10 Common Fitness Myths Aspiring Pro Cheerleaders Should Stop Believing

Aspiring pro cheerleaders do toning, flexibility, and strength training to achieve prime fitness. After all, a fit and well-toned body is prerequisite to professional cheerleading. But are you doing it right? Here are false statements about fitness and what you can do about it:

Myth #1: The best time to workout is in the morning and the worst is at night

The best time for workout routines is when you can do it consistently. An early morning exercise ensures you get it done and have the energy to do so. But evening workouts are as beneficial. It is also a myth that you can’t sleep well if you exercise at night. Exercise aids sleep whatever time you choose to do it.

Myth #2: Weight lifting bulks you up

Women produce 20-30 times less testosterone needed for serious muscle mass growth. For women to bulk up, we must consume 10,000 calories a day and do intense strength training. The truth is strength training can help you stay lean and burn calories. It also boosts your confidence to do more challenging stunts.

Myth #3: Crunches are best for core strengthening

Your core is vital to high jumps and maintaining energy throughout the routine. But crunches only strengthen abdominal muscles under a layer of belly fat. Instead, focus on multi-muscle exercises for every region of your core. These include planks, standing oblique bends, leg raises, and hip dips.

Myth #4: Stretch before you workout

How you stretch spells the difference between boosting and weakening your muscles. Warm up with dynamic stretches like arm swings, walking lunges, and running butt kicks. Dynamic stretching maximizes your muscles' full range of motion. Static stretching like reaching your toes is best after a workout to release tension.

Myth #5: If you exercise a lot, you can get away with eating anything

When we work out so much, it’s natural to think we can give in to cravings and burn it off in a gym session. But exercise is only 30% of a sculpted body. The type of food you eat determines what your body does with fat, metabolism, and muscle. It takes longer to digest meat and fast food than plant-based food.

Myth #6: Eating fat makes you fat

Good fat boosts metabolism. Unsaturated fats and omega 3's contribute to lower BMI. Fatty food you can eat include fish, nuts, olive oil, and avocado. But be careful of loading on avocados. There are about three servings in a medium-sized avocado.

Myth #7: You can turn fat into muscle

Fat and muscle are different types of tissues and you can't turn one into the other. But weight training builds up muscle tissue surrounding fat tissue. Muscle can help you burn more calories and lose more fat.

Myth #8: Deep squats can hurt your knees

There are no proven studies that link squats to knee pain. Pro cheerleaders often do low squats to tighten their glutes. The best squat is when you can sit your butt to heels while keeping the weight light to achieve full range of motion. Be careful of using squat belts though as these can lead to back pain.

Myth #9: You have to sweat to lose weight

You drink less, wrap your body in belts and plastic wrap, and exercise in thick clothing. All that to lose a few grams of fat, but the truth can hurt more than help. Sweat is your body’s way to adjust to external and internal body temperature. When you sweat, you release salts and organic substance. The weight you can lose is due to dehydration, not fat reduction.

Myth #10: Repeat the same workout to achieve the best results

Your body adapts to workout programs and can reach a plateau. You may wonder why you’re not losing as much weight with a training program as you have the first few weeks. Mix up your workout every 4-6 weeks. Change intensity, reps, and sets to counter fitness plateau.

Final Words

Professional cheerleading is a commitment to a fit and healthy lifestyle. NFL and NBA cheerleaders practice routines 3-4 hours, 4 days or more a week. For aspiring pro cheerleaders, debunking these myths help maximize workout and eating habits. And a commitment to fitness gets you a step closer to your dreams!!!

Need a Great Workout Routine for Your Pro Cheer Audition Prep?

Pro cheerleaders stay fit, flexible, and strong so they can give out their best performance in the arena. However, achieving that wow-worthy, toned physique doesn’t happen overnight. You need to arm yourself with the right daily workouts.

Thinking of becoming a pro cheerleader?

We are offering you our fun, FREE (for a LIMITED time) POM FIT™ INTRO CLASS that teaches you beginner-friendly cardio moves.

To take your cheerleading fitness to the next level, we also have POM FIT™: GAMEDAY1™ - a series of challenging full-body cardio classes that include a body stretch class, kick stretch class, abdominal workout class, and more.

Join a POM FIT™ class below:

POM FIT™ INTRO CLASS (Free for a LIMITED time)

POM FIT™: GAMEDAY1™ (USD 27.00)