When I first tuned in to American Ninja Warrior, I did so because I thought it was a new show about an American ninja. I loved ninjas growing up and maybe this was the new action drama that would be on my DVR. I was of course very wrong.

It is basically an advanced obstacle course designed for people to fail. Who can complete the course in the shortest amount of time will win.

You have qualifying rounds, regional rounds, and all whittling down to the finals in Las Vegas. I have no clue what the top prize is, but it seems that a ton of people want to do this challenge.

I had watched a few episodes in previous seasons, but this year I’ve been watching a lot more of the show. It is has captured my attention. These guys that complete this course are pretty amazing.

Now, I don’t think I could do it myself. There aren’t many 40 year olds and over who are completing this thing and advancing. It is definitely for the younger ones, but here are some of the observations I’ve made since watching.

  • The people that are being successful with this challenge aren’t your traditional athletes. What this means are that a lot of these people weren’t football or basketball stars. They oftentimes did not play sports at all in high school, but are in pretty good shape.
  • If you have a background in gymnastics, rock climbing, or parkour (free running), you would have a good shot at being successful at American Ninja Warrior.
  • A lot of the good contestants are in the fitness industry in some capacity or another. Although every contestant is in very good shape, they all aren’t necessarily jacked (overly buff) or super defined. The contestants who are trainers or own gyms seem to be pretty ripped, but the others just have nice definition.
  • Women are definitely at a disadvantage due to the tremendous amount of upper body strength needed to complete the course. Not saying that they can’t get to the finals, but it is a relatively small amount that make it. Most of the successful ones have had some type of gymnastics background.
  • I think your ideal competitor is male, late 20’s early 30’s, 5’ 7” to 5’ 10”, and 155 – 175 pounds. Any shorter, it is tough to reach some of the obstacles easily. Any taller and heavier, makes it tough to perform some of the obstacles easily.
  • When I watched episodes in previous years, it seemed like a good portion of the competitors didn’t have jobs or they had menial jobs. They lived with their parents and had built some type of ninja warrior course in the basement or backyard of their parents. This season, that doesn’t seem to be the case as much. More and more gyms are creating their own ninja warrior course and catering to that type of crowd. It seems to be quite a big business now.

Like I said earlier, these aren’t the normal type of athletes that I would typically train. Most remind me of the kids you would see skateboarding in the park doing all the crazy stunts. Those kids have morphed into the parkour kids doing things that you would see in a movie.

I think it is great to watch. If I was younger, maybe I’d go out and try to beat this obstacle. But for now, I think I might harken back to the days when I was little playing ninja. Swinging across the monkey bars on the playground and trying to climb up to the ceiling in a hallway where I could press my arms and legs into the walls and inch my way on up.

These guys have basically taken that and made it out as a game for adults. They might not be your typical athletes, but these ninja warriors are athletes nonetheless.

Photo courtesy of Joey Gannon on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brunkfordbraun/