Nicholas Coolridge pushes himself to the ‘edge’ to stay sharp

Since Nicholas Coolridge joined American Ninja Warrior in season seven, he’s never missed the National Finals. Season 10 was one of his strongest seasons yet. Running in Los Angeles, Nick placed second in the Qualifiers and City Finals, both times completing the course.

At the National Finals, Nicholas faced the terrifying Stage One. The course had decimated the field of competitors with some shocking falls, especially centered around the Double Dipper. Nicholas gave us a nail-biting run. He only grabbed the second bar of the Double Dipper with one hand at first. After Jeep Run, it looked like he might have hurt his knee. On the cargo net, the red lights were flashing as he neared the top. In the end, the Ninja known as Modern Tarzan pulled it out! That was his third Stage One buzzer in a row.

Off the course, Nicholas is a social media hit with his acrobatic Instagram pictures and videos. He’s an all around athlete who takes himself to extremes and enjoys his life fully. Take a look at his hypnotic Instagram page to witness his incredible travel and stunts.

At the start of the season, Nicholas talked to us about his long life as a Ninja and how he keeps himself primed for Ninja Warrior and for his adventures in general.

“I always felt like a Ninja growing up. I was Spiderman for seven years when I was a kid for Halloween. My nickname went from monkey boy to Tarzan. It’s cool because now I feel like I have a reason to call myself a Ninja. People ask, ‘Hey, what’s your career?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m a professional Ninja.”

“One of the main things that really boosted my athleticism, all around in general, was I started studying my own diet. I started studying exactly what I ate and when I ate it. How I felt before and how I felt after I ate it. How much I was sleeping. How much energy I had. I had this journal that I kept for about two months straight. Through that, what I discovered was one of the main, simple things is hydration. That was so incredibly important in my diet that it’s something now that I almost religiously keep track of throughout my day.”

“It’s really dealing with the pressure and anxiety of the competition, the fans. The fact that you’re on the spot and you get one shot. It’s like a do or die situation. For that, it’s really, really important to stay on your game.

As you get more and more exhausted, that next obstacle is your scariest obstacle by far. I usually don’t get super tired until the last three obstacles, more or less. Oh my God. At that point, it’s like you’re grasping on with every muscle you have in your entire body.”

“For me personally, it’s a lot of putting yourself in situations where you’re right on your edge. You’re right on your edge of what you feel comfortable doing. And maybe going a little bit beyond that sometimes. Depending on the scenario. There’s taking yourself to the edge of being physical. Going higher than you’ve ever climbed. Being in a situation where you have to be so precise that you could potentially get injured if you don’t accomplish what you’re trying to accomplish.

But then there’s also putting yourself in situations in front of a crowd. Speaking in front of a crowd and controlling that adrenaline so that it doesn’t become something that works against you. It’s something that works for you.”

Nicholas will be pushing himself to the edge again when he returns to battle Stage Two on September 10.