Interview with The Crazy Mind

Just a quick little interview with The Crazy Mind.

Full interview is linked here : http://www.thecrazymind.com/2017/01/australian-ninja-warrior.html

www.aussieninjawarrior.com.au

Super quick post!

I've sold www.australianninjawarrior.com.au to Channel 9, and now have to pretty much start all over again with www.aussieninjawarrior.com.au.  Still it's really exciting, and I can't wait to see what happens in 2017!

Bring on all the good times Australian Ninja Warrior!

Interview by Obstacle Racers Australia

I was very excited to be approached by Obstacle Racers Australia to do a little article on little ol me. While I've enjoyed the articles and interviews I've done in the past, this one is really very much in the field I'm interested in.  They're really close to my own blog/website in their intention, they want to spread the obstacle course love... just like me.

Here is the link to their article:
Aussie Ninja by Obstacle Racers Australia

Hope you like it!

An Interview with VSL

Another blog post by me... must mean another blogger interviewy thing.  I'm trying to smash these out to get the word out.  I'm not sure how successful it all is, but I have to say that I'm very much enjoying the process.  It's been really fun thinking back to why I created Aussie Ninja Warrior and why I started on this little adventure.

Anywho, here is the link to this interview by VSL :
http://www.visahotline.co.uk/aussie-ninja-warrior-things-need-know/

An interview with The Crazy Mind

I was recently interviewed by the website The Crazy Mind who seems to interview pretty much any old thing (a category I totally rock) and they seem to have a million, trillion followers... so that's pretty ace. 

Given the amount of articles this website pumps out, I'm probably only going to stay on that front page for a minute longer, an hour tops.  Still 15 seconds of fame is better than -15 seconds of fame, which is not great but also a paradox but also just kind of un-rad.

Link to the article can be found here. I'm pretty interesting.

Interview by Blogger Simandan

I was recently interviewed by the supernice Mihnea who has been running a really quite successful blog about his travels around Asia and his passion for archery. He also has a huge interest in a whole heap of sporting adventures which is where I came into the picture.

Links to the article can be found here.


 

Aussie Ninja Warrior - Launching today!

 

 

I've been busy setting up my new website Aussie Ninja Warrior to basically make a central place for all my Ninja Warrior posts but also to tell my story and help other people with their training.

 

I don't know if I was looking in the right places, but when I was first starting my training, I really couldn't find anything on what areas I should be focusing on, how to train, how much I should train, really how to start at all.  There were a few little articles in various fitness magazines but they were often way too broad to be of much use. 

 

I've learnt so much over the past few months that I thought it'd be helpful for me to try and consolidate everything to one place...and that if it's helpful for me, then it's probably helpful to everyone else as well. 

 

I'd love to help people start their training, I don't know everything, but I have been obsessed with this good gig for a good while, so I'm sure I'd have answers to your questions, or at least, an idea on where to find answers.  If you're interested in training for Australian Ninja Warrior, or American Ninja Warrior, or you'd just like to be more amazing athletically, check out my little website and contact me if you have any questions.

 

 

Go ninjas, go ninjas go!

 

Get outside! Go on, git!

It's really, really important to take your training outside as much as you can. 

Let's say that the gym is where you develop your muscles, the more you train, the stronger you get... but it's running and climbing and jumping and leaping and hanging and swinging outside that you actually develop your tendons and your connective tissue and your stabilising muscles.

You'll realise this as soon as you try and obstacle course somewhere... you might be able to do a pull up or two, but suddenly on some course, getting from one tire on a chain to another tire on a chain is really, really challenging... it's those stabilising muscles that you're missing.

You might also notice that your legs or arms or whole body gets sore from running and leaping around, and that's exactly what you need to train and develop.  Sometimes on the Ninja Warrior show, you see competitors take massive falls as they've leaped off an obstacle at speed.  The strength and toughness to hit hard and carry on is as much practise as anything else.

