Strength sports are awesome, but let’s be honest, it’s still pretty hard to get the average American excited to watch them on TV. They’re still sports that require a pretty intimate understanding of what’s happening onscreen — what a 400 pound deadlift might feel like, how the athlete’s hamstrings must be sore going into those cleans, and so on. That’s why the American Ninja Warrior™ phenomenon is so interesting. This is undeniably a competition of strength and fitness, and it’s important to note that because the course isn’t the same every year your training can’t be too specific. You just have to hone a lot of areas of your fitness, like grip and back strength with heaping doses of agility, accuracy, balance, coordination, stability, and muscular endurance. It’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch and if we’re categorizing it as a strength sport — which is debatable, but let’s just do it — it’s got to be the most popular strength sport on television, with the last five seasons averaging well over five million viewers per episode. We spoke with four-time American Ninja Warrior and occasional “Ninja Vs. Ninja” competitor Nicholas Coolridge to get a glimpse of what training looks like for a modern Tarzan. (Watch his latest performance below.) American Ninja Warrior Is Just Rock Climbing, Right? “There really is a lot more that goes into it,” says Coolridge. “Rock climbers have a really good base as far as strength goes, but the thing a lot of people have experience with is parkour. If you have parkour and rock climbing dialed in, you’ll probably do really well.” [Learn some super advanced grip tips in our interview with strongman legend Odd Haugen.] Also called free running, parkour is sort of considered a complement to martial arts: if the latter is the art of fight, the former is the art of flight. In other words, it’s about moving through space (usually urban areas) as quickly and creatively as possible, although Coolridge minimizes the “creatively” part. “My parkour style has always been a little bit more slow and strategic than explosive and twirly,” he explains. “So instead of jumping and bounding, I’ll find the most efficient way to move and stay light on my feet.” The Forgotten Skill of Precision Of course, there are many other ways to train for this game, and athletes with backgrounds in gymnastics, dance, or martial arts often find themselves at an advantage. That’s partly because they’re skills that require extreme precision: precise technique, balance, and awareness of where one is situated in space. That can be hard to train with basic gym lifts and while gymnastics provides a relatively accessible method of training this quality, Coolridge is a big fan of slacklining for American Ninja Warrior. That’s basically a less tight version of tightrope walking. “It’s become very popular in the rock climbing world because it’s used with their extra rock climbing equipment,” says Coolridge. “You can set it up between two trees and you have to be so precise to hold and maintain your balance, it hones your control like crazy. I would recommend it to anybody who wants to do ninja stuff.” Get Your Head In the Game Funnily enough, the biggest mistake with new competitors isn’t a lack of physical fitness, but a lack of mental fitness. “I see a lot of people who appear stronger than me, but they don’t have the mental experience to get ready to be under so much pressure,” adds Coolrdige. “They’re under the spotlight with the cameras and the crowd and all the energy that come at them, they get too much adrenaline and by the time it starts they’re already exhausted.” Practice breathing and try to train in front of people as often as you can. 4 Exercises to Train for American Ninja Warrior Here are some basics that Coolridge suggests you master before you even think about applying to compete. Pull-Ups Surprise, the sport that largely consists of climbing and swinging requires pretty serious pulling power. Incorporate towel grip, neutral grip, supinated, weighted, and high-rep, every kind of pull-up you can think of — there are a lot of different things to hang off of in a ninja challenge. [Women should try to train pull-ups too — read our ladies’ guide to your first pull-up! Farmer’s Walks Whether you’re carrying bags of groceries or heavy dumbbells, this is an excellent way to train not only your grip strength (and remember that’s an insanely important part of the sport) but also postural strength and control, core stabilization, balance, coordination, and work capacity, plus they’re another way to train your pulling power. [Learn the finer points of farmer’s walks in our step-by-step guide here.] Slacklining As mentioned above, an excellent way to build stability and precision. Precision Broad Jumps “Broad jumps would be great, but what’s even better is setting up markers so you can broad jump to precise spots and so you can learn to stick it without falling over,” says Coolridge. “When you land, stick it for like three seconds to get your balance, and make sure you’re getting a feel for how far each of your jumps are you so you can estimate distance in the game.” Swing for the Fences A final piece of advice is to train weird: try different ways of lifting weight or doing pull-ups that will hit lesser-trained parts of your body. This aspect was emphasized so heavily by the athlete we interviewed that we got the impression strongman exercises could be useful supplements for the sport. Just don’t forget your mental game and you’ll be ahead of most of your competition from the get go.