HOME CHALLENGE: Conditioning

HOME CHALLENGE!

Ok it has been a while for the home challenges... my fault! I got a little side tracked with some personal stuff and had to drop off for a while. I hope you have been returning to the other home challenges and working your skills! This home challenge is just some plain great conditioning. It is spring time and we have had a few really nice days. Try doing some of these drills outside and enjoy the fresh air! :)

Legs:
Toe raises 3 sets of 20
Jumping over a line (back and fourth) 1 min (3 sets)
Long lunge walks 2 sets of 10

Core:
toe touch crunches 2 sets of 20
push up hold 2 sets of 1 minute holds
reverse sit ups: hang over your bed 2 sets of 15

Arms: grab two water bottles (one for each hand)
arm circles 3 sets of 50 (each way)
Arm holds: high v, T, right diagonal, left diagonal, touchdown, repeat. 2 sets of 30 second holds
push ups: 3 sets of 15 (get rid of the water bottles... drink some water!)

Just becuase you love it:
jump rope 2 sets of 3 minutes
grapevine on your toes 3 sets of 15 in each direction
routine jumps 5 sets

Ok this is a pretty good body workout! Keep working your skills and strengthening your bodies. The skills will get easier and easier if you work your muscles in between practices. Remember these workouts are not for once a week they are to be done daily to see some results. Work it!

Cheers,
Coach Heather

PS> Fliers work your flexibility too!

Home Challenge 3: Your Dance Motions (and some conditioning)

Home Challenge 3: Your Dance Motions (and some conditioning)

OK ladies the score sheet has 10 points that go to the motions/dance section. This is just as important as the jump section. So we better be dancing divas out there on the floor too! Here is your home challenge to work on your current dance and be the dancing diva you need to be to get full credit. This home challenge will require you to really think about your dance and all the specifics. For example every arm placement, every leg kick, every pointed toe and every smile. All of it is so important to getting the dance story interpreted to your audience and judges. And most of all it is so important to getting that high score.

Your Dance challenge:

• break down the dance motion by motion. Check your levels and all components of your dance. Make sure you are satisfied with what you are doing. Could it be better?
• Do your dance very slowly and work on being sharp and tight with your motions.
  Speed up the dance and make sure you have found the right kind of facials to do during the different parts of dance. Check these facials out in the mirror. Do they look good on you? Do you look crazy? Find the right looks for you and incorporate them into the routine as if they are part of the dance.
• Now do the dance up to speed since you have perfected it. Find someone to watch your dance and give you feedback. This can be a friend, parent, sibling or whoever. They don't even need to know about dance, they just have to be impressed by your moves. Ask them if you are tight in motions, are your placements where they should be, did you make good faces during the routine and etc. If you can, have someone record your routine for you. This way you can self critique and self correct.

The conditioning and Stretching: All good routines need flexibility and strength. So we are going to work some of both in this home challenge.

• Motion holds: Yep that rights. It painful and hard but it will only make you stronger! We are going to do a motion and hold it for 30 seconds before moving n to the next motion. Do the following motion for 30 seconds each. High V (fee apart) , T (fee together) , broken T (feet apart), Diagonal with a lunge, other diagonal with other lunge, back to High V. Rest slightly between reps. Do 3 sets of motion drills.
• Splits: Everyone's favorite. Just like having good motions that are in the correct placement you must also watch the placement of each split in order to get the most out of the stretch. Each split should be held for 1 minute at a time. Already flat in your splits? Then move on to oversplits. You can do this by having your front leg slightly raised from the ground. This should only be done if you already have your splits completely flat on the ground. Do each split 2 times, holding each time for one minute.
• push ups: You have to have buff arms to get through an all star routine! When you are doing your dance I want to see your muscles from being tight and hitting the motions each time. Do 3 sets of 10 push ups.
• Let's give your legs a little rest this week and focus on the core of your body. Strong core will improve all areas of cheerleading. Let's do simple ab crunches. The best way to do abs is to do them slowly and correctly. Do not strain your neck this is not your abs and will never help you strengthen your core, it will just give you headache. Let's do 3 sets of 50 abs. You can do straight on abs, twisting to the right and then to the left.
  

