ULTRASLIDE for Cheerleading Training

Football season is well underway and you can be sure that many of those athletes, from quarterbacks to linemen, use the ULTRASLIDE® slideboards for pre-season, in-season, and post-season workouts. However, it's important not to forget the other athletes that are often on the football field - the cheerleaders. Cheerleading has come a long way from its beginnings with many cheerleaders competing year round. Today's cheerleading often entails more than being enthusiastic and getting the crowd on their feet. Depending on the level of competition, these athletes are performing complicated gymnastic and stunt exercises that require them to be in peak condition.

Zach Vargo of Vargo Trained, LLC works with these types of athletes and has incorporated various ULTRASLIDE exercises into his program. Sometimes these athletes are in such good shape that they need special modifications to certain exercises to challenge them even more. He recently worked with a competitive cheerleader with a very strong core so he got creative with an abdominal and oblique exercise to push her training further.


Zach added a Bosu ball to a swing exercise to relieve stress on her wrists and really target the shoulders. "The addition of the ball didn't only relieve the stress, but it also brought another dimension to the exercise by increasing shoulder stability. In addition to working abs and obliques with the swings, that exercise also requires lower back strength to stay in the plank position and tricep strength to remain in the pushup position" he says. During this exercise, the Bosu ball wants to rotate with the swing motion so the athlete must keep the core tight and remain stable with the shoulders. This trains the shoulders in a way that many exercises cannot, which is extremely beneficial for a cheerleader performing stunts.

Modified Swing Exercise on the ULTRASLIDE

Here are Zach's instructions for his modified swing exercise on the ULTRASLIDE Slideboard:

1. Wearing the ULTRASLIDE slippers, get into the plank position placing your feet in the upper right corner of the ULTRASLIDE slideboard. 
2. Place the Bosu ball in front of the slideboard underneath your shoulders. Be sure to give yourself enough room lengthwise extending out from the board. Turn the Bosu over and hold on to the outside of the base.
3. Keep your feet together and swing in one full movement from one edge of the board to the other.
4. Maintaining good form and engaging your core, swing your body as fast as you can in each direction, minimizing the transition/pause time when changing directions.  
5. Repeat the swings for the prescribed reps. If you're new to this movement start with a low number such as 2 or 3 on each side until you gain more overall strength and stability. 

NOTE from Zach: Be sure to keep a flat back, as any sagging will cause lower back pain as with any plank position exercise.

Watch this to see it all put together.

Why is this effective for cheerleader training?

The basic lateral sliding movement is of great benefit to cheerleaders because that is primarily how they move. This swing exercise is specifically designed for cheerleaders as it can help them become more powerful in their rotations during stunts.

The purposes of the ULTRASLIDE are practically endless, no matter your sport or end goal. Regardless of the movement, exercising with the ULTRASLIDE is always a full body workout. To see what else Zach and his team are up to, visit them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.