Survival of the fittest: the Edmonton Mall turns the sales space into a ninja warriors gym

EDMONTON – In a ninja training center that snuck into the city overnight, the most cruel challenge is probably to throw a bag of beans.

Participants are given two strokes to put a bag in the slot. If they miss it, the penalty is a burpee, a push-up crossed with a puppet – 10 for each foul.

"I invented it myself," said Tim Gourlay, CEO of Fitset, an Edmonton-based company and behind the new facility. "It's my own flavor."

Placed near the end of a 20-obstacle course where participants climb the walls, sway under the monkey bars and change tires – to name a few – throwing bags of beans recalls that endurance is limited and that the pace is maintained. Otherwise, says Gourlay, we face flops, yes, more burpees.

"If you fall off the Olympus wall or suspension bars, you have to do 10 burpees. There is a strategy in terms of pace yourself, so you can make the obstacles to completion. Where if you fall, you will be more exhausted … because you will have to make burpees. "

On Saturday, the Fitset Ninja Warrior obstacle course, on the second floor of the Kingsway Mall, is open to the public. Occupying the area previously owned by Sears, the gym has over 4,600 square meters of workout space for challengers ages 5 and up.

Astonished by the American ninja warrior The television series, an obstacle course competition that brings together elite competitors and complex challenges, has seen similar tracks across the country, particularly in Calgary, where a league has recently been created for ninja athletes. .

"It's for fitness enthusiasts, beginners in fitness, it's for kids, it's for people who just want to take a break from Christmas shopping," said Gourlay. "Whatever your level of fitness, there is a route for you to follow the course."

And he means that literally. Green, blue and black lines glued to the ground illustrate different courses for beginner, intermediate and advanced challengers.

On Thursday morning, Gourlay demonstrated Team Canada's Spartan athlete, Austin Azar, from Beaumont, Alberta, south of Edmonton, through the expert version of the course.

The CEO led the challenge midway through leaving Azar, who seemed to be casually approaching the course, eating dust.

It was only by confronting the two opposite sides of the Olympus wall, grappling with gravity problems on a double-sided inclined slope dotted with blocks and chains, that Azar stole the lead, even after failed both rounds.

Arriving on the last leg and recording a little over five minutes, Azar went back to the door where they had started, crossed a four-meter deformed wall, and pressed an "Easy" button from Staples that announced his victory.

"I knew that Austin was a top athlete and a true competitor," Gourlay said, soaked with sweat after the race. "He's one of the best players in Canada to do it."

Gourlay finished the race about a minute behind Azar. And although he is the man behind all this, this race, he admitted, was his first attempt and a valuable lesson for the future.

"I thought, I'll go as hard as I can, right from the start, and see if I can get an edge on him," said Gourlay. "And I did it from the start. I had a quick lead, about halfway through, of his endurance and stamina that completely dominated mine. "

Offering to guide StarMetro through a less extreme version of the course, Gourlay tried to pbad on the hard-won lesson that ended up falling on deaf ears and just as zealous.

"Take your time initially," suggests Gourlay to all those who try the course.

The Fitset Ninja Warrior gym runs in the mall until the end of December.

Hamdi Issawi is an Edmonton-based journalist who covers the environment and energy. Follow him on Twitter: @hamdiissawi