RECAP:

• Breakdown the dance, do it slowly and build up speed with confidence.
• Perform your dance for someone else or for a video.
• Motion drill: hold each motion for 30 seconds each.
• Splits: Work on all 3 positions for the splits. Splits should be held for 1 minute each and then repeat. All splits are worked two times.
• Push ups: 3 sets of 10
• Abs: 3 sets of 50 abs.

Ok Ladies that is Home Challenge 3. I hope to hear that you all are doing these home challenges and taking the opportunity to bettering yourself. Everyone wants to see their little paper cheerleader move on down the poster board! The only way you will get better is by adding in some extra effort!

"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time."

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing-that's why we recommend it daily."

And here is a bonus one that I found. I laughed.
"A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just have one thing to say to the authors of that study: Duh."

**Fliers don't forget to be stretching your skills. Bow-n-arrows, heel stretches, scorpions etc.

Cheers,
Coach Heather

College Meeting 2009

College Meeting 2009

What is it? Each year, the coaches help the Panthers research potential colleges. We’ve written countless letters of recommendation for national honors society and college applications. We want to see you succeed as adult women so we always try to help you with your journey after Midwest. We’ve typically done this on a one-on-one basis.

This year, we thought it would be fun to have a group meeting for any high schooler that is interested in cheering, dancing, sports (track, softball, etc) or getting involved in another college activity (theatre, music, band). We’ll help you understand what it takes to make it onto a college team/activity. We’ll also help you understand what it will be like while you balance school and cheering. There are so many options (all girl, co-ed, college dance). Some schools have very strict requirements (height and weight) and other schools have really crazy skill requirements (double full on hard floor, full up stretch double and etc). Other schools are focused on stunts and have hardly no requirements for tumbling and other schools are more focused on the spirit side of cheering and don’t have that many skill requirements at all.

Some schools have awesome all girl squads, some squads offer full scholarships, some schools don’t offer any financial help to cheerleaders/dancers. All of the schools are different and it can be overwhelming to figure out what to do! Several people on our staff participated in college cheer/dance/sports and we’ve had dozens of Panthers that have cheered in college. So let us help you out. We know the cheer/dance business and we can help you identify colleges that meet your interests.

Who is the meeting for? In order for the meeting to be productive, we must limit the number of participants so this meeting is only open to current high schoolers (9-12th grade).
We will host this meeting each year so if you are younger than 9th grade…don’t worry, you’ll get to attend when you’re in high school.

*Note: we know that some of you are not interested in cheering in college. That’s okay, you can come to the meeting too and we can talk about other sports/activities in college. We will be happy to help you search for colleges that meet your interests even if you’re not interested in college cheer/dance. We have a college recruitor that is able to come and share some ideas with us as well. FUN!

Where/When?
The Robinson House: 7519 Balfoure Circle Dublin, OH 43017

Saturday, Feb 28 at 6:00 p.m. Parents are encouraged to attend also.

RSVP – if you plan to attend this meeting, please send an email to the coaches mpacoaches@yahoo.com or put a posting on the Glitz or Glamour blog. You must RSVP by Feb 26. We plan to put together an individual packet for every Panther. We want the packet to be specific to each of you so we need enough time for get everything printed. If you don’t rsvp then you won’t get a packet L Along with your RSVP please include the following information.

· Do you have an idea about what you want to study in college?
· Do you want to stay in Ohio or go out of state?
· Do you already have a few colleges narrowed down? If so, tell us your top 5.
· Do you want to go to a big college or small?
· Do you want to cheer All Girl or Co-ed or either?
· Are you interested in a different college sport or activity? If so, which activities/sports?
· What type of information do you want to obtain from our meeting?

