For many people, 10 pull-ups is a whole workout. But for athletes at the Vermont Ninja Warrior Training Center, it’s just a warm-up.
From outside, the gym looks like a warehouse, but inside it’s filled with colorful equipment that resembles a massive jungle gym. The “ninjas,” some as young as elementary school-age, aren’t training to be assassins or even learning martial arts. Instead, they swing from monkey bars, run across half-tires and practice lâché jumps, launching themselves from one bar to another in midair.
The center in Essex teaches athletes of all levels and ages and has coached many of them to international success. Three, including comanagers Christopher Tower and Amir Malik, are competitors on NBC’s current season of “American Ninja Warrior.” They’ve appeared on the reality-TV show on Monday nights, tackling challenges that involve swinging across pools of water and sprinting up a 14.5-foot wall.
After years housed at nearby Regal Gymnastics, the ninja warrior program moved into its own 7,200-square-foot space on Corporate Drive in May, allowing Tower and Malik — who have both trained as ninja warriors for more than a decade — to expand programming for their athletes.
Tower, 45, lives in Fletcher and has spent much of his life practicing individual sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding and parkour. Tower’s family owns Regal Gymnastics, and in the process of figuring out how to use extra space in the gym, the idea hatched for a ninja training center. When he first learned about the sport — a sort of blend of gymnastics and parkour inspired by a Japanese game show called “Sasuke” — Tower decided to “bite the bullet, build some stuff and try it out.” He has been directing the program since it began.
The first class in the original training center was in July 2015, and the sport has since become increasingly popular in Vermont. Tower’s father owns the new center, but Tower and Malik hope to buy it in a few years.
Tower called the program unique because it uses a level-based approach instead of an age-based one. That means athletes train with others who have similar abilities, he said, ensuring that no one gets left behind.
Participants as young as 4 can take part in the Ninja Kids program, which emphasizes strength training, flexibility and obstacle basics, Tower said. At age 7, the little ninjas can enroll in the regular program and progress through the sport. The highest level is the competitive team, which travels around the Northeast. Tower said he has also brought athletes to the World Ninja League Championships in Greensboro, N.C., and even to Barbados for a Ninja Throwdown. Competitors can soon aim even higher: In 2028, ninja-style obstacle racing will become part of the Summer Olympic Games.
The competitive ninjas in Essex practice year-round. A typical session consists of stretching, pull-ups and dead hangs to warm up, followed by speed and strength drills.
Malik, 26, of Essex Junction, runs most of the practices and trains alongside the athletes. He said he gets an extra workout from climbing the scaffolding to rig the equipment and rearrange the obstacles.
For many competitive ninjas here and across the country, the goal is to appear on “American Ninja Warrior,” which has been airing since 2009. The TV show selects athletes to compete over two weeks in Las Vegas, and the episodes are produced and aired over the course of the following year.
Malik, who earned the nickname “Sonic” because of his speed, is in his fourth season as a contestant. This past year, Tower and Rose Lord, another longtime member of the Essex training center, joined him as competitors. Malik said he felt happy to have them there to “ease some of the emotions and the nerves.”
Lord, 20, said being on the show was “overwhelming in ways good and bad.” One of the biggest challenges was that all the filming is done at night, Lord said, so that viewers can get the full effect of the neon lit-up course. Tower said the last athlete often didn’t compete until 4:30 in the morning.
Beyond needing to adjust his sleep schedule, Tower said another unexpected aspect of competing on the show was figuring out how to market himself as an on-screen persona.
“They’ve got to sell the American public on something,” he said, adding that the application requires a video that showcases each athlete’s story. The show’s producers look for athletes with both physical capability and an engaging personality.
Lord, who lives in Charlotte, said she leaned into her first name for her application video. She draws roses on her arms before competitions to boost her confidence, she said, which has become her trademark.
“Ironically, my gimmick is just myself,” Lord said. “I’ve become very visually identifiable with the roses and also because I like big, flowy pants.”
This season of “American Ninja Warrior” continues to air through the end of the summer, with Malik advancing to the National Finals. He, Lord and Tower have all applied to return next year. In the meantime, they’re busy leading summer camps, open gym sessions and team practices at home in Essex.
Tower said an average of 300 students train at the center each week, and there are 44 members on the competitive team. The new space is more than four times larger than the old room in Regal Gymnastics, and Tower has even more plans for it, envisioning new obstacles such as platforms and climbing walls.
Malik said he loves the ever-evolving nature of the sport and how no two courses are the same. He appreciates being head coach because he can adapt the space and train with the athletes. When the competitive team runs speed drills, for example, Malik sets up the obstacles and shows the athletes how to do each jump, swing or climb.
“Trying to keep up with new obstacles and new techniques is pretty hard, but it’s part of the challenge, and that’s why it’s fun,” he said. His favorite obstacle is a platform that swings back and forth on bearings, requiring ninjas to jump off at just the right moment to stick the landing.
Lord also said she loves the challenge of the sport and the physical strength it promotes, since it “leaves no part of you unworked.” In her five years of competing in the World Ninja League, of which the training center is a part, she has learned to focus on “playing around” and having fun with each exercise.
“There is an obstacle for everything, and there are ways to train your body to move in any direction,” Lord said.
Just minutes later, she tried out an exercise that involved balancing on the barrel of one cylinder and trying to roll along another.
Despite their competitive natures, Tower, Malik and Lord all expressed gratitude for the sense of community at the gym. Since members of ninja teams still compete as individuals, Tower noted, athletes must train together, but everyone cheers each other on.
After 11 years of training at the gym, Lord said she tries to pass on her wisdom to younger ninjas.
“I show up to help them improve, and I show up to make sure they’re feeling good about themselves and they’re also enjoying it,” she said. Though she’s not officially a coach, she said her role is akin to team mascot.
Tower said the team is recognized at competitions for its loud cheering and supportive nature. As one of the largest and most successful teams in the World Ninja League’s New England division, members wear their uniforms with pride.
“People underestimate our athletes a lot of the time,” Tower said. “These kids are pretty amazing.” ➆
The original print version of this article was headlined “No Obstacle Too Great | Athletes at the Vermont Ninja Warrior Training Center aim for the big time”
This article appears in August 5 • 2026.