Functional Fitness: What You Need to Know

We’ve covered plenty of exercise programs that offer amazing advantages for pro cheer fitness, health, and dancing. Some of them are workouts that you like and some you don’t. There are more to be discussed, actually.

In this article, we’re going to focus on functional fitness. Keep reading to find out what it is, how it can help you as an aspiring or current pro cheerleader, and some exercises you can do.

What Is Functional Fitness?

Functional fitness, otherwise known as functional training or functional movement is a type of training that uses exercises to prepare your body for real-life activities. As Mayo Clinic defines it, “It trains your muscles to work together and prepares them for daily tasks by simulating common movements you might do at home, at work, or in sports.”

Is It Right For You?

Like other forms of physical training, functional fitness has a lot of benefits for your health and athletic performance. They are:

1. Reduced risk of injury

Through mimicking the movements of everyday life, your body is able to withstand more stressors. An example would be strengthening your muscles for cushioning your impact after landing on your feet from performing a high jump.

2. Increased mobility

Muscle coordination, flexibility, and agility are other benefits of functional fitness. All are needed for you to accurately perform complicated pro cheer stunts and dance routines.

3. Improved balance and posture

Unlike training programs that target specific muscle areas, functional fitness makes the muscles work together for balance, making you less prone to falling while executing cheerleading moves. In terms of posture, functional movements train your muscles for proper weight management. The result would be you being able to walk and sit straight and appear with poise.

4. Better muscle memory

Regular functional training improves your brain’s muscle memory necessary for memorizing dance moves and stunts for audition and arena performances.

5. Improved everyday life

Overall, functional movement makes you a joyful person by stimulating the release of the happy hormone endorphin. It also helps you lose extra cholesterol and calories, making you less prone to having diabetes and high blood pressure.

5 Functional Fitness Exercises

1. Farmer’s carry

This exercise mimics the movement of you carrying heavy grocery bags from point A to point B. It’s good for training your overall body strength and balance.

See how it's done in this video.

2. Jump squat

The jump squat workout improves your jumping strength. In everyday scenarios, this movement helps you jump over short ledges or small streams of water while landing perfectly.

See how it’s done in this video.

3. Sled pull and push

From time to time, you’ll need to move large and heavy appliances or furniture to rearrange your home. This exercise is perfect training for such tasks because it makes all the muscles in your body exert force at full power.

See how they’re done in these videos: Pull / Push

4. Pull-up

Pull-ups are the best exercise to train your entire upper body and a little of your lower body. For daily living, it can help you climb over ledges or fences.

See how it’s done in this video.

5. One-arm kettlebell snatch

We dread the task of putting objects like food or utensils from the kitchen counter to the top shelf. It can be done with two arms but we need one arm to hold onto something to prevent ourselves from falling, especially if we’re standing on a chair.

The one-arm KB snatch trains you to lift heavy items to high places using one hand by strengthening the power of your shoulders, arms, grip, and hips.

See how it’s done in this video.

A functional fitness program is one of the easiest workout techniques to follow. It’s because we’re already familiar with the movements from the exercises. What’s even better is that functional movements can be done on muscle recovery days. That gives you more opportunities to stay fit.

Need to review the exercises you’ve learned from PRO CHEER LIFE™? Read these articles then!

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?

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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:

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