Hey guys, Audrey Cleo here and behind me is the course for what may be the most physically challenging competition on TV, American Ninja Warrior. Now, when it comes to training, these ninjas are not playing around. But what does it really take to get to Mount Midoriyama? Matt Isman, Akbar Budja Biamila. That was good. I know. I practiced. Just like that. It just came out. No, we need to stop being surprised that people nail your name. You are a fixture on television. Season after season, does it get old ever watching these guys try to conquer this?

No. No, not at all. And the reason why is because the stories are different, the obstacles are different. This year alone, 27 new obstacles. It can't get old because you never know how the athletes are going to to respond to it. What for me what's amazing is that at any second a run can end. A year's worth of work can come to an end. But during any run, you can be completely amazed by someone who did something that not only did you not expect them to be able to do, but they didn't expect to be able to do. And you see people have these moments that you know for the rest of their lives they'll remember.

You guys look pretty athletic and Akbar, you're in the NFL.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Pretty. Extremely. Pretty comma and athletic, both words. No modifiers. I love the punctuation. See, they're cheering. They know how athletic we are. Do you have what it takes to get to Mount Midoriyama? We've both tried the course. It pains me to say this, but believe it or not, the guy who's 6'6", 260 and played in the NFL, may be a better athlete than me. But, but, but I'm the only one who's completed an obstacle on camera. And with the legend right here in the American Ninja Warrior world, Casey Canzero.

Uh, you were saying that this doesn't get old. This is my fourth season competing on American Ninja Warrior. And I just never get bored of it. They always come back. They bring new obstacles. They make them even more difficult. And we come back stronger every year, so I think it balances out.

Between seasons, how do you train for this? Because I know it can get really, really involved.

It's tough because we have a whole year in between the season. So when you go down, you have to train the whole year and and come back even stronger. So, uh, there's not really an offseason for us ninjas. We're always training, always going at it. Um, I do a lot of bodyweight exercises because you want to be able to hang yourself and hold yourself as long as you can. Um, so I do a lot of bodyweight, a lot of rock climbing, uh, strength and agility stuff like that.

Jessie and Natalie, two very fierce ladies holding it down in this competition. How are you feeling going into this?

Super excited. I've never made it this far before. So there's like a slight anxiety, but yet really excited feeling going on on here. I don't know, last time at finals, I felt pretty confident. It all looked like stuff I could do and it caught me by surprise. This one looks a lot harder. So, um, I'm hoping I surprise myself in the opposite direction this time.

I know you have to do a lot of practice, you have to train a lot. Tell me what that's been like.

I mean, we all ninjas train together. I've trained with Jesse before. We went rock climbing. Um, but it seems more of just like a daily activity besides like we have to do this today.

Do you have any advice for anyone who is considering, uh, trying this out or considering becoming a ninja?

I I always tell people, don't be afraid to look dumb trying something new. I look dumb doing new things all the time because I just want to learn everything. If you fall, just get back up, try it again and learn how to fall correctly. That's the first thing. Learn how to fall correctly.

I heard how you fall is very important.

Yes, if you fall.

Oh, if you fall.

If you fall it is definitely very important how you fall to be able to come back out of it.

Okay. Yeah. Do you have any tips for that?

Um, practice actually. Practice falling. It sounds funny, but that's that's a big part of parkour actually is is how to fall and how to get through a movement.

And you're a repeat ninja, am I right?

I am. This is my third season.

Wow, does it get any easier the more times you do it?

Not at all. Um, the nerves are just as bad. Um, I might be more prepared just from training all the time, but uh, the course gets harder every year, so no, it doesn't.

Now, what do you do to train? Because I know this can get really, really involved.

We have to train specifically for this. So yeah, we have some backyard courses and actual gyms built specifically for Ninja Warrior. Um, then we also all rock climb, we do parkour. It's a little bit of everything just we have to to be able to get through this, so.

Is there any part of this course in particular that you're worried about?

The the back half for sure. Uh, it looks really tough. It's very upper body.

Yeah. Um Is that kind of where it always gets kind of hard, I wonder?

You know, it's it's funny that you would think that, but sometimes it's the things that you're not thinking about that catch you off guard and that's that's the hard part about the course.

Here with me now, who's pretty much an American Ninja Warrior veteran at this point, yeah? Second guest: Yeah, I've been doing it for this is my third year now.

What made you want to become a ninja in the first place? Second guest: You know, I just I always enjoyed doing the kind of things that are tested on Ninja Warrior. As soon as I saw the show, I'm like, oh, this is for me. So.

Is there something that like a tip that you would give to people who would want to be a ninja? Second guest: For me, it's like the course battle. You're gonna have your battles with this course. And this course battles doesn't always go to the strongest or fastest man. But the man who wins is the man who thinks he can. It's all in the state of mind and so that's my tip to them. Have that mindset that you can do it because if you believe it, oh yeah, it's gonna happen.

I think that there's been a lot more women coming out the past few seasons and I love that. But any women out there that want to give it a shot, I've just say, don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it. You can. Get up there and let's see you on the course. Second guest: Yeah, I've been seeing a lot of really strong women in the gyms. There's ninja gyms popping up all over the country and they have local competitions and tournaments and um, there's so many strong women out there. It's gonna be exciting to see them come on. Just got to come out here and play with us.

So let's see, I gotta find a ninja gym, gotta learn parkour, learn how to face plant okay, and then I'm ready for Mount Midoriyama. Just kidding, that looks way too hard.