All-Star Any Former Competitive Gymnasts Switch To Allstar Cheer?

[Keep_Believing]

How would be a good way to keep up with the gymnastics conditioning when you make the switch to cheer? Working out over 15 hours a week versus 5 hours is a big difference. Any ideas, suggestions?

 

[Mamarazzi]

My daughter is super flexible. She still stretches her splits at home. I hope she doesn't lose her flexibility. I would assume she wouldn't if shes cheering but i already notice shes not conditioning as hard as she did in gymnastics.

Thanks for the tips!

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Flexibility can be a gift and a curse. Try holding a rubber band in between your fingers and make it stand up.

Body awareness should be less of a problem for your cp. And don't forget, cheer tumbling is nowhere near as precise as gymnastic tumbling. She'll zoom up to level 5 in no time.

@MissBee - you wanna lend a hand here?

 

[sportygal2012]

How would be a good way to keep up with the gymnastics conditioning when you make the switch to cheer? Working out over 15 hours a week versus 5 hours is a big difference. Any ideas, suggestions?

I enjoy running,so I joined my school track team, since i had more free time. I also started running more on the weekeends and duing 5ks and stuff. Find another physical activity you like to do. In my city there is a program called PC or Performance Course, it's like a boot camp workout for middle school and high school students. That was probably the closet thing I got to intense conditioning. Me and a couple other girls that left the team or graduated workout with our old team at their Saturday morning workouts. You could see if your coach would let you do that.

 

[gymcatmomx2]

I transitioned from competitive gymnastics (5 years) to allstar- and I am just going in to my 6th year.
Besides what has already been said about motions and choreography (I personally didn't have a problem with it because I also had a dance background, but I do know it is generally common for gymnasts to struggle with motions) here is my biggest advice!!
Train tumbling privates AT A GYMNASTICS CLUB- and demand the coach does proper 'gymnastics style' conditioning, technique building etc.
I lost a bunch of my muscle mass, flexibility etc, once i started cheer because I wasn't trained at the level that I used to! If I could do it all over (I am 19 years old now) I would 100% BEG my mother to put me into a gymnastics environment for conditioning, stretching etc and learning new skills. IMO it is a must.
The other stuff such as dance/motions/choreo will come with time and practice during cheer practice hours. But as for maintaing what has already been built from her gymnastics background- take that on as your responsibility.
GOOD LUCK :)

This is such a true statement! My youngest CP transitioned from a level 5 competitive gymnast to all-star cheer 3 years ago. Our gym is a combo gymnastics/cheer. One of our tumbling coaches is a gymnastics coach and she makes the all-star athletes do the same conditioning that the gymnasts do such as running tumbling onto a high mat, etc. The girls complain that after tumbling with her their legs feel like jelly ;)

 

[cheermom1981]

My daughter is just not working out as hard as she did in gymnastics. I tell her that core strength and legs are super important but the laziness has kicked into high gear. I don't know what else to do.. I miss those four hour practices 4x a week, she's lucky if she gets four hours in a week right now with cheer.
What does your children do for strength and conditioning at their gym?

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[cheercurl]

My daughter is just not working out as hard as she did in gymnastics. I tell her that core strength and legs are super important but the laziness has kicked into high gear. I don't know what else to do.. I miss those four hour practices 4x a week, she's lucky if she gets four hours in a week right now with cheer.
What does your children do for strength and conditioning at their gym?

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Then in my opinion you should have stayed with gymnastics...Cheer is a very different sport than gymnastics. My oldest daughter left gymnastics training 21 hours a week. She started cheer at 5 hours and quickly decided to double team where practices over lapped so it was like maybe 8 hours....so that may be an option. Plus a private or an extra tumbling class.

I am not sure why your daughter left gymnastics but one of the reasons my daughter left is...she wanted a life. She wanted to be able to stay on top of her homework. She wanted to go on vacation and go to a football game. She wanted to have friends that had nothing to do with gymnastics. She wanted to try out for high school cheer. If you ask her the absolute biggest reason she left gymnastics she would say because she was tired of being sore and conditioning so much. She knew she wasn't heading to the olympics and didn't want to do gymnastics in college and just wasn't sure she wanted to put her body through all the wear and tear that being a gymnast demanded.

