Infographic explores stats behind injuries in the sport of Ninja Warrior

American Ninja Warrior Leif Sundberg might be well known for his Salmon Ladder stunts, but he’s also a hard working graduate student. He brought his educational and his Ninja Warrior pursuits together in a recent research project.

“I’m currently in graduate school, and I’m working on some research looking into the training regiments, exercise stats, and injuries that Ninja Warriors sustain,” Leif shared.

He turned his analytical mind to the task of understanding the nature of injuries in the sport of Ninja Warrior. We all know there are risks involved in any sport, and understanding the causes can help mitigate some avoidable accidents. Using an online survey, 160 Ninjas (110 males, 50 females) responded to questions about their training.

“I’ve been participating in Ninja Warrior for six years. Through those six years the sport has grown exponentially. To date, no research has been done examining the nature and prevalence of injuries in Ninja Warrior. I believe some research would be beneficial in helping ninjas be more cognizant of the injury risk, as well as gym owners and coaches altering their gyms to lower the injury risk.”

Leif pulled some of the results together in an eye-opening infographic. Considering that 42% of the respondents reported that they’d been injured in the past six month, this is definitely a topic worth exploring.

The average statistics are some serious Ninja workout goals! Those dead hang numbers!

Even Leif was surprised by some of the results. “Turns out young (18-29) and older ninjas (40+) tend to get injured more than median aged ninjas (30-39). My hypothesis is that young ninjas tend to be more daring, increasing their injury risk on obstacles. Median aged ninjas are mature enough to not try anything too risky, and they are not yet old enough to be more injury prone.”

There are important takeaways from this research. Like the care Ninjas should take while training lachés and setting up their safety equipment. “I was also surprised by the number of injuries associated with poor placement of landing mats,” Leif said.

This is just the very start of exploring the statistics behind Ninja Warrior injuries. While Leif will still be doing more critical analysis on his research, it shows there’s much more to learn.

“I’m hoping this information will better educate healthcare providers in the world of Ninja Warrior. To provide the best care, they need to be knowledgable about the sport. We’re currently finalizing the paper, and we’re hoping to submit it this summer.”

Stay safe, Ninjas!