Is Cheerleading A Sport?

Y-E-S! Yes, Yes, Yes!

Apparently a federal judge has ruled that cheerleading is not a sport (http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/04/cheerleading-not-a-sport-but-produces-injuries/?hpt=Sbin).  Reading this story made me cringe.  As some one who cheered from fourth grade through sophomore year of college, I’ve faced tons of people who mock cheerleading, inform me it’s not a sport, and laugh at me because I was a cheerleader.

I’ve always found it interesting that people are so quick to judge cheerleading, yet dancing and gymnastics seem to fly under the radar as well-respected athletic activities.  Somehow cheerleading, which truly is a combination of dance and gymnastics, along with some heavy lifting, is easily dismissed.  I can’t even count the number of times people have raised their noses at me, boasting about whatever sport they played and then snickered when I tell them I was a cheerleader.  No explanations can convince these sport-snobs that cheerleading should be lumped with their precious activities.

Perhaps the stigma stems from people’s view that cheerleading is about jumping up and down, yelling, and looking pretty.  Perhaps in some places, without proper training and supervision, this view is reality.  Let me introduce you to my world of cheerleading – the world where my friends and I suffered sprains, concussions, and breaks – the world where we trained until we dropped to the ground and then got up and trained some more.

I’ll start with high school where spots on the cheerleading team were few and girls cried in the hallway when they didn’t make the team.  At my school, the varsity football cheerleading team was THE team to be on because that was the competition team – as in you execute athletic skills in competition against other teams to win an award (hmmm . . .).  Did we go to the football games and cheer on the sideline for the team? Yes.  Did that involve some yelling? Yes.  Did it also involve dancing, lifting throwing, and flipping? Yes.  But, what was the main focus? Competition.  Practice started in early summer for the football cheerleading teams.  We began at 7:30 a.m. with a run, followed by two hours of practice, followed by weight lifting in our school’s gym.  We also attended a cheerleading camp.  Once the season started and the competition date neared, we began double practices, meaning we’d practice from the time school ended until around 6, we’d go eat dinner, and then we’d come back and practice until our coach thought we were done (sometimes 9, sometimes 10, sometimes who knows). 

In college, things weren’t much different except we had guys on our team.  Practice still included running, we were on a weight training program, and our main focus was competition (we won the conference my freshman year).

Okay, so you practiced yelling?  No.  Cheerleading is so much more than yelling.  Cheerleading is dancing, cheerleading is stunting, and cheerleading is gymnastics.  So, imagine dancing and throwing people in the air repeatedly for hours every day.  Okay, so people sat on your shoulders – big deal?  No, people stood on our hands while we shuttled them into the air, locking our arms above our heads – people jumped onto our cradled arms while we threw them as high as we could and then caught them.  Stunting is just weight lifting with people – and you do it repeatedly for hours (check out my arm muscles sometime). Then imagine practicing flips (or practicing catching people who flip into your arms and then up into a stunt) over and over. 

I would absolutely love to take all of the sport-snobs and this lovely judge on a real cheerleading practice and see how they feel at the end of it.  Luckily, I haven’t had to deal with cheerleading-haters my whole life.  At my high school, people cheered for the cheerleading team.  They waited at half-time to watch our routine and they drove up to our competition and sat in the stands to cheer for us – we were like any other sport.  College was different, and it is in college and in my adult life where I’ve endured the most snickers.

Luckily for me, I have great memories of my sport – one that required hours of dedication, one that helped me learn about team work, one that won me trophies and taught me about competition, and one that helped me stay fit.  People will be close-minded, and that’s fine – maybe it’s jealousy – maybe it’s ignorance.  Either way, if you have been a competitor in this sport, you know how exciting and rewarding it is.  It is a true shame that cheerleaders are not being given the same privileges as other athletes.

Something New Challange Visit

I think it’s about time that I revisit my something new challenge list.  I never gave myself a deadline because that would be stressful, and this should be fun.   I have been plugging away at my list, achieving some goals without even thinking about them!  Here’s a look at the list again with notes next to the goals on which I’ve made progress:

1. Begin regular yoga practice – Big check mark!  I am now a regular at the power yoga classes at my gym.  I’ve been going twice a week.  A few times I’ve had to substitute a vinyasa class for the power yoga.  I’m hoping to try a hatha flow class soon too.  I am really digging yoga.  I have a long way to go flexibility wise, but I’m not worried – that will come over time.
2. Eat vegan for 1 week – I haven’t taken this challenge yet, but I have begun eating 100% vegetarian, so that’s something new!  Hopefully I can do my vegan week soon – there are a lot of great vegan restaurants in NYC to try out!
3. Try 1 new recipe a day for 1 week – I have been cooking up a storm lately – veggie stir fries, chicken fried rice for hubby, homemade potato chips, pound cake, corn muffins . . . but I haven’t tried the new recipe per day challenge yet.
4. Learn a new language
5. Visit a different neighborhood of NYC every day for a week
6. Visit 3 museums in NY in 1 week
7. Take a wine tasting class
8. Volunteer
9. Plan 5 unique, romantic dates for my husband and me – Part way through!  That little Brooklyn Bridge outing was a day date that I had been planning for a while.  Hubby and I had a lot of fun exploring DUMBO and walking across the bridge.  Our recent outing to Supper was another date idea of mine – what is more romantic than hubby smiling over a menu that was made for him?
10. Travel to 5 new places – I am well on my way!  Since I make the rules, I’ve decided to make this list retroactive because my something new life really started back in January.  So, I think that Verona kicks off the beginning of my new-places tour.  In a few short weeks, hubby and I are taking a trip to Prague, Budapest and Vienna – wow – I’m so excited.  That trip will add 3 more places to my tally, and if we take any day trips, I’ll have crossed the line.  But, even if we don’t, hubby and I made some state-side trips this year to new places, so I will have achieved this goal by August (but fully plan to increase the number and visit even more places in the future)!
11. Try a new cuisine
12. Get in bed by 11 p.m. every weeknight for 1 week (believe me – this is a tremendous challenge) – hmmm . . . . haha – how am I gonna make this one happen?
13. Avoid all foods with artificial sweeteners for 1 week
14. Read 1 new book at least every other week – I’m doing well with this goal.  I’ve read a few nonfiction books, just finished a fiction legal thriller, and am starting on a women’s fiction book this week.  It’s nice to have time to read!
15. Learn about and begin practicing meditation – This goal goes hand-in-hand with my yoga practice, which has included meditation in the beginning and the end of the sessions. 
16. Scrapbook my wedding – I haven’t begun officially scrapbooking, but hubby and I finally finalized the pictures we want in our wedding photo book and sent them off to the photographer, so that is a big step!  Now, I can use the photos to scrapbook.
17. Get up and watch Saturday morning cartoons one day
18. Celebrate Christmas in July – In just two short days, my Christmas tree will be out, and cookies will be baking in my oven.  Hubby and I are hosting our first Christmas in July party.  I’m a fool for Christmas, so I’m psyched to break out my decorations and munch on candy canes.  We even have a bottle of egg nog cooling in our fridge right now!  Tis the season 😉
19. Try 3 new (to me) NYC restaurants in one week – I’ve tried some great restaurants lately, including Supper and Risotteria, but I haven’t tried three in one week, so I’m gonna have to get my eat on soon.
20. Shop at a farmer’s market

Yoga – Crow / Crane Pose

Last week I had a breakthrough in yoga – pretty good considering I’ve only been practicing for a month!  The one-hour power yoga classes at my gym have become my sessions of choice, and most of the time, the instructor will call out for the crow pose (also known as the crane pose).  At first, I had no idea what this pose was, but I watched the people around me effortlessly fold their legs in and lift themselves up by their arms.  It looked pretty scary to me, and I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable trying a pose like that for the first time in a room full of strangers.

So, at home, I attempted this pose several times, but I was always so scared of falling on my face that I wouldn’t go through with it.  I decided to look up videos and websites offering instruction on this pose.  The best video I found was this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXLWMHANqlw .  The advice to go up on the toes really helped in terms of getting up into the position, and I practiced the movement until I was comfortable.

Armed with this new foundation, I was ready during my Wednesday power yoga last week.  The instructor called out crow pose, and everyone immediately sprung into it.  I took my time, setting up my hands, squatting down and getting up on my tip toes.  I picked a focus point ahead of me and slowly lifted my toes up, allowing my body to move forward and voila!  I had it 🙂 .  Mind you, I only held it for a few seconds, but to me it was a big yoga accomplishment.  Next I’ll have to move on to head stands . . . .

Yoga: Barks + Black Feet

I’ve continued on my yoga journey since those private lessons, and I’ve really been digging the flow-style classes that my gym offers.  I work up a great sweat, challenge my muscles, and still leave feeling relaxed. 