It was really hard for me as a mom to let go of gymnastics but my daughter embraced the sport for exactly what it was, a fun, fast paced and exciting TEAM sport. The sooner you can except the sport for what it is and let go of your gymnastics dreams the happier you both will be. This is not gymnastics...she can take tumbling privates if she needs to keep up with advanced skill but she does not need to be training 18-21 hours a week. If you want that go back to competitive gymnastics.

I am guessing all the cheer moms right now are thinking....what is she talking about? Cheer is exhausting and takes over your life and nobody ever gets a break. Well that's true to a certain extent but competitive gymnastics is like having a daughter who has two full time jobs. She goes to school full time and then almost ALL her evenings and weeknights are gymnastics practice with competitions thrown in. Its not much of a life if you want one outside of gymnastics.

Cheer has a social life built into it. Travel for cheer comps is fun and exciting for both mom and athlete... There are theme practices, team bonding and sleep overs. There is an occasional local cheer comp where your friends can come and see you! You are part of a team! Gymnastics you are friends with your team mates but also you are their competition and they are yours which makes it a more complex friendship.

So moral of this long saga...as soon as I was able to let go of my gymnastic dreams for my daughter the more fun it was for both of us! Your daughter will not be able to condition like she did at gymnastics and I am not sure I would ever want it to be that way. There were days I wept quietly in the waiting room watching my daughter do long arm pull-overs with blisters on her hands as her coach yelled at her to keep going or when she did hand stand push-ups literally until she collapsed and they would still make her get up and finish the last 5 sets of 10. It was killer.

In cheer, my daughter was still able to maintain her flexibility and strength. Maintaining her tumbling skills did require privates but she would have still excelled with out them. Now in college she can still tumble and is super flexible...like Gumby. LOL Good luck on this new adventure you are going to LOVE it! Gymnastics was just expensive...cheer is FUN and expensive! Yipeeee!

 

[Keep_Believing]

I understa

Then in my opinion you should have stayed with gymnastics...Cheer is a very different sport than gymnastics. My oldest daughter left gymnastics training 21 hours a week. She started cheer at 5 hours and quickly decided to double team where practices over lapped so it was like maybe 8 hours....so that may be an option. Plus a private or an extra tumbling class.

I am not sure why your daughter left gymnastics but one of the reasons my daughter left is...she wanted a life. She wanted to be able to stay on top of her homework. She wanted to go on vacation and go to a football game. She wanted to have friends that had nothing to do with gymnastics. She wanted to try out for high school cheer. If you ask her the absolute biggest reason she left gymnastics she would say because she was tired of being sore and conditioning so much. She knew she wasn't heading to the olympics and didn't want to do gymnastics in college and just wasn't sure she wanted to put her body through all the wear and tear that being a gymnast demanded.

It was really hard for me as a mom to let go of gymnastics but my daughter embraced the sport for exactly what it was, a fun, fast paced and exciting TEAM sport. The sooner you can except the sport for what it is and let go of your gymnastics dreams the happier you both will be. This is not gymnastics...she can take tumbling privates if she needs to keep up with advanced skill but she does not need to be training 18-21 hours a week. If you want that go back to competitive gymnastics.

I am guessing all the cheer moms right now are thinking....what is she talking about? Cheer is exhausting and takes over your life and nobody ever gets a break. Well that's true to a certain extent but competitive gymnastics is like having a daughter who has two full time jobs. She goes to school full time and then almost ALL her evenings and weeknights are gymnastics practice with competitions thrown in. Its not much of a life if you want one outside of gymnastics.

Cheer has a social life built into it. Travel for cheer comps is fun and exciting for both mom and athlete... There are theme practices, team bonding and sleep overs. There is an occasional local cheer comp where your friends can come and see you! You are part of a team! Gymnastics you are friends with your team mates but also you are their competition and they are yours which makes it a more complex friendship.

So moral of this long saga...as soon as I was able to let go of my gymnastic dreams for my daughter the more fun it was for both of us! Your daughter will not be able to condition like she did at gymnastics and I am not sure I would ever want it to be that way. There were days I wept quietly in the waiting room watching my daughter do long arm pull-overs with blisters on her hands as her coach yelled at her to keep going or when she did hand stand push-ups literally until she collapsed and they would still make her get up and finish the last 5 sets of 10. It was killer.

In cheer, my daughter was still able to maintain her flexibility and strength. Maintaining her tumbling skills did require privates but she would have still excelled with out them. Now in college she can still tumble and is super flexible...like Gumby. LOL Good luck on this new adventure you are going to LOVE it! Gymnastics was just expensive...cheer is FUN and expensive! Yipeeee!

I get where you are coming from, but I would think there would be a way to supplement for some of the former gymnastics training. Balance is always important. Maybe add track, Pilates, or yoga to the cheer schedule. Find what works best for your child.

 

[cheercurl]

I understa


I get where you are coming from, but I would think there would be a way to supplement for some of the former gymnastics training. Balance is always important. Maybe add track, Pilates, or yoga to the cheer schedule. Find what works best for your child.

You are the one who knows what is best for your child but instead of longing for her gymnastics training/conditioning embrace what you have committed to and see if it works before setting out on your search for more. Have her take an extra tumbling class and some gyms also offer conditioning classes...sign her up. What level was she?

 

[Keep_Believing]

I am not the original poster. Just replying to the thread.

That makes sense. Also, very cool that some gyms offer conditioning classes. We are at a smaller gym. They don't offer conditioning classes.

 

[cheercurl]

I am not the original poster. Just replying to the thread.

That makes sense. Also, very cool that some gyms offer conditioning classes. We are at a smaller gym. They don't offer conditioning classes.

oops sorry

 

[cheermom1981]

Hi , thanks cheercurl for your reply.... My daughter is on a level 3 cheer team, she was level 7 in gymnastics. one of the bigger reasons why she left gymnastics was the burnout after 11 years, and not being able to commit to another sport. she reached the peak of her skill set with gymnastics and knew she would not make it as a level 8 or higher... she really fell in love with allstar cheer last year when she found out about it. its the best of both worlds of gymnastics and dance, which she still does dance going into her 6th year. cheer is fun and still competitive. she really never had the social aspect of gymnastics because the majority of the kids are soooo cut throat and go against each other. she will find out with cheer that it can be built around friendships and teamwork and still have that competitive edge.

We both still have a lot to learn about cheer but at least she has the next 5 to 6 years ahead of her to move up in the cheer world and maybe make a level 5 team. we just need to get used to the decrease in practice hours and realize its ok, and to work out 16-21 hours per week is usually not the norm for most sports.. She does take an extra tumble class on Sundays plus her regular scheduled tumble class. I appreciate you sharing your daughters story with me and I am glad she found happiness with cheer after her gymnastics career. I am sure my daughter will as well...:D

 

[sportygal2012]

Then in my opinion you should have stayed with gymnastics...Cheer is a very different sport than gymnastics. My oldest daughter left gymnastics training 21 hours a week. She started cheer at 5 hours and quickly decided to double team where practices over lapped so it was like maybe 8 hours....so that may be an option. Plus a private or an extra tumbling class.

I am not sure why your daughter left gymnastics but one of the reasons my daughter left is...she wanted a life. She wanted to be able to stay on top of her homework. She wanted to go on vacation and go to a football game. She wanted to have friends that had nothing to do with gymnastics. She wanted to try out for high school cheer. If you ask her the absolute biggest reason she left gymnastics she would say because she was tired of being sore and conditioning so much. She knew she wasn't heading to the olympics and didn't want to do gymnastics in college and just wasn't sure she wanted to put her body through all the wear and tear that being a gymnast demanded.

