Competition Endurance

[Churizlyfe1111]

Hi all!
I apologize if there's a thread on this, I did look but couldn't find one pertaining to my exact question. This is my first year of all star cheer and I'm loving it! However, when we compete, by the time we've finished warming up and going full out, all my energy is drained and then once we hit the mat, I find myself struggling. I'm only on level 2 so it's not super demanding. I don't know whether it's my endurance or just mentally keeping my stamina up or what. We do a few full outs each practice so maybe it's just nerves that are affecting my performance? If anyone has any tips on dealing with nerves or improving my full out endurance I would appreciate it!

I have learned that I have sooo much more energy when I drink tons of water. On days when I have to go full out I switch off with a large sized Gatorade and try to drink the whole thing. I eat lots of protein and attempt to get a decent amount of sleep.

 

[justcheering]

I have learned that I have sooo much more energy when I drink tons of water. On days when I have to go full out I switch off with a large sized Gatorade and try to drink the whole thing. I eat lots of protein and attempt to get a decent amount of sleep.

I never thought about this! I usually don't drink a lot because I don't want to have to go to the bathroom when we're competing! Haha. But I probably do need to drink more. Thank you!

 

[randomactsofcheer]

I never thought about this! I usually don't drink a lot because I don't want to have to go to the bathroom when we're competing! Haha. But I probably do need to drink more. Thank you!

I completely agree with drinking as much water as possible. If you are worried about having to go to the bathroom or cramps, eating sliced cucumber or watermelon can help keep you hydrated. They are also easy and light snacks that can help settle your stomach if you have a hard time eating before a competition. Also, be sure to drink as much water as you can the day before your competition. Have a couple extra glasses of water before you go to bed. Staying hydrated on the day of a competition won't help much if you are dehydrated from the day before.

Eating healthy the day before a competition is very important, especially if you find it difficult to eat before you compete. Avoid fast food and high-fat, high-sugar meals. Whatever you put in your body the day before a competition will play a large role in your energy level.

Also, pay very close attention to your breathing when you are warming up. This might sound a little silly, but make sure you are taking regular breaths. If you find yourself getting out of breath easily, you may be holding your breath. It will help to work on your breathing for competitions during practice, even if you don't find you have this problem while practicing. My CP had this problem when she started flying. Her coach had her work on breathing in and then out at certain points in her stunts during practice (high-V: breathe in, cradle-down: breath out). You can do the same if you are a base. After a while, it became habit for her and she no longer comes off the floor completely out of breath.

Finally, cardio, cardio, cardio. I prefer running. Unless you really enjoy running, you don't need to run long distances. Running one mile, three to four days a week while working on increasing your mile pace with each run will greatly increase your stamina.

 

[CoachAmandaSouth]

Great advice!

 

[purplecheer]

I completely agree with drinking as much water as possible. If you are worried about having to go to the bathroom or cramps, eating sliced cucumber or watermelon can help keep you hydrated. They are also easy and light snacks that can help settle your stomach if you have a hard time eating before a competition. Also, be sure to drink as much water as you can the day before your competition. Have a couple extra glasses of water before you go to bed. Staying hydrated on the day of a competition won't help much if you are dehydrated from the day before.

Eating healthy the day before a competition is very important, especially if you find it difficult to eat before you compete. Avoid fast food and high-fat, high-sugar meals. Whatever you put in your body the day before a competition will play a large role in your energy level.

Also, pay very close attention to your breathing when you are warming up. This might sound a little silly, but make sure you are taking regular breaths. If you find yourself getting out of breath easily, you may be holding your breath. It will help to work on your breathing for competitions during practice, even if you don't find you have this problem while practicing. My CP had this problem when she started flying. Her coach had her work on breathing in and then out at certain points in her stunts during practice (high-V: breathe in, cradle-down: breath out). You can do the same if you are a base. After a while, it became habit for her and she no longer comes off the floor completely out of breath.

Finally, cardio, cardio, cardio. I prefer running. Unless you really enjoy running, you don't need to run long distances. Running one mile, three to four days a week while working on increasing your mile pace with each run will greatly increase your stamina.

What other forms of cardio would be good? I hate running, lol.

 

[Beans100]

What other forms of cardio would be good? I hate running, lol.

Anything that gets your heart rate up for an extended amount of time. Jumping rope is good. Try jumping rope for 3 minutes and then resting for 1. Repeat 3 times and it's about the amount of time equivalent to running a mile and doing a cool down.
If you have a gym membership the elliptical is decent. I like it because it's easy on my joints when I'm super sore. Taking Zumba class is a fun way to work your cardio too.

 

[justcheering]

I completely agree with drinking as much water as possible. If you are worried about having to go to the bathroom or cramps, eating sliced cucumber or watermelon can help keep you hydrated. They are also easy and light snacks that can help settle your stomach if you have a hard time eating before a competition. Also, be sure to drink as much water as you can the day before your competition. Have a couple extra glasses of water before you go to bed. Staying hydrated on the day of a competition won't help much if you are dehydrated from the day before.

Eating healthy the day before a competition is very important, especially if you find it difficult to eat before you compete. Avoid fast food and high-fat, high-sugar meals. Whatever you put in your body the day before a competition will play a large role in your energy level.