HOME CHALLENGE 2: Toe touches

HOME CHALLENGE 2: Toe touches

Did you know on your score sheet that jumps are given the same amount of points as your stunts? Same amount of points as your mount, your tumbling, your baskets, your dance...etc? Well then these are pretty important aren't they? So lets get to work on those jumps! Below are some exercises you can do on your own at home.

• First thing is your turn out from the hips. sit in a straddle on the floor. turn your knees facing at least upwards. To get a true level 5 toe touch you will need to work on turning your knees back. Put your little toe on the floor while you point your toes. Keeping your back straight up and down sit tall and push forward a bit. Hold this position. Any time you are watching TV sit in this position. You can work on your turn out and enjoy your favorite show!
• Next is Hip flexor strengthening. Yes you guessed it, leg raises! I know these are not everyones favorite but if you are having trouble with your jumps you really need to do these. Sit in a straddle on the floor. Work your correct technique from above (knees and toes turned back). Hands do not rest behind you while you slouch. Sit nice and tall and hands go in the front. Let's do sets of 10 to ensure that you are doing all of them correctly. Do ten leg raises on each leg and then do both. REPEAT. REPEAT. Yes that means you will do 30 total leg raises each way.
• Calf strength is very useful. Hello I am over 30 and I still have strong jumps. Why? Well because I have good calf muscles. And you all make fun of me for walking on my toes all the time, but hey in some areas of life that really helps. Toe raises 2 sets of 50. Remember to go slow. These are not effective if you speed through them and do them sloppy.
• Leg strength is necessary for jumping! So you guessed it, lets squat and jump. Too bad squat jumps are not a cheer jump. We would be the masters at those huh? Start in a deep squat with both legs. As you jump think about pointing your toes when your feet leave the ground. When you return to the ground go to a deep squat. Let's do 3 sets of 15.
  
• Finally work on your snap down with your legs together while working in some abs . Lay down on your back and do v- ups. These are like crunches but you are doing a toe touch laying down. Lay on your back arms extended above your head in a touchdown motion. Sit up doing the crunch motion while at the same time your legs raise off the floor to a toe touch level (rolling knees and toes to the back) and your arms go to a T motion. Gently snap back to the lay down position without actually laying all the way down on the floor, you are going to be hovering. Do 3 sets of 15.

RECAP:
Sit in straddles to work on form
Leg raises: 3 sets of 10 each way
Toe raises: 2 sets of 50
Squat jumps: 3 sets of 15
v ups: 3 sets of 15

Alright ladies this is your homework for the next week. Let's improve those jumps. Don't forget to go back and look at home challenge 1. It would be good to keep working those exercises as well. Paste and copy these home challenges into word and then you can print them out. Remember improving your self is up to you. If you don't work hard at it you might not get a skill that will make you that level 5 athlete you want to be. I do not have magic fairy dust that will just make you a great athlete you will have to put in the time, effort and hard work. You will come out stronger, better and ready to take on any challenge in life when you work hard. Get to jumping ladies!

FUN QUOTE FOR THE WEEK is from Legally Blonde. I know your gonna smile at this one! “Exercise gives you endorphins--endorphins make people happy and happy people just don't shoot their husbands... they just don't.”

**Fliers also should be stretching thier skills. Bow-n-arrows, scorpians, needles, heel stretches, etc.

Coach Heather

NO practice Tuesday Feb. 17th

Everyone great job this weekend at Americheer!

I need to cancel practices for Tuesday Feb 17th. I have a funeral to attend and will not be able to be back for practices since it is out of town and in the evening hours. We are unable to cover my hours with other staff due staff members taking night college classes. Glitz, if you would like to make up your hours you may attend xtra mile on thursday even if you did not pay for xtra mile this month. Sorry for the short notice. Thanks for your understanding.

Cheers,
Coach Heather

Great Job Ladies! Way to hit the nail your mount!

