Exercise Physiology

Energy systems that are used in cheerleading:

ATP-PC: This energy system is known as the alactic system. It gains energy by breaking phosphate bonds. This energy system is immediate energy and lasts between 10-15 seconds. This energy system is used in cheerleading during practices. An example of this system being used would be while warming up stunts, jumps, tumbling, etc. These skills all use immediate energy, as they do not last long.
ATP-LA (also known as glycolytic energy system): This energy system releases energy by the resynthesis of ATP without the involvement of oxygen. This is also known as anaerobic glycolysis. This system lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to about 2 minutes. A cheerleading routine is 2 minutes and 30 seconds therefore when cheerleaders perform their routine once (example: a competition) they are using their ATP-LA energy system.
Aerobic System: This system uses the Krebs cycle, electron transport chains and Beta Oxidation. This energy system is for long duration of activities. Cheerleaders use this system during their practices. Cheerleading practices are usually between 2-3 hours therefore; during this duration of time they are constantly using this energy system to create energy in order to perform their skills.

Muscle Contractions in cheerleading:

From a Bases' Perspective

Isometric Contractions: In this type of muscle contraction the muscle remains in the same length the entire time of the contraction. An example of an isometric contraction in cheerleading would be holding a stunt in the air. While holding the stunt your arms, legs and torso do not move and remain in the same position to help the flyer stay balanced.
Concentric Contractions: A concentric muscle contraction is when the muscle is being shortened. An example of this would be going from a “squish” position to a double base. The muscle that would be having the concentric contraction would be the bicep brachii.
Eccentric Contractions: An eccentric muscle contraction is when the muscle lengthens. An example of this in cheerleading would be the initial push from a double base position to an extension position. The muscle that would be having the eccentric contraction would be the bicep brachii.

VO2 demands in cheerleading:

There is not a specific VO2 demands based on cheerleading mainly because it is still not considered a sport in many places. Therefore to find the VO2 demands I will use the VO2 demands for gymnastics. This is not specific to cheerleading but there are many components that are in gymnastics that are also in cheerleading. Transferable skills would include power tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics (stunting), and aerobic gymnastics (jumps). Cheerleading has all these components and extra components like pyramids and standing tumbling. Therefore the VO2 demands in cheerleading would be 36-50 in females and 52-58 in males between the ages of 18-22.