You can’t practice stunts at home, but you can build the strength that makes basing easier. This guide covers what bases need, which exercises match the job, and how to train safely on your own. For stunt technique itself (stance, grips, timing and cradles), see our main guide on how to base in cheerleading.

What You Should and Shouldn’t Do at Home

Home training is for conditioning, not stunting. USA Cheer’s college rules say skills that haven’t been mastered should be done only in supervised practice, that technical skills shouldn’t be done on concrete, asphalt, wet or uneven surfaces, and that thorough spotting training should be mandatory for squads. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says cheer stunts and skills should never take place on concrete, asphalt, dirt, vinyl floors or wet or uneven surfaces.

• Do at home: strength, core, grip and conditioning work; flexibility; watching video of your practice.
• Save for practice: lifting or tossing a teammate, cradles, and any stunt drill. Those need a coach, spotters and mats.

What Bases Need to Be Strong At

Varsity’s stunting basics explain that a base’s power should start in the legs, carry through the shoulders and finish in locked-out arms. That chain tells you what to train:

• Legs and hips: the dip and drive that powers every load and toss.
• Shoulders and arms: pressing and holding the stunt overhead with locked arms.
• Core and back: keeping your back upright and your body still while you hold weight. Varsity tells bases to keep the back upright in a basket toss and to avoid movement once the stunt is up.
• Grip and forearms: holding the flyer’s foot securely through the whole stunt.

Train Safely First

The AAP and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) both support resistance training for young athletes when it’s properly designed and supervised. The AAP’s guidance on strength training for young athletes includes these points:

• Practice each exercise without weight first. Add weight slowly once your form is correct.
• Increase weight by no more than 10% per week.
• Start each session with a 10- to 15-minute warm-up.
• Train with proper supervision and spotting.
• Don’t do one-rep max lifts, maximum weights or ballistic moves before you’ve reached skeletal maturity.
• Work all major muscle groups, including the core, and include aerobic training too.

The AAP also notes that supervised strength training with lighter weights and higher repetitions is not harmful to growth plates. If you’re under 18, involve a parent and your coach in planning, and use our warm-up routine before you start.

Leg Exercises

• Bodyweight squats: feet about shoulder-width apart, like your basing stance. Keep your chest up and back upright as you dip and stand.
• Goblet squats: once bodyweight squats are easy, hold a light dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest.
• Split squats or reverse lunges: build each leg on its own and help with balance.
• Glute bridges: strengthen the hips that drive you up out of the dip.
• Wall sits: build endurance for holding a low, steady position.

Upper-Body Exercises

• Push-ups: start on an incline (hands on a sturdy bench or counter) if full push-ups break your form.
• Light overhead press: with light dumbbells or bands, press up and lock your arms out over your head, the same finish as a locked-out stunt. Keep your ribs down and your back from arching.
• Band or dumbbell rows: balance all the pressing with pulling work for your upper back and posture.

Core Exercises

• Planks and side planks: hold only as long as you can keep a straight line.
• Dead bugs: teach you to keep your trunk still while your arms and legs move.
• Hollow holds: build the tight body position used across cheer.
• Pallof press (band): trains your core to resist being pulled sideways, like a stunt that starts to drift.

Grip Exercises

• Farmer carries: walk while holding a weight in each hand. Heavy grocery bags or water jugs work at home.
• Towel or band squeezes: simple forearm and grip work you can do anywhere.
• Dead hangs: hang from a sturdy, properly installed bar only, with your feet close to the floor.

Putting It Together

A simple way to organize home sessions is to pick one or two exercises from each group (legs, upper body, core, grip) after your warm-up. Keep the load light and the form perfect, and stop any exercise that causes pain. Space strength days so your muscles can recover before practice. Your coach or a qualified strength coach can turn this into a plan that fits your schedule and your team’s practice load.

If something hurts beyond normal muscle soreness, stop and have it checked by an athletic trainer, doctor or other qualified professional. Our guide on reducing soreness after practice covers recovery basics.

Basing Habits You Can Practice Without a Flyer

• Stance: practice setting your feet shoulder-width apart with an upright back, and dipping with your legs, not your arms.
• Lock-out: during overhead presses, finish with straight arms directly overhead, the way Varsity describes holding a stunt “directly over” your nose.
• Video review: if your coach allows filming at practice, watch your stunts at home. Look for bent arms, a rounded back or steps under the stunt.
• Counts and calls: learn your group’s counts so you’re never guessing at practice.

For more ideas, see our conditioning workout for home and strength training guide.

Sources: USA Cheer, 2026-27 College Cheer Rules; Varsity, Stunting Basics and Basket Toss; American Academy of Pediatrics, Strength Training and Cheerleading Safety (HealthyChildren.org), and Resistance Training for Children and Adolescents (Pediatrics, 2020); NSCA, Youth Resistance Training position statement (2009). Last checked October 1, 2026.