It was really hard for me as a mom to let go of gymnastics but my daughter embraced the sport for exactly what it was, a fun, fast paced and exciting TEAM sport. The sooner you can except the sport for what it is and let go of your gymnastics dreams the happier you both will be. This is not gymnastics...she can take tumbling privates if she needs to keep up with advanced skill but she does not need to be training 18-21 hours a week. If you want that go back to competitive gymnastics.

I am guessing all the cheer moms right now are thinking....what is she talking about? Cheer is exhausting and takes over your life and nobody ever gets a break. Well that's true to a certain extent but competitive gymnastics is like having a daughter who has two full time jobs. She goes to school full time and then almost ALL her evenings and weeknights are gymnastics practice with competitions thrown in. Its not much of a life if you want one outside of gymnastics.

Cheer has a social life built into it. Travel for cheer comps is fun and exciting for both mom and athlete... There are theme practices, team bonding and sleep overs. There is an occasional local cheer comp where your friends can come and see you! You are part of a team! Gymnastics you are friends with your team mates but also you are their competition and they are yours which makes it a more complex friendship.

So moral of this long saga...as soon as I was able to let go of my gymnastic dreams for my daughter the more fun it was for both of us! Your daughter will not be able to condition like she did at gymnastics and I am not sure I would ever want it to be that way. There were days I wept quietly in the waiting room watching my daughter do long arm pull-overs with blisters on her hands as her coach yelled at her to keep going or when she did hand stand push-ups literally until she collapsed and they would still make her get up and finish the last 5 sets of 10. It was killer.

In cheer, my daughter was still able to maintain her flexibility and strength. Maintaining her tumbling skills did require privates but she would have still excelled with out them. Now in college she can still tumble and is super flexible...like Gumby. LOL Good luck on this new adventure you are going to LOVE it! Gymnastics was just expensive...cheer is FUN and expensive! Yipeeee!

I just want to shimmy this 100000 times. To this day my mom still throws out the whole "if you were still in gymnastics...". I'm not gonna lie I miss it like crazy and its bitter sweet working out with my old team but I left for the same reasons. I was upset I wasn't allowed to try out for cheer in 7th grade. I was mad that I had been to only 1 varsity football game. I was mad that I would be staying up late trying to finish homework after a full day of school and a 4 hour practice. I wanted to be involved with my church and got tired of saying "I can't I have gymnastics". I just had to make my mom come to the reality that I was never doing gymnastics again and cheer is my life now (well to a different extent). I will say I still miss the long intense workouts and 2 a day practices in the summer, or even when I was an optional and we did ballet technique training on Tuesdays!

 

[Sillybilly114]

Also I find that flyers as ex-gymnasts tend to be used to balancing themselves in the air like if you're wobbling on Beam it's up to you to save yourself but in cheer if you wobble in a stunt the bases underneath you will save you. So that's a bit of a challenge!

 

[cheernerd5678]

Also I find that flyers as ex-gymnasts tend to be used to balancing themselves in the air like if you're wobbling on Beam it's up to you to save yourself but in cheer if you wobble in a stunt the bases underneath you will save you. So that's a bit of a challenge!

This. They don't understand that it makes it harder on the bases and it's hard to break the habit!


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[MissBee]

Learning to allow your bases to stabilize you, over keeping yourself steady is a tough transition! I made the switch from a Level 10 gymnast to cheerleader in high school. I knew I didn't want to compete in college, but I did end up cheering in college. I did high school cheer (all star was just starting out in the early 90s and there wasn't an all star gym near me, let alone that my parents would pay for something I could do for free at school!). My HS team was competitive, going to Nationals every year. But it was still no where near what gymnastics was! I had cheer practice 3 nights a week, plus a game-so I'd go 2-3 nights/days a week for tumbling classes to keep up my skills. I would also do my gymnastics conditioning every day. My high school had a weight room and a strength and conditioning coach, who worked with the football team. I just started showing up to the football players weight room times and lifting with them! They thought it was a joke at first, then when they discovered I could bench more than my bodyweight and could leg press more than all but one of the guys-they let me stay! If her school doesn't have a weight room, I would really suggest finding a CrossFit box to join. Gymnasts do exceptionally well at CrossFit and it'll keep up her strength. Yoga is also great!