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Late May, a week after tryouts. The new team list is posted, the bow colors are picked, and the gym is full of athletes who just found out they’re flying for the first time or basing on a higher level. Competition season feels far away, but this is when it’s won: in the summer months of tumbling drills, flexibility work and strength sessions that nobody films. This page covers cheerleading training for every level, from rec and school squads to all-star, college and adults: tumbling progressions, flexibility, strength for bases and flyers, conditioning for a full-out routine, and how to build it all without breaking down.
General information, not a personal program. Work with a certified cheer coach, and see a sports medicine doctor, PT or athletic trainer if anything hurts. Back to the cheerleading hub.
What a cheer routine asks of your body
An all-star routine lasts at most 2 minutes 30 seconds under USASF rules (shorter for Prep and Novice teams), and it packs in standing and running tumbling, stunts, a pyramid, tosses, jumps and dance. A 2025 study of elite cheerleaders measured what that does: in regular practice, most of the time was spent at moderate heart rates, but during full-out routines athletes spent most of the time at 80% or more of their maximum heart rate, and blood lactate rose sharply. The authors concluded that routines are largely anaerobic and that cheerleaders should train both their aerobic base (to recover between drills) and their anaerobic power (to finish strong). Add strength to lift and hold a teammate, flexibility for body positions, and the air awareness to land safely, and you have one of the most varied athletic jobs in sport.
Tumbling progressions: earn every skill
Cheer skills are organized in levels. In USASF all-star cheer that’s Levels 1 to 7, and the rulebook is explicit: every skill allowed in a level includes everything allowed below it, and “coaches must require proficiency before skill progression.” School teams follow NFHS spirit rules, which limit some skills by setting and surface. The idea is the same everywhere: you don’t move up because the season is close; you move up when the skill below is clean, consistent and safe.
A typical tumbling path, taught by a qualified coach with mats and spotting, looks like this (exact steps vary by gym):
- Foundations: forward and backward rolls, handstands held with a tight body, cartwheels, bridges and kick-overs.
- Round-off and walkovers: a strong round-off is the engine of every running pass.
- Back handspring: on a trampoline, mats or a wedge with a spotter first, then on the floor, then in series.
- Tucks and layouts: standing and from a round-off, spotted until they’re consistent.
- Twisting skills: only once the layout is solid.
Flips belong in the gym with a coach, never on a backyard trampoline or a living-room floor. A 2024 lab study of cheerleaders found that a flyer’s own landing technique, not how well the bases caught, drove how hard the landing hit the body, so landing drills (stick it, knees soft, chest up) are training, not a warm-up afterthought.
Flexibility: range you can control
Heel stretches, scorpions, bow-and-arrows and toe-touch jumps need hips, hamstrings and shoulders with a lot of range, and the back needs to arch safely. The healthiest flexibility is range you can hold and control yourself: active stretches where your own muscles pull you into the position, plus slow, steady static stretching after practice or in a separate session. Stretching should feel like a strong pull, never sharp pain, and nobody should force a teammate into a split by leaning on them. Many cheerleaders use a stunt strap to practice body positions on the ground before they try them in the air. If you already have lots of back flexibility and back pain, strengthening the trunk usually matters more than more arching.
Strength for bases, back spots and flyers
The AAP recommends proper strength and conditioning for all cheerleaders, and position statements from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and an international youth consensus say resistance training is safe and helpful for kids and teens when it’s well designed and supervised. What that looks like by role:
- Bases: legs and hips (squats, lunges, split squats), overhead pressing and holding, a strong trunk to stay upright under load, and grip and wrist strength. Basing is a push from the legs through straight arms, not a lift with the back.
- Back spots: the same lower-body strength, plus the reach and timing to protect the flyer’s head and shoulders.
- Flyers: trunk control (hollow holds, planks), hip and glute strength to lock a body position on one leg, calf and ankle strength for balance, and shoulders strong enough to stay tight in the air and protect themselves on the cradle.
- Tumblers (everyone): wrists, shoulders, trunk and legs for power and landings. Band work for the shoulders and hips fits easily into warm-ups.
At the college level, a 2026 study of 13 elite collegiate cheerleaders found that a 16-week periodized strength program raised front squat, power clean and shoulder press strength by roughly 14% to 18% without increasing body mass: lean mass went up and body fat down. That’s a useful message for flyers who worry that lifting will make them heavier.
Conditioning for a full-out
Because a routine is short and intense, the best conditioning looks like it: intervals of 30 seconds to 2 minutes of hard work with rest, jump rope, sprints, jump sets, and finally full-outs and “half-and-halfs” (half the routine, rest, other half) as competition gets close. Build an aerobic base in the off-season with easier running, cycling or swimming, so you recover between attempts at practice. Conditioning should never be a punishment; extra running for a dropped stunt teaches nothing about the stunt and adds fatigue.
A sample off-season week
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Mon | Team practice (stunts) + 20 min lower-body strength |
| Tue | Tumbling class + flexibility |
| Wed | Rest or easy aerobic work (bike, swim, walk) |
| Thu | Team practice + 20 min upper body and trunk |
| Fri | Intervals and jumps, short |
| Sat | Open gym or skills; or off |
| Sun | Off |
An example, not a prescription. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises young athletes to take at least 1–2 days off a week from their main sport and about 3 months a year away from it in total, and many cheerleaders stack school, all-star and private lessons without noticing. Count the hours.
The mental side
Fear of a skill, especially a back handspring or tuck that used to be easy, is common in cheer and gymnastics. Going back down a step in the progression, drilling with spotting and mats, and visualizing the skill step by step are standard coaching tools. Our mental training tools guide has more, and competition nerves are covered on competition day.
Gear for training at home and in the gym
Home training should be strength, flexibility and conditioning, not flips. Three simple tools cover most of it: a cheer Myosource Kinetic Bands stunt strap for body positions and stretching, a THERABAND resistance band kit for shoulder, hip and ankle work, and a WOD Nation jump rope for conditioning. More options in our best resistance bands for athletes and speed training equipment guides.
Myosource Kinetic Bands Cheer Stunt Strap
- Loops for foot and hands
- For stunt positions and stretching
- Packs into a gym bag
THERABAND Beginner Kit
- Yellow, red, green flat bands
- Clinic-standard color system
- About $19
Next: recovery and injury prevention. Comparing sports? See soccer training.
Cheerleading training FAQs
How long does it take to learn a back handspring?
It varies a lot with age, strength, flexibility and fear. What matters is solid basics first (handstand, bridge, kick-over, round-off) and spotted drills with a qualified coach. Rushing it is how wrists and backs get hurt.
Should cheerleaders lift weights?
Yes, with good coaching. Youth strength training is considered safe and beneficial when supervised and well designed, and the AAP recommends strength and conditioning for all cheerleaders. In a college study, lifting made cheerleaders stronger without increasing body mass.
How can a flyer improve balance?
Single-leg strength (hips, glutes, calves), trunk work like hollow holds and planks, and practicing body positions on the ground before the air. Locking the standing leg and staying tight makes the bases’ job easier too.
What’s the best conditioning for a cheer routine?
Intervals that mirror the routine: short, hard efforts with rest, plus an aerobic base built in the off-season. Research on elite cheerleaders found full-outs are mostly anaerobic, so both systems matter.
Is it safe to practice tumbling at home?
Strength, flexibility and conditioning, yes. Flips and new tumbling, no: they need mats, a proper surface and a trained spotter. USASF rules ban technical skills on hard, wet or uneven surfaces for good reason.