Michael Stanger of Fruita, Colorado competed in the nationally televised Denver City Finals of American Ninja Warrior on Aug. 28. Stanger began training as a means of supporting his wife when she was diagnosed with an illness and uses his fame to help children in Mesa County. Stanger had one of the fastest times in the American NInja Warrior qualification round before moving on to the city finals.
Stanger lives in Fruita with his wife and kids. The main reason Stanger got into this obstacle course television show was due to his wife. She was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos syndrome and Stanger worked to build muscle and lose fat to help his wife. “In 2013 my wife started having some serious health issues,” Stanger said. “She started getting dizzy and fainting and our youngest daughter was only four months old at the time. Out of fear of her accidentally fainting while carrying our child I started doing work from home and gradually became my wife’s full time caregiver.
The disease is a genetic disorder that causes joints in the body to dislocate very easy. After getting in such shape, Stanger decided to go all out warrior.
“I didn’t have the strength or the energy to take care of her and still do other things I needed to get done so I decided that I either had to abandon my family, which wasn’t a real option, or get my butt into shape so I could be the man that my family needed,” Stanger said.
Stanger began training near the end of 2014. When he first began training he did not have any obstacles to train on. The first time Stanger trained on obstacles was three weeks before the Kansas City qualifying in season seven. In the current season, Stanger and made it to the Denver city finals this season.
“The city finals were so much fun,” Stanger said. “It’s always fun being in a group of such amazing humans and collectively trying to figure out how to get through what at first appears to be an impossible course to finish. Most importantly though, getting a chance to push my limits and see how far I can go really gets me excited and I can’t wait to have that opportunity next year.”
Stanger got to the salmon ladder in the city finals.
“Once I got to the top of the warped wall and I looked at the back half of the course I realized that I wasn’t even tired and I think I got a little too excited and rushed it on the salmon ladder which led to a mistake that made me fall,” Stanger said. “I thought this was the year that I would hit the finals buzzer, but I showed myself once again that you can’t take anything for granted on the course because in the blink of an eye, you can make a dumb mistake and then it’s over for another year.”
Stanger explained that the hardest obstacle was the rail runner during the qualifying night.
“The rail runner was something brand new that nobody I know of had every really trained on. It is pretty common for that to happen in each region though,” Stanger said. “Vertical holds are always more of a challenge and that particular obstacle was hard because everyone was worried about smashing their face into the second rail.”
With three seasons under his belt, Stanger explained that season 9 has been the hardest obstacle wise.
“I think that’s probably true of all the different regions. They keep making the obstacles harder because all the athletes are getting better,” Stanger said. Yet, mentally wise season eight was the hardest.
“I think I just wasn’t mentally there and that’s why I fell so early in season eight,” Stanger said. “I thought I was ready but about an hour before my run I started having a ton of nervousness and had to sing some hymns in my head to calm myself down while I was on the platform waiting to go.”
Stanger has two daughters and the family has a close connection near Colorado Mesa University. Stanger teaches little ninja classes at KidzPlex in Grand Junction.
“He began around February,” Kerri Bensley, owner and director of the gymnastics program at KidzPlex, said. The complex has a room specifically designated for the ninja classes. The company came in and set up obstacle courses that look familiar to an American Ninja Warrior fan.
“He teaches ninja progressions from beginner to advanced,” Bensley said. The classes are offered like a gymnastics or other athletic class is offered.
“Sharing one of my passions with kids is amazing for me. More importantly though, outside of having my own family, I’ve never had a job or activity that made such an impact on the community,” Stanger said. “My goal with this business isn’t just to teach ninja warrior skills. My goal is to help kids learn about how to make fitness fun and help them develop self confidence that they can use for the rest of their lives.”
Stanger’s kids participate in the classes and sometimes the Stanger family comes to play around, including his wife. These obstacles and workouts have helped her disease.
“The family comes quite a bit, and his kids participate in the classes,” Bensley said.
Since the television show has aired, the popularity of the class Stanger teaches has increased.
“We have received a lot of phone calls since he has been on tv,” said Bensley. The classes are full for the current session.
Stanger is also an insurance agent, an online fitness coach with Beachbody, and a caregiver. His wife and him started Peace Warrior Life, which is a non-profit company.
“A lot of it is sharing information about how to live a healthy, more natural lifestyle. It’s also about spreading goodness,” Stanger said. “Those two things go hand in hand. If you’re healthy, you’ll be in a better position to help others and you’ll probably be in a better position to help others. We just want to make the world a better place one small step at a time.”
Stanger takes time from his busy schedule and caring for his family family to teach little kids his passion. Stanger has inspired many people with his story according to American Ninja Warrior. The mindset of being a warrior has embodied Stanger’s entire life from family to conquering obstacles.
“The best thing about American Ninja Warrior is the amazing community. The support and friendship that they show on TV is real!” Stanger said.
