At Rebounderz, we’re not just about trampoline fun for the entire family. Over the last several years, the Ninja Warrior television series have been wildly popular, and we’re a place that’s designed for training for the Ninja Warrior course. So what’s the show all about? It began in Japan, and contestants were required to navigate through a series of hideously difficult obstacle courses. Only a handful of contestants were ever able to beat all of the courses.

The show was a massive hit worldwide. It came to America, and American Ninja Warrior has featured athletes, parkour enthusiasts, schoolteachers, police officers, and a host of others all competing to beat the course and walk away with a grand prize of $500,000. Maybe that’s your dream. If so, you’ll need to train, and train seriously to make it happen. Keep reading, and we’ll share a few training tips with you. If this helps you win someday, all we ask for is a shoutout.

• You know why you don’t see too many big people on the course? To make it through efficiently, you need to be fast and light on your feet. Getting lean is the name of the game, and there are a few ways to do that. Before breakfast, a 20-30 minute aerobic workout will get your blood pumping and energy up. During the day, spend as much time as possible moving around on your feet. Later on in the day, weight training or a high-intensity interval workout followed up by a cold shower will keep your metabolism going.
• If you want to survive and thrive on the course, a strong grip is an absolute necessity. But how do you strengthen it? Start with lots of assisted pull-ups or regular pull-ups, but do lots of different kinds of grips. Try walking while holding a bucket filled with water or a heavy rock. Throw a strong towel around a bar and hang from the towel. Basically, you want to practice with as many different kinds of grips as you can. One of the most fun ways to do that is through rock climbing.
• Many of the courses begin with what’s known as the quad step. That’s where you need to bound from side to side at different angles. Some of the obstacles featuring this are giant logs that need to be sprinted across and huge rubber balls that contestants bounce across. To destroy this obstacle, you’ll want to have fast feet. Agility ladders, which are ladders you can step in and out of, are a great exercise and used by football players and tennis players. Find a hill with a mild incline and run down it as fast as possible. If you’re at the gym, turn the treadmill up to its highest speed and try to stay on as long as possible. You can also use the step bench and work on explosive alternating step-ups.

It’s not easy getting into the kind of shape that allows you to survive the course, but nobody ever said it would be. Join us tomorrow for more tips, and remember that you can’t win if you don’t try.