingrained in them that Math, Science, and English are the cornerstones of their high...

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I often get this question: "Doc, does running hurt my knee?" The answer is no. Injury hurts your knee. If you have healthy knees, you can run forever. If you have a cartilage injury, a torn meniscus, or an unstable knee joint, it will wear out faster than usual. If you're a runner or considering taking up running, the following...

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Although we can all attest to the environment a gym workout provides, the reality is that sometimes you can’t make the time in your day to hit the gym. When push comes to shove, and you need to get in a workout at home there is a large variety of household items that can help you gain strength and improve...

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