Cheerleading Camp

by Allie Minick

ok..the toughest workout i have ever done was in high school in 2007. I had made the cheerleading squad and had to go to cheer camp.

The first day was terrible. The coach wouldn't leave me alone!

There were routine workouts where we had to perfect our back hand tucks, round offs, backhand springs and walk overs. What made it hard was we had to do it outside in the sun and it was like super hot and i don't do well with heat!

Another workout we did was learning how to fly, being thrown up in the air. The first time i did it i fell because i didn't spread my arms out for my team to catch me properly.

It was hard because all i saw was ground and sky whirling around me. I was a little sore but it turned out ok!

Some of the activities were gruesome because we were separated into different groups like junior varsity and varsity.

I remember sitting down with the varsity coach listening on how to do a round off and land doing the splits. I was in shape but so not flexible!

Anyway... I got up and did my round off but landed totally wrong and hurt my ankle. It wasn't broken or anything just a little twisted so i was sent to the nurse and had ice put on my foot.

After my ankle felt better i had to learn the basics of a full routine. OK, at 18 yrs old i wasn't the greatest listener but i tried! Any way, the routine was a crash!

I had to learn how to keep my high v intact yet strong and almost fell after a backhand tuck. It's hard when your ankle hurts.

Some of the other cheerleaders were so nice to me and i miss them a lot, especially Brit! Me and Britney ran into each other during a routine literally! We were tired from the day before so it was hard to concentrate on a complex routine!

The hardest part of cheer camp was the working out. We spent an hour in the gym every day. Some of the working out was painful and hard because of my ankle.

I had an accident on a bike at age nine so it's hard to workout with a lot of weight on my shoulders or hold a lot of weight up so i built up my strength in that department.

There were usually about three sets a day. I like it because my muscles burned a little and swelled up after each workout. It was like an addiction!

Over the two weeks of grueling exercise i became a great cheerleader. I don't think i will ever do it again!

Every once in a while i still do some of the workouts they taught me and if this advice is any help to anyone don't ever drink soda while working out!