How many people have been thrown up 10 feet in the air relying only on other people to catch them? “The History of Cheerleading,” says that, “The first known “cheer” in the US was shouted from the crowd at Princeton University in 1884” (History of Cheerleading, 2022, p.1). Sideline cheer involves chants and cheering for other teams, and going to competitions to perform routines. Competitive cheer consists of a 2-minute 30-second routine packed with stunts, tumbling, jumps, and dance. For the past 139 years, cheerleading has been a sport that many adore. While cheerleading does result in a number of injuries, the benefits of cheerleading outweigh the risks because cheerleading teaches many important life skills and characteristics, cheerleading …show more content…
The article, “Understanding the Cheerleader as an Orthopaedic Patient”, states that “This athleticism contributes to cardiovascular and muscle fitness, leading to a healthier cardiovascular profile in adulthood and a lower rate of early death from chronic diseases.” (Xu, Beck, Sweeny, Severson, Page, & Lee, 2022, p.1). When given the proper training, cheerleading isn’t too much of a risky sport. In fact, in many ways, it can help someone become healthier! Participating in a sport like cheer takes a lot of endurance, and if it is built up at a young age, it will help one lead a much better lifestyle as an adult! More evidence to support this claim is, “Understanding the Cheerleader as an Orthopaedic Patient”, also states “Cheerleading also has positive effects on bone formation and bone strength…measure substantially higher in all bone strength outcomes…Improving bone strength in adolescence may prevent age-related osteoporosis” (Xu, et al., 2022, p.1). Not only does cheerleading lead to a healthier cardiovascular life as an adult, but it also improves bone strength, even as a teenager! This is extremely important because bones help people do every task during their daily routine! That’s one step in the right direction to healthy bones when joining cheer. Finally, The article “2, 4, 6, 8 - What Do We Eliminate: Cheerleading Without the Cheers”, straightforwardly declares that “Cheerleading is an incredibly demanding sport physically.” (Kirwin, 2020, p.1). While cheerleaders have been stereotyped for most of history, it is finally coming to people’s attention how physically difficult it is to get through a 2-and-a-half-minute routine packed with stunts and tumbling. Clearly, cheerleading has lots of health and physical benefits that can help one in this demanding sport, and the