Yes, It’s True: I’m Training for American Ninja Warrior

By Jackelyn Ho

If you’ve hung out with me for the past year or so, you will know this one fact of me to be true: I am bored with my workouts. Sure, I still teach 3 classes a week and I find time for my own workouts, but the excitement that I used to have as I performed each burpee or push-up definitely faded. What was the reason for my boredom? Not having a goal.

In the past, training for half marathons gave me runner’s highs and kept me on my toes. After that, I became obsessed with HIT workouts and got super creative with creating 15 to 30-minute non-stop workouts. And then, I hit a wall. All athletes do at some point, right? Mine was a brutal one in which I just could not find any motivation to put on those workout clothes and get going. In fact, I let myself fall for any excuse. “Ugh, I just don’t feel like it,” seemed to be my most popular one. It was baaaaaad.

That all changed a few months ago when I finally set myself a new and very exciting goal: to be on American Ninja Warrior. I found myself wondering if I could one day be strong enough to attempt popular obstacles like the infamous salmon ladder and oh-so-tall warped wall. But, why not try? The athletes on the show are so inspiring and my recent interview with female ninja Meagan Martin definitely made me believe that I could at least try. Of course, there is an extensive application process that is completely dependent on the show’s producers, but if I could just get myself to be strong like the ninjas I saw on TV, then… well, that would be pretty freakin’ cool.

I started training about a month and a half ago and you can read all about that whole journey here. I’ll get into more detail in the next post, but in the meantime, check out my latest adventure at APEX Movement Norcal. They’re located in Concord, CA and as a parkour and ninja warrior training gym, it’s basically an adult playground with all of the obstacles you could ever imagine. Also, big thank you to Sean O’Brien (a former contestant on the show) from DIAKADI in San Francisco, CA for jump starting my training. Is anyone else out there training for the show? Come play with me!

Some snaps from Dogpatch Boulders in San Francisco, CA:

Early days of training at DIAKADI gym: