American Ninja Warrior: Science, Skills, and Strategy

About This Episode

On this episode of Playing with Science, you’ll get a crash course in the sport that’s taking over the United States: American Ninja Warrior. Hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly traveled down to Philadelphia to speak to the people who make it happen. ANW hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila explain how the course continually evolves due to the increasing ability of the ninjas who run it. You’ll also hear how the psychological aspect has a bigger impact on running the course than one might think. Ninja Drew Drechsel stops by to give Chuck some tips on how to run the “Warped Wall” – the infamous last obstacle on the ANW course. We’ll also hear from Ninjas Najee Richardson and Joe Moravsky about how their unique backgrounds give them advantages while competing. They also explain how the psychological aspect of running the course is amplified while competing under the lights, with the crowd, and in front of the cameras. Last, but not least, executive producer Anthony Storm drops in to give details on the scientific process of creating the course, how they find the failure rate for each obstacle, and how some obstacles are created by kids!

NOTE: All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: American Ninja Warrior: Science, Skills, Strategy.