One thing I’ve been told about yoga that I have found to be true is that it’s all in the instructor.  You have to find a class and instructor that you connect with and enjoy.  Last week, I went to a power lunch yoga at my gym, and the instructor essentially barked out yoga poses while walking around the room.  I think she showed a pose only once during the entire session.  Perhaps in an advanced class, this works.  But, this class was open, meaning all levels could attend.  Luckily, my private sessions had given me some foundation, so I was able to follow pretty well, but I definitely looked around quite a bit to figure out what was going on.  Also, the whole marine drill sergeant yoga thing isn’t for me – I’d prefer the barking be kept at a minimum.  Today, I attended a vinyasa class and absolutely loved the instructor.  She was warm and welcoming.  She repeated that the practice was ours, and we should feel free to change the position if needed.  Although she walked around quite a bit adjusting people, she also explained everything in great detail and demonstrated the more difficult moves.  I really appreciated her descriptions and learned a lot today.  She also kicked our asses, which is always great.  I’ll be returning to her classes.

The other obstacle I face in yoga is the whole bare foot thing.  We make such a big deal out of wearing flip-flops in locker rooms, but no one seems to care about bare feet in yoga.  I’m pretty anti-foot fungus – and I’d like to avoid contracting it as much as possible.  I’ve been using the gym yoga mats, so I’ve been keeping my socks on during practice – apparently I am very odd for doing this but at least I don’t have yellow nasties growing on my toenails (once I buy a mat, I’ll be fine taking off my socks).  As I walked into yoga today, I thought, maybe you’re being silly and you should take off your socks.  Well, my sock-wearing was reinforced when I saw the woman in front of me whose feet and nails were literally black on the bottom and the top.  It looked like that girl had been dancing in tar – it was pretty disgusting.  I was pretty damn happy to have my socks on after seeing that.

So, I journey on – the socked yogi who has found a great instructor.

Final Private Yoga Session

Yesterday I bid adieu to my private yoga lessons.  I had a great final session and pushed myself to try two new poses: the upward dog pose (from a plank – no floor touching here folks) and the camel pose.  I really like doing the upward dog pose.  The feeling of strength and power as I lowered halfway down in my plank and held myself there for a few beats before pushing myself up into upward dog was quite satisfying.  Stretching is great, but I guess weight lifting is more within my comfort zone, so I was all about practicing the upward dog yesterday.

The camel pose – now that is a pose.  We practiced the pose against the wall, so that I could make sure that I didn’t collapse my hips.  I didn’t have trouble reaching back for my feet, but my neck area was pretty uncomfortable – I’m definitely going to be leaving my head up for this one.  The real challenge arose when my instructor pushed on my back with her feet to challenge me even more – what fun that was!  Between the deep stretch, my chest being incredibly open, and my body position making it difficult to breathe, I definitely had to reach within to keep focused on this pose.

Now it is on to group classes or trying out some yoga on TV!  When I came home from my yoga session yesterday, Fit TV was showing a yoga class, and I tried to jump in for a bit, still high on the yoga bug.  But, the show had commercials!  I can’t get zen with a commercial for Mr. Clean, so I don’t know if I’ll be going that route but maybe some tapes would be good.

Second Private Yoga Lesson

This morning I had my second private yoga lesson.  We started off the session much the same as last time, initially with some breathing and then transitioning into cat and cow poses.  We went through downward dog, three-legged dog, and sun salutations several times and also practiced the warrior and side angle poses. 

The new lessons for the day were balancing poses.  We started with the eagle pose, which is best described as a big, one-legged, twisty pretzel.  While this pose challenged my legs, ab, and back, I actually found it quite manageable.  I attribute my good balance to years of cheerleading and this nifty weight-lifting balancing exercise that I do. 

The next balancing pose was the half moon pose, which was more challenging for me.  I have tight hamstrings, and my standing leg didn’t want to straighten.  I think because I couldn’t see myself, I was having trouble fully rotating my hips so that they stacked over each other.  But, I gave it a good shot and kept trying when I fell out of the pose.  It also helped to use the wall for support on one of the tries so that I could get the feel and alignment right.

Surprisingly, I’m finding the most difficult parts of yoga are 1. to remember to engage my abs all the time – I just keep forgetting! and 2. to keep my shoulders apart and chest open – that position can be really uncomfortable and awkward in certain poses.

I love a good challenge though, so the half moon will be my new nemesis to conquer.

Yoga Lesson Number 1

Today was my first private yoga lesson.  My gym has small yoga studios with oversized windows overlooking the city set aside for private lessons.  Gazing out at the bright blue sky peppered with tall buildings put me in a zen mood immediately.  And, my yoga instructor was very sweet and easy-going (although I guess it would go against yoga fundamentals if she was a high-strung drill sergeant). 