AFL is a good example.  Sometimes you see footballers get hit hard or monster tackled to the ground and they just spring back up.  That's because all their stabilising muscles are as strong as their main gym muscles, and their body is used to being hit.  Kickboxers have to practise heaps before hitting the bag doesn't hurt their shins anymore, Karate kids get hit heaps to deaden the nerves and strengthen the connective tissue and fascia.

You'll need to be tough and you'll need to be strong to take on the Ninja Warrior course. You are definitely going to make awkward falls, you're going to have to grip on so tight that your hands would bleed if they weren't so calloused... you're going to have to take the hits and bounce along like nothing happened.  You can not be successful any other way.

So, training in the gym is fine, get as strong as you can... but you also need to train outside, anywhere that you can find so that you can also get as tough as you can. 

American Ninja Warrior Training - First attempt on a salmon ladder

For those that don't know, the Salmon Ladder is an obstacle on American Ninja Warrior that's been around since the start, is incredibly hard, is in every version of the show and forces veterans and rookies alike to get dunked in the water.

I tried it myself for the first time last Sunday, and it is so much harder than I ever imagined!

For those that don't know, basically, you grab hold of a bar, and then with a kind of pull-up jumping motion, you jump the bar (and yourself) to the next rung. My trainer only has 3 rungs, and it's a metal bar on metal rungs, so it's loud.  It echoes throughout the suburb.

Surprisingly, I didn't struggle on the strength requirements, it was the coordination that did me in.  My left side found the rung every time, but my right side often missed... which is weird because I'm definitely stronger on my right side.  I didn't actually make it up all three rungs, and my very first attempt was easily my best....  it's brutal on the hands,

I now have even more appreciation for the athletes that compete on the show, and given how unco my attempt was, I think it's crazy to try and compete without mastering the Salmon Ladder first, strength is important but technique is everything!

American Ninja Warrior - Parkour Update

So I've graduated myself from the Beginner class to the Beginner 2 Parkour class, and am much happier for it. The Monday night Beginner 2 class is for ages 16+ so it's a bit less rambuncuous but also it's way more technical. I've actually discovered I don't know how to jump with my left foot. So far, no matter the exercise I've always found a way to kick off with my right... it's terrible. I actually have an amazing leap with my right, (maybe because it's always done all the work) but I'm now going to have to put some work in to un-program my brain and teach myself how to jump with my left. So weird!

I actually think I've got enough natural talent to join the intermediate class... except, it's really taking my 2 full days to recover from the beginner 2 class. That balance between striving forward vs acclimatizing your body is something I've always struggled with.

American Ninja Warrior - Things that are holding me back - #1 Update

The update is that there is no real update. It still hurts like a jerk most days. I've given the physio the flick since he either didn't know how to tackle it or was stringing me along. I only get 15 visits a year so I didn't want to waste too many. I'm now trying to strengthen my feet by working on my balance, and doing the exact opposite to what the podiatrist said, and spending as much time in bare feet as possible, and wearing different shoes all the time. Previous advice hasn't worked so I'm trying something new. I'm hoping the foot, being a miraculous feat of evolutionary engineering will figure itself out. I'm also massaging it with a golf ball and rolling out my calves every chance I get. I've got some Fish Oil that I'll be taking daily and I'm starting hot yoga to try and help as well.

American Ninja Warrior - Competitors in Oregon?

Asking for a friend...

Would love to meet anyone else training for American Ninja Warrior on the North West Coast of America.  Feeling a little bit lonely and unsure at the moment.

American Ninja Warrior - Things that are holding me back - #3

Shoulder Subluxation is a problem I completely forgot about. It first happened a few years ago in indoor soccer, then again when I was hit by a car on my bike, now it's happened about 5 times. On Thursday I was bouldering on a climb that was too hard for me... but I wanted to push myself... and my left shoulder popped out. Now it only takes a few seconds to roll back into place, but the recovery takes weeks. My left arm can feel weak for up to 6 weeks after... it sucks. I need to work some shoulder/rotator cuff exercises into my routine to strengthen the muscles around the ball joint. Blurgh!

American Ninja Warrior - 4 steps to training - Endurance

I had a shoulder injury last Thursday, so during the recovery it was a good time to start the Maffetone Method. Summed up, it basically gets you to stop using the anaerobic fibres in your body so you can train your aerobic fibres instead... basically transforming me from a sprinter to a marathoner. I know American Ninja Warrior is about short bursts of action, but I think the really great guys have a crap ton of endurance in their tank. A lot of guys go out because they get so tired, they then don't tackle obstacles properly and fall. I'm trying to prevent that from happening to me... like everything else on this journey, I have to go back a heap of steps to start from the start in something brand new to me. It's been challenging the last few days, especially the no carbs or sugars for 2 weeks thing... but I think it'll be worth it.

American Ninja Warrior - 4 steps to training - Calisthenics

I'm basically working my way through the book Convict Conditioning. It's really, really good. It's been frustrating basically starting over with almost literal baby steps... but I always go too far too fast and end up injuring myself... so I'm trying to do the exercises exactly as the book dictates.

American Ninja Warrior - 4 steps to training - Rock Climbing

The gym that I joined is also an indoor rock climbing centre, which is very lucky that it's so close. I did the beginner rock climbing course which was great and I learnt a ton. The only friends I have in Portland are the two girls I did that beginner course with. So, I basically go twice a week to do some bouldering by myself and then do a rock climbing session with the girls once a week. It's weird how different in skill level we are. The girls have great balance and leg strength, so they can do climbs I can't, whereas I'm a bit more upper body so I can get through spots they don't even want to attempt. It's great. At the moment I can do V0 & V1 climbs. I haven't finished any V2 bouldering climbs yet. In rock climbing I'm kinda sticking to the 5.8 & 5.9. Haven't completed a 5.10a yet.

American Ninja Warrior - 4 steps to training - Parkour

At the moment, I'm doing one beginner class of Parkour a week, and I'm usually sore for at least 2 days afterwards. It's really fun though and I'm really not that bad at it. I've got a good leap and I'm strong, I can usually muscle my way through things (not ideal) if my technique isn't great. Some of the other dudes in the beginner class are just amazing, it's very inspiring. I actually can't wait until I'm conditioned enough to go more than once a week.

American Ninja Warrior - 4 steps to training

One of the reasons I love Ninja Warrior is that no one type of athlete, body type, age or discipline is perfect for it. The rock climbing guys are usually great at Stage 3, but there is a heap of balance obstacles to trip them up before before then. I have no real background, I did competitive dancing in my early 30s, then played a heap of indoor soccer, and gym it up a lot, but I've overhauled everything to train for Ninja Warrior. Basically, my thinking is that the four areas I'm training are: Parkour, Rock Climbing, Calisthenics and Endurance. I am brand new to all of these things, but it's fun.

American Ninja Warrior - Strategy

I know it seems obvious, but slow progression is going to be key. Currently, I can't do a single thing that I'll need to bring to American Ninja Warrior, so it's all about progression. Start off small, master that, build on it, advance. Rinse and repeat. It's extremely tedious, but starting small helps condition my old bod, which'll open a whole heap of doors for me. I'll actually be going backwards for quite a while, doing exercises I can totally easily do... all in order to build up the tendons and supporting muscles. Usually I jump into everything as hard as I can, and usually end up injured along the way... slow and steady and driving myself crazy... that's my approach.

American Ninja Warrior - Things that are holding me back - #2

All my problems are tendonitis-y, I also have RSI but that doesn't really affect this new crazy goal of mine. Golfers Elbow in my right arm is a big problem though, it started when we were touring around Spain. I had been going to the gym heaps before we left, and then while we were bouncing around that crazy hot country, I'd only sporadically get to a gym... I tried my normal pull-ups and my elbow did not like it one bit. It's been a problem for nearly 10 years now. Basically Hammer Curls are impossible, and pull-ups develop an ache pretty quickly. 

 Dagnammit.