When you are a cheerleader, just like any other sport, you want to protect yourself from injuries.
You should be doing conditioning and strength exercises and doing some stretching either before, during or after your workout.
The stretching is what helps you prevent injuries and improve your performance when integrated with your other workouts.
For one, stretching will increase your range of motion which will help prevent muscle pulls or strains.
In cheerleading you also know how important it is to be flexible for stunts.
Obviously being flexible through stretching has a double duty.
Below are a couple tips for stretching exercises.
The most basic stretch you can do is the toe touch.
Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you fully extended.
Bend forward at the waist reaching for your toes.
Your goal is to touch your toes and eventually touch your nose to your knees.
A variation is to sit with one leg bent behind you so you are only stretching one leg at a time.
Try sitting on the floor and spread your feet as far apart as possible to the sides.
Bend forward and reach as far as possible.
You should feel the stretch in your inner thighs from this.
You can have someone gently push your feet further apart and hold for a few second to get that extra stretch.
Also have someone gently push downward on your back so you are lower to the floor for that extra bit of flexibility.