Also, pay very close attention to your breathing when you are warming up. This might sound a little silly, but make sure you are taking regular breaths. If you find yourself getting out of breath easily, you may be holding your breath. It will help to work on your breathing for competitions during practice, even if you don't find you have this problem while practicing. My CP had this problem when she started flying. Her coach had her work on breathing in and then out at certain points in her stunts during practice (high-V: breathe in, cradle-down: breath out). You can do the same if you are a base. After a while, it became habit for her and she no longer comes off the floor completely out of breath.

Finally, cardio, cardio, cardio. I prefer running. Unless you really enjoy running, you don't need to run long distances. Running one mile, three to four days a week while working on increasing your mile pace with each run will greatly increase your stamina.

I always hold my breath! So I'm definitely going to work on that during practice! And I never thought about eating cucumber or watermelon! Thank you so much, you answer was so detailed and helpful!! :)

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

While I think many great tips have been given here (good night's sleep, proper nutrition and hydration, etc) I definitely would not underestimate the mental component of competitions. Being nervous about a skill you have to perform or anxious to go on or being over stimulated from the loud music, bright lights, lots of people, etc can definitely take a hit on your energy levels. This will get easier as time goes on because you'll learn different ways to deal with all of this, but for the time being, maybe it'd be beneficial to remove yourself from the excitement for a few minutes before you head to warm ups with your team and find a way to relax and prepare yourself to go on.

Competitions are stressful for newbies and veterans alike. Managing the good and bad stress is just as important as eating a healthy meal or getting enough sleep. When I cheered, I always felt 10 times more exhausted from that one full out at competition than I did after a 2.5 hour practice. It was just the stress.

Side note: At my first gym, we went full out in warm ups before we hit the mat and I found it somewhat detrimental to our performance. At my last gym, we never went full out in warm-ups. We would warm up our stunts, jumps, and tumbling, and then do a walk through and mark everything on the full mat. I found that much more relaxing and made for a better performance. I never understand why coaches make kids go full out in warm ups.

 

[omgitssydthekid]

While I think many great tips have been given here (good night's sleep, proper nutrition and hydration, etc) I definitely would not underestimate the mental component of competitions. Being nervous about a skill you have to perform or anxious to go on or being over stimulated from the loud music, bright lights, lots of people, etc can definitely take a hit on your energy levels. This will get easier as time goes on because you'll learn different ways to deal with all of this, but for the time being, maybe it'd be beneficial to remove yourself from the excitement for a few minutes before you head to warm ups with your team and find a way to relax and prepare yourself to go on.

Competitions are stressful for newbies and veterans alike. Managing the good and bad stress is just as important as eating a healthy meal or getting enough sleep. When I cheered, I always felt 10 times more exhausted from that one full out at competition than I did after a 2.5 hour practice. It was just the stress.

Side note: At my first gym, we went full out in warm ups before we hit the mat and I found it somewhat detrimental to our performance. At my last gym, we never went full out in warm-ups. We would warm up our stunts, jumps, and tumbling, and then do a walk through and mark everything on the full mat. I found that much more relaxing and made for a better performance. I never understand why coaches make kids go full out in warm ups.

My junior 1 goes full out minus running tumbling in warm ups, but they all choose to do running tumbling anyway. They're a weird team that actually loves going full out, and literally ask to go full out. I love it.

My junior 2 and 3 do full out stunts on the full floor, and if it's spring, they have the option to throw tumbling (but if they busted at all in warm ups and it's a full spring floor they have to do that skill)

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

My junior 1 goes full out minus running tumbling in warm ups, but they all choose to do running tumbling anyway. They're a weird team that actually loves going full out, and literally ask to go full out. I love it.

My junior 2 and 3 do full out stunts on the full floor, and if it's spring, they have the option to throw tumbling (but if they busted at all in warm ups and it's a full spring floor they have to do that skill)

I'm sure there are a lot of gyms, teams, or athletes that feel more comfortable doing a full out before they compete. But for the higher level teams (3-5, even 6) I think it can be counterproductive and do more harm than good.

Everyone has their own philosophy about the warm up mats though. I just never saw it as an appropriate place to go full out unless you were a level 1 or 2 team. There's so many distractions in the warm up area that it's the perfect place for something to go wrong. For the higher level teams, when there's a mat for warming up stunts and then a mat for warming up tumbling, I don't see the need to do anything on the big floor except get jitters out and get your head in the game when you're running through and marking the routine - unless you busted a skill or dropped a stunt on the warm up mats and feel you need to do it again before you go on. Or if there is a different set of circumstances like someone being put in at the last minute or someone is throwing a skill in the routine for the first time and they want to go full out as a confidence thing. But as a well trained and conditioned athlete, come competition time, there's no need to tire yourself out on the warm up mats throwing skills you already know you can hit.

Juniors though, those kids have energy for days... Sometimes "tiring themselves out" isn't a phrase that applies to them[emoji14]

 

[catlady]

The chances are very slim but, if diet, hydrating and cardio don't improve your energy, have someone check your blood sugar levels to rule out any medical reasons.

 

[AjfromOpals]

I know you probably already know this but a lot of the time adrenaline makes a whole lot of difference to your stamina. I don't know about you but i'm one of those people who gets either really hyped or really nervous before I take the mat and taking really deep breaths before I go on always helps me to calm myself down. As for nerves, talk to your team. I agree with the whole drinking water but I stop drinking about half an hour before I go to warm ups and then I don't drink again until just before we do on. (at comps here they have water backstage) That has really helped me.
If its physical then theres plenty of tips above. Good Luck :)