American Ninja Warrior competitor opens gym in Longmont

Nathan Hansen is a five-time American Ninja Warrior competitor and a three-time national finalist who wanted to share his love for the sport in the northern Colorado area. 

Hansen fell in love with American Ninja Warrior as a young child while watching it with his father. As he got older, his love for the show never waned and he thought he would give it a try in 2018. By 2020, he was ready to compete on the American Ninja Warrior show and has been a competitor since. 

Between filming for the show, Hansen found that he had extra time on his hands but did not want to be idle. He began pursuing his dream of opening a Ninja Warrior training facility and chose Longmont as a place to start. Hansen is a Colorado native who hails from the Brighton area. He spent hours traveling along the Front Range seeking coaches and gyms to develop his Ninja Warrior skills. While seeking new opportunities to train, Hansen discovered a lack of services in the northern Colorado region and wanted to help fill in the gap. 

Together with partners Shane and Emily Teater, the group put together a new gym, Ark Ninja located at 1623 Vista View Drive, that opened this month. 

“We think it's amazing and other people think it’s amazing but we also know that a lot of people don’t realize that Ninja Warrior is not just a TV show, that you can actually go and do it for fun,” Hansen said. 

The gym is dedicated to teaching anyone interested in Ninja Warrior training. According to Hansen, there is a class for every level and ability from children as young as 2 years old to over 100.

The Tiny Ninja classes range from ages 2-4 and are an adult-and-me class, Hansen said. There are classes for every age and skill level, including those who wish to compete at an elite level, Hansen said. The gym also offers course-running events, birthday parties, parent-night-out events and more.

Part of what drew Hansen to Ninja Warrior was witnessing and experiencing the support of fellow competitors during competitions.

“Ninja is like any other community that I have ever seen in a sport where it is so loving and so supportive, even to the people you are competing against, because everyone just wants someone to clear the obstacle. There are obstacles in our lives and we all do obstacles in the gym but no matter what the obstacle is, we all cheer each other on in order to conquer it,” Hansen said.

This sense of community is what Hansen wants to bring into Ark Ninja. He said it is important to him that he and his fellow coaches teach core values such as self-discipline, work ethic, respect, courage, honesty and integrity, Hansen said. 

“Those are things we teach in our gym because we know that if they are great people in the ninja gym, we want them to go make an impact outside the gym.