Freshman Owen Young’s dream of competing on the televised athletic competition American Ninja Warrior lead him to seek a more intense training regime. Young has been training for the past year at Martial Arts and Fitness in order to increase his chance of successful significantly.

Young’s training and the classes he takes are designed for those who want to compete on the show.

Though he is not old enough to appear on the show, Young plans to put his skills to the test as soon as he is of age.

“I saw it on TV about a year ago and I kind of wanted to start doing it so I asked my parents if they could find me a place where I could do it, and they did so I started going,” Young said. “I used to do gymnastics and a bunch of other sports, and I saw that one and it intrigued me because it was unique, and I wanted to test myself.”

Young says upper-body strength is key when preparing for American Ninja Warrior.

“It’s a lot of upper-body training, it’s a lot of pull ups, sit ups and push ups,” Young said. “We have a course where you’re either hanging from stuff and jumping from bar to bar or using a slackline. It’s awesome.”

According to Young’s father, Rodney Young, Owen motivated himself to train for the show, but he has always supported Owen in his fitness endeavors.

“I don’t know specifically if I have helped in ninja training but I have encouraged him to be active his whole life,” Rodney said.