By Matt Kelley

Published on December 6, 2018

One of the biggest & most controversial questions in the Cheerleading World….”How to properly train for a Full Out?”  There are so many variables that come with this question:

All while needing to maintain TECHNIQUE!   As a Cheerleader my self for more than 15 years, and a Coach of 15 years, these are some of my suggestions to help!

Here is my theory:

If I am training to stick & stand a Standing tuck in my tumbling class, but in the routine, the Standing tuck is 45 seconds into the routine…I might fall forward.  So I suggest, training the Skill to OverRotate.  This also helps with getting your chest up when landing the skill.

What body parts should I focus on to work out?  I suggest Core, Explosive Leg movements, Arm Strength and also Calves.  I post different work outs & conditioning drills on my snapchat Mkells5891 every week.

Higher level gymnasts will condition 30-45 minutes before their practices 4-5 times a week.  Not only does this help them gain New Skills, but also be strong enough to perform the ones they are currently competing.

When you trained your floor routine (tumbling), did you always do it straight on the floor…or onto Mats or into a pit?

75% of my tumbling was done with safety measures. Either I was tumbling into the pit, resi pit, or I used mats on the floor. Tumbling takes an extreme toll on the body over time, and although our pride wants us to go all out on the real surface, it’s important to protect ourselves first. If you do enough repetitions onto safe surfaces, most athletes won’t feel like it’s necessary to do as many numbers later.

How often did you Practice?  How often did you condition your body?

In my prime I trained twice a day. I did morning conditioning for 2 hours on M,W,F, but 6 days a week I did a 4 hour routine training workout in the afternoon. Even on days that I didn’t have morning strength and conditioning, I did some light conditioning in the afternoons everyday. It’s important to keep every muscle group moving. Even on light days it’s important to stretch muscle groups or even do a couple of light reps just for muscle memory.

Was your conditioning things directed towards strengthening things to improve your floor routine & keep your body safe?

I did a lot of “get stronger” conditioning, which involved some brutal workouts that tore me down pretty bad, but the majority of my strength and conditioning was for general body strength and cardio ability. It’s important to cycle in an out of different types of conditioning. Athletes that are always trying to see “gains” will eventually injure themselves because our bodies have to recover.

Going back to question 4, did that give you the longevity in gymnastics and the ability to compete in the Olympics 3 times?

My longevity came from a well thought out game plan that relied on putting how my body felt over results. Results ’now’  driven people will burn out versus someone who sees the long term game can last a long time. No matter what, our bodies will break down overtime, but being smart and listening to what our bodies are telling us can keep us in the game a while.

Awesome to get some tips from a former Olympic Gymnast!  .

Moving forward, let’s talk about Mental Toughness.  Some Coaches & Athletes would agree this one is the most difficult to master.  I believe it’s Extremely important to have a Balance of Physical Strength & Mental Strength.  

Those are just a few examples.  Closing out, I wanna conclude with some of our main points when Preparing Properly for a Full Out  

PHOTO CREDITS:  ADRIAN KRAUS