Glitter and Glitz meet at convention center at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday.

Glamour meets at 9:45.

Thanks so much for the wonderful Valentine's gifts. The coaches were all so happy to have the yummy treats and the sweet surprises. Many thanks!

Coach Em

Home Challenge: standing tucks/fulls

Let's keep working hard at practice to improve skills to be that level 4/5 team you all are talking about wanting to be on. Remember level 4/5 is not just about the layouts and fulls. We need to see level 4/5 jumps, stunts, mounts/baskets, standing tumbling, running tumbling, motions and overall sass and confidence. What are you doing on your own to work on your level 4/5 skills?

Level 5 home challenge: What is sore the most the morning after doing a lot of standing tucks? Abs and legs right? Well guess what you need to be working on at home in order to have a successful standing tuck.... abs and legs. Even if you have that standing tuck is it high enough for a standing full? OK here is the level 4/5 home challenge to improve or get that standing tuck. You need to do this every day. Don't be lazy at them, that won't help. If you truly want these skills it is time to put your money where your mouth is and work for it. Give us some feedback are you willing to do the home challenge to improve/ get that tuck?

250 ab crunches (each set of 50 different)
100 toe raises
50 deep squat jumps (working the legs- jumps from your toes- no flat footers allowed)
50 knee ups (lay on ground and set, pull knees to over head) (if you are a twister then work on the knees up and twist)

Do you want more home challenges to be posted every week? Will you do them? I am all about getting you to that level 4/5 that you want to be at but you have to be willing to put in the hard work to get there. These skills will not just appear you have to work for them to get them.

My favorite quote: You must put up with the rain in order to get the rainbow.

Are you willing to work through the rain?

Coach Heather

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

When I got home last night I was so tired! I have been going cheer strong for many many days. Kalahari was a blast but it sure was tiresome! I literally went inside and put my luggage right in the way of the door with full intentions of not touching it till morning. :) All I wanted to do was sit down and relax. I got Madison off to bed and then slipped into dormant state of mind. Of course instead of going to bed I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Low and behold my favorite movie was on... RUDY. I love it! If you have never seen it you should watch it. That movie just gets me going! He is such the underdog and yet comes out on top. No one stands in his way, not even himself. I hope there is a little Rudy in side all of us!

Just thought I would put out some quotes that I found for all of us to keep in mind. Share with your team you favorite quote so we can all be inspired!
Coach Heather

Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.

I have always admired the ability to bite off more than one can chew and then chew it.

If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain.

The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary.

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.

When you are thirsty, it's too late to dig a well.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

Attention All Panthers:

This weekend the Glitter team will be attending their big competition at Kalahari. The schedule has just been release and they will performing at 10 am both Saturday and Sunday. Awards are scheduled for 12:30 pm for Sunday. There has been a lot of glitz/glamour that have said you may be traveling to cheer on our Glitter gals this weekend. We just love how you are supportive of all the Panther families! We will be adjusting the Sunday practice so those of you that want to cheer on the Glitter team can do so and make it back to practice in time as well. Not to mention the coaches will need time to return to the gym to be there for practice as well. The following schedule will be the times for this Sunday:

Glamour 4:30-6:30
Glitz 6:30-9:00

Thank you in advance for making this change. We understand that it is less than a weeks notice of the change but the schedule was just released on Monday and updates are still possible. I will send out the final schedule to everyone for this weekends performance times in case you are planning a trip to cheer them on!

PS> Don't forget to send your Glitter buddy a good luck note for this weekend!

What about Love?

Hee hee...Coach Heather's hair used to be this big...I promise, I'm telling the truth. Anyhow, watch the video and get inspired about your routine!

