Getting physically fit is no longer a choice; it is a necessity for every individual. Not being strong enough cost Jenna Waller the dream role of a dancer in America’s Sweethearts on Netflix.

As Women's Health reports on June 24, she was told she had the talent but needed to dance with more power. So she bought a gym membership and got to work.

"I feel like I came back as a different dancer," Waller says. "Being a comeback girl is just so special."

Waller, featured on Netflix's America's Sweethearts, was the last cut from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders roster in 2024.

As per Women's Health, Waller trained at the gym every day, with a workout split into 2 leg days and 2 upper-body days, and she also continued her dance classes 2 to 3 times a week.

Stair master was one of the first things she did in her workout session, and she moved into dumbbell rows, bicep curls, chest presses, and lat pulldowns to build her arm strength, as the pom pom motions demanded.

The payoff showed up fast.

"Working my arms and my back [is] really good for my pom motions," Waller says. "My arms have definitely always been my weakest."

Waller, who was cut from the show, won Rookie of the Year.

Waller credits a mindset shift for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders' comeback

Jenna Waller rebuilt her confidence at the second Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders tryout. Her mental strength was as necessary as her physical strength.

As reported by the same Women's Health article, Waller struggled with fear during her first attempt to make the team.

"My eyes were glazed over, I was dazed, and in this alternate reality of so much fear where I couldn't even dance my best," she says.

She went to a sports psychologist to help her cut through the noise and focus. Her mental strength also let her work through a sprained ankle a month before tryouts.

And the shift showed up in her second audition.

"The girls that make the team are so confident in their abilities that they don't have a doubt in their mind of what they're capable of doing," Waller says.

Now in her second season, she's less focused on choreography and more on enjoying the moment

How much does mental readiness play a role in having confidence?

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Written by

Proma Chatterjee

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi