Quick answer: warm-up is the scheduled block of time just before a team performs, spent in a separate practice area behind the scenes. Teams usually move through a timed rotation - stretching, then stunts, then tumbling - before heading to the side of the stage to perform.
What Happens During Warm-Up
At most competitions, each team gets a warm-up time on the schedule, set a little before its performance time. The warm-up area is usually split into separate stations, and teams move through them on a strict timer, often only a few minutes at each. A typical rotation looks like:
- Stretch - a general warm-up and stretching area, often a carpeted or matted space.
- Stunt mat - teams run through stunts and pyramid sections.
- Tumbling mat - often a strip of spring floor, where athletes warm up standing and running tumbling.
- On deck - the team waits at the side of the stage, sometimes walking through formations or motions, until it's called on.
The exact order, number of stations and time at each depend on the event.
Why It Matters
Warm-up has three jobs. It prepares the body for high-impact skills, gives each stunt group one last check before performing, and settles nerves. Coaches use the time to make small adjustments - and occasionally a bigger decision, such as simplifying a skill that isn't hitting in warm-up.
Who's Allowed In
Warm-up areas are generally restricted to athletes and their registered coaches. Parents usually say goodbye at the entrance to warm-up and watch the performance from the audience. If your child needs something from you - a forgotten bow, for example - hand it over before warm-up begins.
What to Expect as a Parent
- Be early. Athletes usually have to check in well before their warm-up time, already in uniform with hair and makeup done.
- Times can shift. Competitions sometimes run early or late, and teams are expected to be ready either way.
- Cover-ups. Under USASF rules, athletes whose uniforms don't cover their midriff must wear a T-shirt or other cover-up over it, except in warm-up, on stage, or while travelling as a group to or from warm-up.
How the Term Is Used
"Warm-up" means both the physical activity of warming up and the scheduled slot itself - as in "our warm-up is at 10:15."
Related Terms
See What Happens at a Cheer Competition? for how warm-up fits into the full day, and the Competition Day Checklist to make sure nothing is forgotten.