Just wanted to add that gymnastics involves 4 events (vault, bars, beam and floor) and strong tumbling will not help you on beam and bars where balance and upper arm strength are used. And that darn Level 5 kip on bars is so darn tricky!!!
I also think that with having the 4 events in gymnastics makes them more conditioned in a more well-rounded way. They also train a lot more hours which helps with the conditioning and reduction of injuries (at least at the lower levels). In gymnastics you also have to score out to be eligible for the next level AND you have to have all the required skills on ALL 4 events.
Elements of tumbling are present in every event, whether it's obvious on bars or not, it is. I could go into detail but I won't.
Most cheerleaders I know practice a minimum of 6 hours a week, that's on one team, 2 practices a week, no privates, no nothing, just practice.
Most gymnasts practice 6-8 hours a week at most, until becoming competitive gymnasts, at which point it is more likely 9-12 hours a week before training to either enter elite, or you become an elite, when the training heightens to a LOT more than that, as we all know. Gymnasts are not conditioned to be better athletes because they spend more time in the gym, or because they have 4 events, they are conditioned to be better athletes because the coaches, athletes, parents, and those involved with running the sport understand the need for proper conditioning and training to be able to push your body to do unnatural things, cheerleaders (for the most part) do not understand that need.
Cheerleaders stunt, tumble, and jump. There is a different set of conditioning needed for proper jumping technique than there is for stunting technique, just as the technique from tumbling on a floor to tumbling on a beam is much different and must be conditioned differently.
A gymnast and a cheerleader should be conditioned almost identically. Until a gymnast is elite, they are rarely double flipping, or twisting more than once, and definitely not more than twice. Cheerleaders do not double flip, and do not twist more than twice, so why is it that a recreational gymnast I coach does at least 1.5 hours of conditioning a week, and spends more time on technique than they do throwing the skill while competitive cheerleaders tend to (not speaking for ALL competitive cheerleaders here) ignore technique, ignore the importance of diet, ignore the importance of conditioning (after all, doing 2 full outs a week is enough conditioning right?), and rarely take the time to progress back into tumbling after an injury?
ETA: it is easy to say gymnasts require more so they condition more, and focus more on technique and such, when in actuality cheerleaders and gymnasts are rather similar, and should be taking their conditioning, diet, stretching, etc. equally as importantly. This sport needs to model gymnastics in the way gymnastics coaches treat their athletes, athletes treat their bodies, and in the way the governing body is run.
