These days cheerleading means intense competition and a need for bigger, better stunts. In order to accomplish this, the men must be strong and the women light and acrobatic. The women must also appear attractive in revealing uniforms. This indicates a need for strict diets and exercise. This study examined the exercise habits of competitive cheerleaders. The Exercise Dependence Scale (EDS-21) developed by Hausenblas and Downs (2002) was administered to 189 (73 male, 116 female) cheerleaders at the UCA National Championships. The EDS-21 can be scored with an overall total and separated into 7 components based on DSM-IV addiction criteria. The seven criteria include Withdrawal; experiencing anxiety, fatigue without exercise; Continuance; despite injury or illness; Tolerance; need for increasing amounts of exercise; Lack of control; desire or effort to control exercise; Reduction in other activities; Time; spent in activities to get exercise; Intention effects; more exercise than intended. The total scores range from 21-126; midpoint = 73.5. Each component has a range of 3-18, midpoint = 10.5. The mean score for males = 66.3(14.99) and for women = 75.9(16.6). There was a significant difference based on gender (t = -4.001, p<.000). The scores for the seven components were: Withdrawal, M= 10.9(3.3) for men and 11.1(6.4) for women; Continuance, M = 9.25(3.7) for men and 10.0(4.4) for women; Tolerance, M= 7.1(3.1) for men and 9.4(3.1) for women; Lack of control, M= 10.9(3.7) for men and 12.7(3.9) for women; Reduction in other activities, M= 12.5(2.95) for men and 14.1(3.1) for women; Time, M= 9.3(2.97) for men and 10.6(3.2) for women; Intention effects, M= 10.02(3.6) for men and 11.76(3.6) for women. Higher scores on 3 or more subscales indicates maladaptive pattern of exercise which may lead to clinically significant impairment or distress. The dependent range was operationally defined as 15-18, symptomatic as 9-12 and asymptomatic as 3-6 (Hausenblas & Downs, 2002). All seven criteria scores indicated symptomatic for both men and women with the exception of tolerance which was symptomatic for women only. The mean score for women on reduction of other activities indicated dependence. There were significant differences based on gender for Tolerance, Lack of control, Reduction, Time, and Intention effects (p<.007). These results reveal a disturbing trend towards exercise dependence. Recent research has indicated this can be a precursor to eating disorders as well as increasing the risk for overtraining injuries and other illnesses. Keyword(s): college level issues, physical activity