Human pyramids help us to focus on balancing and working as a team – it is also great fun! You get to work as a team and understand how to balance the weight and physical strength of your team-mates. But you need to be very careful when making pyramids. Do not just jump ONTO someone’s back if they are not ready to take your weight. Do not just jump OFF someone’s back without warning either. This can cause injuries if the whole pyramid falls over. Successful human pyramids have no space for carelessness, only good cooperation.
One thing to remember which is also the basic principle of human pyramids:
Place the largest and strongest people at the bottom, the medium weight and strength people in the middle and the lightest and most agile person on the top. The people on the highest levels should not have a fear of heights!
So, after warming up and making sure there are no safety hazards in your practice area, get into groups of 3 and let’s start a pyramid!
- Find cushioning for your knees, for example, gym mats, jerseys, and thin foam mattresses. Do not use anything that will slip or slide and make the foundation unsafe.
- Decide which two people will go at the bottom. They must go onto their hands and knees, fitting closely together. Do not hook of link arms. Just touch shoulders and make sure your feet at the back are close together.
- The third person then stands behind the two on the ground. When the bottom two are ready, the third person places one foot squarely on the strongest person’s buttock. Their other foot goes on the second person’s buttock.
- Then the top person kneels down on their backs, with hands firmly on their shoulders.
- You have made a human pyramid! Hold this for 15seconds. Then the top person must climb off carefully. This is best done the way they got on – one foot at a time.
If your pyramid did not work, don’t worry. Just try a new combination of who goes at the bottom and who goes on the top. Sometimes the small people are also the strongest so they may be needed at the bottom!
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The people at the bottom will get sore knees at some stage. You can swop positions but everyone is taking weight at some stage so everyone’s knees will get sore. So grin and bear it for the team. Only the person on the top is spared the pain!
Want to try a pyramid of 6?
Get into groups of 6 and then perform the steps as you did it above. This time, be extra careful! There will be 3 at the bottom, 2 in the middle, and 1 at the top! Allow everyone to climb off quickly but carefully. This may take a few tries!