<doc-sep>The beginning of the NBA Finals tonight on ABC and the fourth consecutive face-off between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will undoubtedly dominate the Big 4 but last night belonged to another warrior. The highest rated and third most watched (5.35 million) show of an Empire-less Wednesday, American Ninja Warrior (1.2/9) was back for its tenth season. A triumphant for NBC, who matched FOX with an overall 1.0/4 for the night, the competition series took a bit of a tumble from its Season 9 debut of June 12 of last year. Down 14% among adults 18-49 from that season opener on a very competitive 2017 Monday that saw the deciding game of the 2017 NBA Finals on ABC, last night’s ANW actually faced far less energetic Big 4 rivals. Sure there was Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final with its Washington Capitols’ victory over the Vegas Golden Knights to tie the series, but otherwise Wednesday’s primetime had encores on ABC, a double dose of CBS’ Code Black (both 0.7/3) and the return of Gordon Ramsey. Not that the caustic cook ever seems to be off the Murdoch owned net but our Gordon was back for a ninth season of MasterChef (1.0/4). All things considered, things were cooking for the series with a two-hour return that has even in the key demo with its Season 8 opener’s fast affiliate numbers. The one-hour May 31, 2017 MasterChef Season 8 premiere bopped up a tenth in its final numbers, as last night’s show could too. Back on NBC, VR thriller Reverie (0.6/3) started its summer run with a weak out of the gate opener that matched a Modern Family repeat in the 10 PM slot. In the 9 PM slot, The Originals (0.3/1) inched towards its series end with an airing that was even with its last original of May 16. See ya courtside tonight.<doc-sep>Sandown dad competes on 'American Ninja Warrior' Man uses show's platform to raise $5,000 for NH foster families Share Shares Copy Link Copy Hide Transcript Show Transcript WEBVTT THREE. ERIN: ANOTHER SEASON OF THE POPULAR SHOW "AMERICA NINJ WARRIOR" BEGAN LAST NIGH CRAIG STOWELL OF SANDOWN IS ONE OF THE COMPETITORS. THE 35-YEAR-OLD BUSINESS OWNER, AND FATHER OF THREE WAS LOOKING FOR A NEW PHYSICAL CHALLENGE, AND HE FOUND IT. HE JUST COMPETED IN MINNEAPOLIS OVER THE WEEKEND. HIS EPISODE IS SCHEDULED TO AIR ON JULY >> I DID IT SPECIFICALLY TO SHOW MY KIDS YOU FALL AND YOU’RE GOING TO FAIL AND YOU GET BACK UP AND YOU DO IT AGAIN. YOU JUST HAVE TO GET UP ONE MORE TIME THAN YOU FALL. THAT WAS THE ALL IDEA BEHIND THE AUDITION TAPE. I THINK THAT IS WHAT REALLY GOT THEIR ATTENTION WAS I AM A FATHER, NOT A COLLEGIATE ATHLETE OR PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE. ONE OF THE QUESTIONS IS, ARE YOU AN OLYMPIAN? I’M JUST SOMEBODY WHO GOT BACK UP AND DID IT UNTIL I GOT BETTER AT IT AND COULD DO IT. ERIN: CRAIG USED THE NINJA PLATFORM TO RAISE MONEY FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE’S FOSTER FAMILIES. HE HAS RAISED MORE THAN $5000, WHICH WILL BE USED TO BUY THINGS LIKE GIFT CARDS AND HOUSEHOLD ITEMS. SO BEST OF LUCK TO HIM. SEAN: THEY MAKE IT LOOK EASY, BUT THE UPPER BODY STRENGTH T GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Submit Privacy Notice<doc-sep>
American Ninja Warrior is no longer just a niche sport. MINNEAPOLIS - Ropes, ladders, hooks, giant walls and water. What looks like torture on this blazing Saturday afternoon, actually has people lining up to willingly take part and test their will. “I honestly, I don't think about anything when I do the course,” says Kyle Soderman, a course tester. “I just let my body do what it does.” What these bodies do, is becoming one of the fastest growing sports and most watched NBC programs. It's American Ninja Warrior and it's no longer just a niche sport. The show made a stop in Minneapolis this week. “It's not just a cult following anymore,” says Maggi Thorne, a competitor on the show. "With an Emmy nomination you can’t go wrong. You’re always going to see something inspirational.” It's inspired a new class of athletes. Gone are the days of slinging weights. Now they swing from hoops and ropes. “I haven’t touched a normal gym in three-plus years now,” says Soderman. “And I don't touch weights at all.” Kyle, like the rest of the athletes here, are obstacle testers. They help fine-tune the course, long before the competitors ever get on it. “Yeah, it's critical,” says Anthony Storm, one of the show's executive producers. “The testers give us an idea of how many people we can expect to get through each obstacle.” Testers like Maggi Thorne, a mother of three, who's also been a competitor on the show for four years. She moves through the course with ease, enjoying the physical and mental challenge it poses. “You get a little bit nervous,” says Thorne. “You don’t want to be over confident. You have to take it seriously, but the number one rule is always have fun.” Then there are others, who just get to show up because the show is on their network. Which is the other interesting point about the show and the athletes. There is a camaraderie among them... sharing in each other’s successes and failures “It's super hard for me to watch someone I am competing against about to beat me,” says Soderman. "Because I think, ‘I hope he falls,’ but then I think, ‘Go, go, go,’ because you want to see them succeed and it’s unlike any sports realm in the world.”