How to High Kick like a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader: Strength, Flexibility, and Stamina
- Kendall Baab, MSc, CSCS
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
When you watch the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders lock arms for their world-famous signature kickline, it looks effortless. It’s a flawless wave of boots, smiles, and fringe hitting the exact same nose-bleed height with every beat.
But ask any pro dancer, and they’ll tell you the truth: high kicks are HARD.
They look like pure, unadulterated flexibility, but a genuinely powerful, eye-level kick is actually a masterpiece of explosive strength, muscular endurance, and elite cardiovascular stamina. If you are throwing kicks with just your flexibility, you are likely relying on momentum, which is a fast track to pulled muscles and low scores at auditions.
To get your kicks to DCC level, you need to train like a true hybrid athlete. Now, I have never been a DCC, but I have been a Southlake Carroll Emerald Belle, and we kicked even higher than DCC 💅🏻 Plus, I am a certified personal trainer, dance scientist, and certified strength and conditioning specialist that works exclusively with dancers to improve their strength and flexibility.
Here is a breakdown of the exact blueprint that I would take a dancer through in order to achieve higher and more powerful kicks:
1. High Kick like a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader: Strengthen the Hip Flexors, Quads, and Core
Flexibility gets your leg into position, but your strength is the engine that drives it up and holds it there.
The Hip Flexors: Your psoas and rectus femoris (part of your quadriceps) are the primary movers responsible for pulling your thigh toward your torso. If your kicks are stalling out at hip height or they get lower the more you kick, weak hip flexors are almost always the culprit.
The Quads: Once the hip flexors launch the leg, your quadriceps must instantly engage to snap the knee completely straight. A high kick with a soft, bent knee loses its visual impact instantly.
The Core: Think of your core as the anchor. When you launch a leg into the air, your pelvis wants to tuck and your spine wants to collapse. A rock-solid core stabilizes your torso, allowing you to kick high without leaning back or losing your posture.
Give this exercise a try:
2. The Flexibility: Glutes AND Hamstrings
You cannot force a muscle to contract into a high kick if the opposing muscles refuse to let go. This is where active flexibility comes into play.
The Hamstrings: The back of your thighs must be incredibly long and compliant. Tight hamstrings act like a tight rubber band, pulling your leg back down and fighting against your hip flexors.
The Glutes: Your gluteus maximus needs to dynamically stretch as your leg travels up. Most dancers forget about the glutes.
To achieve a DCC-style kick, focus on dynamic flexibility over static stretching. While holding a split on the floor feels good, it doesn't teach your brain how to open up quickly during a fast-paced routine. Utilize leg swings, high-knees, and active PNF stretching (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) to get your hamstrings ready for high-velocity movement.
Give this exercise a try:
3. The Sneaky Link: Calf Endurance
People focus so much on the kicking leg that they completely forget about the supporting leg. When you are 40 kicks into a stadium routine, your calves are what keep you alive and jumping.
Every time you kick, your supporting leg is absorbing impact, stabilizing your ankle on a slippery turf or gym floor, and often pushing you up into a slight relevé (rising onto the balls of your feet).
Your calves (specifically the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles) need immense muscular endurance to repeat this explosive stabilization over and over without cramping or giving out. If your supporting calf fatigues, your base crumbles, and your kick height plummets.
Give this exercise a try:
4. The Engine: Cardio Training for Stamina
Have you ever tried doing 40 high kicks in a row? By kick number 15, your lungs are burning. By kick 30, your legs feel like blocks of cement.
A kickline is an aggressive anaerobic activity wrapped in an aerobic wrapper. To survive it with a smile on your face, your conditioning must be elite.
Training Type | Why It Matters for Dancers | Best Methods |
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) | Mimics the explosive bursts of a dance routine. Teaches your body to recover quickly between kick sections. | Sprint intervals, battle ropes, or plyometric circuits (jump squats, tuck jumps). |
Steady-State Cardio | Builds the base aerobic engine, keeping your heart rate manageable during long rehearsals and routines. | 30–45 minute incline walking, running, rowing, or swimming. |
The Ultimate Kickline Formula
If you want to turn heads at your next dance audition, stop just stretching your hamstrings. Start building a body that can launch, stabilize, and sustain. Balance your deep stretches with heavy core work, explosive hip flexor conditioning, endless calf raises, and high-intensity cardio intervals.
If you really want to high kick like a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, you need to train for it: learn some other exercises to help you get higher kicks and refine your technique when you check out this YouTube video below! I'll take you through the basics.
Talk to you soon!
Kendall
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