How to build muscle and endurance like an American Ninja Warrior
- American Ninja Warrior contestants had to get creative with at-home workouts when training for season 12, which was filmed this summer.
- Pull ups and plyometric exercises were the building blocks of their workout routines.
- Ninjas have to push through fatigue on the obstacle course, so endurance exercises are also crucial.
Alyssa Beird spent most of quarantine at her mom's house with just a pull up bar and a 20-pound dumbbell at her disposal. The American Ninja Warrior veteran, who also works as a fifth grade teacher, had to get creative with her home workouts to stay in shape for Season 12.
The popular obstacle course competition, based on the Japanese TV series Sasuke, returned for an abridged 12th season that kicked off in September. The first episode of the two-part final airs Wednesday.
At the onset of the pandemic, it was unclear if ANW Season 12 was going to happen, eight-time competitor Joe Moravsky told Insider. The National Ninja League champion took a few months off from training and got back to the gym when he heard the show was going ahead with the season.
The season took place in an indoor bubble set up at St. Louis' Dome at America's Center. Competitors and crew were required to submit a negative COVID-19 test before entering, and family and friends usually seen on the sidelines cheered on their ninjas via video chat.
Other contestants powered through lockdown with at-home training, virtually meeting up for Zoom workouts and eventually getting back to the gyms when restrictions eased up. With various levels of resources within reach, they stuck to some key exercises that prepared them for the high-stakes obstacle course.
Insider spoke with ANW competitors and a fitness coach about how to build a workout fit for a ninja warrior.
Most "fun" ninja obstacles are rooted in pull up strength
Beird said her home workouts revolved around pull ups, which she did in sets of 15 between other core, legs, and shoulder exercises.
"The stuff we would usually do at gyms — like hanging, swinging, all the fun stuff — is really rooted in pull up strength, so I was making sure to get in multiple sets of pull ups each day," Beird told Insider.
Noam Tamir, owner and founder of TS Fitness in NYC, said pull ups mainly work the back muscles, along with the core, biceps, and grip strength. This combination is essential for ANW obstacles like the Salmon Ladder and variations on jumping bars.
To really work the core, Tamir recommends practicing a hollow body hold, where you lie on your back and lift your shoulder blades and legs off the ground. Then, you can try adopting that posture while doing pull ups.
Beird said the traditional hollow body hold (done on the floor) is a great core workout for beginners, and you can modify it by kicking your feet or crunching upwards.
Plyometrics prepare ninjas for explosive movements on the course
Plyometrics, or jump training, are exercises where muscles exert maximum force in a short interval of time. Almost any exercise can be turned into a plyometric with the addition of explosive power, Tamir said, like adding a clap to a traditional push up or turning squats into jump squats.
Beird said she did lunge jumps— where she starts in a lunge with one foot forward and both knees at 90 degrees, then jumps and switches her legs in midair — to get the "fast-twitch muscle reaction" required in so many ninja obstacles.
Even something as simple as short, quick sprints can help athletes develop the explosive speed required to summit the 14-and-a-half foot Warped Wall.
Jesse Labreck, an ANW competitor who holds the record for the most final buzzers hit by a woman, said "really intense burpees" were a staple of her training during lockdown. To up the ante on any plyometric exercise, you can add handheld weights or sandbags, Tamir said.
Building endurance is essential for pushing through the course
Labreck operates a ninja gym in Naperville, Illinois, so she was able to have 24/7 access to obstacles even when the gym was closed to the public. Still, she tuned into Zoom workouts run by trainer and ANW contestant Jimmy Choi that anyone could do at home.
She told Insider that Choi's workouts were basically regular high intensity interval training, or HIIT workouts, with the addition of advanced elements like handstands.
HIIT workouts involve pushing yourself to 100% for an interval of 30 to 60 seconds of exercise, followed by a shorter period of rest. This style of workout is known to burn more calories than steady-rate cardio, and it comes with other health benefits such as improving oxygen and blood flow.
Beird also structured her workouts around intervals of 30 seconds of working out, then 20 seconds of rest. She would typically do 5 sets each of three different exercises that worked her core, legs, and shoulders, with 15 pull ups between each exercise set.
"I'm trying to get my heart rate to stay up and make myself tired, but then still push through and get basically a full body workout," Beird said.
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