Great job working these new stunts the last two nights! The double downs are coming along. We will continue to do some every practice. I think we should really try this level 4.2 but we have to have the stunts to back it up. The following needs to happen to go level 4 stunts:
LIBS:

• single full down from single leg (Diana and Sabrina have done this before but are out of practice. Micala will try it when she returns.)
• Double down from two legs (half or extension- prefer extension) (Sabrina has it! two more to go! Diana and Alexis you are close to trying it. Micala we will work yours when you get back)

BASKETS:

• kick single baskets OR double twist baskets ( we are going to need fliers to RIDE the baskets to get these skills)

MOUNT

• some sort of flip up to a mount. (many folks tried it the other night so it looks like we have all kinds of gals that can do it.)

Glitz we will work on these little at a time. I am hoping we can go 4.2 after Dayton weekend. We will have to see where we are at with the above stunts.

This Sunday we need to focus focus focus and make sure that we do not have the little mistakes in our routine like we had in INDY. You performed better than you ever have so now our skills will just need to match up with our performance. No hands down on any tumbling (standing or running), no mistakes in stunts, no mistakes in mounts and baskets that fly high. I know you can do it! Clean and tight is what we need to place high.

Let's not forget the good things that happened as well.

• Best performance to date!
• Sabrina's lib had been struggling and the group nailed it both days!
• Great ball star baskets!
• New lib series was timed up and looking great!
• Opening stunts stayed in the air (couldn't tell we changed them a million times over the last week!)
• We had a great time performing!

Come on Sunday ready to work hard for Dayton Jamfest. Let's show'em what Glitz was really suppose to look like!

Coach H

No practice tonight due to bad roads. We will reschedule for Thursday at 5:30-7:15. Sorry this is the best I could do with times on short notice. See you tomorrow!
Heather

SNOW and practice!

We will wait till 5:00 this evening to decide on what to do for practice tonight. If road and snow conditions improve we will have practice. If not then we will cancel. Be prepared to reschedule practice to tomorrow evening at 5:30. More to come!

Tell us how you're doing....

Glitz,

Tell us what you feel confident about and what you feel concerned about for Indy. This will help the coaches coordinate practice for Tuesday and Wed.

If they know what worries you...they can help you work on it so you feel confident.

Don't forget about the Animal Parade in Indy. We'll do it on Saturday night. Bring your zebras, cheetahs and etc. It'll be fun!

Cheers,
Coach E

Glitz!

I'm excited to see what y'all are working on for Indy. This time of the season can get stressful. Indy is the biggest event of the season. There will be about 11,000 cheerleaders at the event. Holy cow.

It's a ton of fun but it can be stressful so everyone is a little bit cranky because we want everything to be perfect.

Speaking of perfect...we always have a costume parade in Indy. We started this tradition many years ago. On Saturday, we'll dress up in some sort of silly theme and we'll parade around the convention center. People stare at us and it's wonderful.

Why do we do it? It's a celebration. We'll be glad that we worked so hard and that we are there together as a family. So the best way to celebrate is to put on a costume and run around like wild geese. The costume parade helps remind us that the first day is OVER and it's time to start fresh the next day! Day 2 is very important so we want you to go to bed with a big smile on your face.

The Jamfest Staff loves our spirit and we are recognized each year at Jamfest Indy or at the coaches conference. They really appreciate our spunk....so we can't let 'em down.

There has been some discussion about dressing up as safari this season (zebras, cheetahs and etc) or punk rockers, or animated characters or etc. Glitz and Glamour will dress in the same theme. We'll then parade around the convention center (after we are completely finished with day 1). We'll laugh, it will be a hoot. We'll hug and we'll be so happy to be there together. That's why we do this....to be our best on the mat and then walk off that mat and be happy happy happy! Hooray for happy people!

If you have an idea...post it. The decision must be made by this Sunday so that you have time to dig in your closet and come up with your costume.

Cheers to all!
Coach E

p.s. don't forget that you have practice from 4-6:00 on Saturday.

Extra Practice: It's been on the calendar for months....it's finally here....the Extra Practice to prepare for Indy! Woo hoo!

Saturday, January 10
4:00-6:00 Glitz
5:00-7:00 Glamour