Physiological fitness profile of collegiate cheerleaders -- Restricted access to full text

Abstract

Cheerleading is a highly competitive sport that is physically demanding and requires specificity in training as is necessary for other sports. Although cheerleading has evolved into one of the most popular activities with hundred's of thousands of high school and collegiate participants, there are surprisingly very few research publications on this population, and none assessing fitness capacity. The purpose of this study was to complete physiological assessments of college cheerleaders and compare the results to collegiate athletes. Methods: 12 male members of the WSU Cheerleading squad participated. Demographic and anthropometric data including participants’ age, height, and weight were gathered. Participants then completed five fitness test: 30 second anaerobic power test, YMCA push-ups, YMCA curl up, Vertec vertical jump, and sit and reach. Results: Results suggest cheerleaders are above the ACSM normative values. In conclusion, the data presented here shows that cheerleaders have similar fitness capacity scores to other collegiate athletes. Additionally, using a regimen of laboratory based assessments of fitness capacity to measure individual physical abilities of cheerleaders can be a method used by strength and conditioning specialists and/or cheer coaches to design training programs based on athletes' physiological strengths and weaknesses.