Season 3 of reality TV series Ninja Warrior has seen some amazing athletes conquer the course. To become a great ‘ninja warrior’ and great athlete requires amazing focus and a warrior-like determination and belief to be able to overcome any obstacle that is put in front of you (as well as a little luck along the way).
You will need to train to improve your power, balance, strength, agility, gymnastics skills, problem solving, hand strength and grip, foot speed and placement, and the ability to visualise your way through a course that is in front of you.
Ninja warriors will train all these skills individually and then combine them with different moves and sequences to refine their skills. Let’s look at two of the great ninja warrior obstacles: the ‘floating steps’ and the ‘warped wall’ (check these out on YouTube). Here are tips to conquer them and training tips to prepare to take them on.
Floating Step
- Foot placement is key – ensure your foot lands on the middle of the step
- Pushing off the step –push (or explode) with even power toward the direction you are jumping
- If you stop on a step, turn and face the next step
- If you need to grab the step when landing, only grab the top of the step
Warped Wall
- Run at speed towards and up the wall, not at the wall
- Push with power off of your jump leg
- Choose the line that you are going to run up the wall
- Your fingers and hand placement at the top of the wall
- Pull your body up to the top of the wall
Training
- 30 secs single leg skipping, each leg
- 10 x frog leaps: from the down squat position, push with power off both feet and legs as far forward as you can and jog back to the start position
- 10 x 10m sprints
- 10 x jump chin-ups: stand under a chin-up bar, and, as you start to do a chin-up, jump (this simulates the top of the wall)
- 10 x Bosu Ball jumps: jump from one Bosu Ball to another and back – this is awesome for your balance and for understanding how to push off both legs with even power
- 20 x elbow sit-ups
- 15 x hanging knee raises: hanging from a chin-up bar, keep your knees together and raise them up until your knees are hip height, then lower back down
- 10 min jogging
- 2 min visualisation: visualise doing the floating step, focusing on how you would land and push off to the next step
- 2 min visualisation: visualise running up the warped wall, grabbing the top and pulling yourself up. Don’t forget your celebration after beating the wall and becoming a ninja warrior!
Make sure your training is fun! Being a ninja warrior is amazing, and the training is awesome for the body and mind. If you feel like getting in some ninja warrior training and learning more, get in touch or book in for one of my Battle Ninja programs.
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