My instructor took time to explain alignment, breathing, and the purpose for each pose.  She corrected me where needed and pushed me as much as possible.  Most interesting was her explanation of the difference between intensity and pain and that intensity was okay and part of the practice.  I don’t think I’d ever really thought about the difference between a really intense feeling and pain – I guess I always grouped them together.  But, as I felt my body stretching in certain uncomfortable ways today, I started recognizing that it wasn’t pain I was feeling but intensity.

Of all the poses I tried today, I think that the extended side angle pose was the most challenging for me.  Because of how my body was turned and bent, it was difficult to see what I was doing.  My favorite pose was a backbend pose, the bridge, which came easy to me, perhaps from my doing so many backbends in the grass as a kid.

I’d say my first lesson was a success.  I’m looking forward to my next lesson and to learning more poses so that I can start terrorizing yoga classes around the city with my novice moves.

Getting Some Personal Ohmmmm – Private Yoga Lessons!

Last week I compiled a list of somethings new that I hope to tackle.  Number one on the list, and something I’m really eager to start, is yoga.  You were with me when I struggled my way through an Anusara class back in March – I absolutely loved it, but I realized that I needed to get down to basics and learn those poses before I went back. The problem is,  I’ve been to a few beginner classes at my gym, and most of them are exercises in deep stretching and breathing rather than going through a series of poses.  These beginner classes were great for relaxation but not for learning how to balance upsidown.

Solution?  Private yoga lessons – an ultimate splurge.  If I’m gonna do something, I want to do it right.  And I’m not too proud to admit that when it comes to twisting into a pretzel, I’m gonna be the last kid picked for the team because I just don’t know what I’m doing.  I spoke to my private instructor a few minutes ago, and I am scheduled for a private yoga lesson on Tuesday!  Let the something new yoga journey begin for real this time! 

Next time you see me, I’ll be a downward dog warrior saluting the sun.

I Challenge Myself to Something New!

Welcome to the something new challenge!  Over the past several months, I’ve leisurely tried new things, and it’s been great fun.  When I felt like eating something new, trying a new exercise, or traveling to a new place, I did.  But, I’d like to take this journey a step further and list some goals for myself – somethings new that will make my life even fuller.  Hopefully, some of these things will become part of my daily life.  I’ve started a list below, and I’m sure I’ll add to it as time goes on. 

1. Begin regular yoga practice
2. Eat vegan for 1 week
3. Try 1 new recipe a day for 1 week
4. Learn a new language
5. Visit a different neighborhood of NYC every day for a week
6. Visit 3 museums in NY in 1 week
7. Take a wine tasting class
8. Volunteer
9. Plan 5 unique, romantic dates for my husband and me
10. Travel to 5 new places
11. Try a new cuisine
12. Get in bed by 11 p.m. every weeknight for 1 week (believe me – this is a tremendous challenge)
13. Avoid all foods with artificial sweeteners for 1 week
14. Read 1 new book at least every other week
15. Learn about and begin practicing meditation
16. Scrapbook my wedding
17. Get up and watch Saturday morning cartoons one day
18. Celebrate Christmas in July
19. Try 3 new (to me) NYC restaurants in one week
20. Shop at a farmer’s market

This list should keep me busy for a while!

Working Out in the Heat

Last week, hubby and I spent some time in a warmer climate, and due to technical difficulties, the gym where we were staying was located in a makeshift tent with fans and air conditioners blasting to no avail.  I liken this “air-conditioned” tent to a sauna.  Saunas are great for relaxing, aren’t they?  There’s nothing like being wrapped in a fluffy, white towel, lounging back on the wooden benches, and allowing the warm air to engulf you. 

There also is nothing quite like running on a treadmill in a sauna.  It’s kind of like . . . hell.  Running is enough torture on its own, but when you add choking on hot, stuffy air and sweating out each sip of water you take – well that’s just plain insanity.  Hubby loved it though.  He was jumping around like a kid proclaiming how wonderful it was to exercise outside and work up a good sweat.  I had to restrain myself from strangling him when he refused to turn on the air conditioner in the car as we left our hotbox workout (because we needed to cool down first).

I don’t need much when I workout.  A little towel, a treadmill, an elliptical, and some free weights will have me in fitness bliss.  But, I’ve now learned that a little temperature control goes a long way with me.  Not feeling as though I’m going to drop dead from heat stroke (or at least pass out) is high on my list of positives. 

This something new was not my favorite.  Luckily, I’ve returned home to 40-something degree weather in May (ugh) so I guess I won’t be having any hotbox issues here.