For the past decade, Glenn Davis’ sinewy build and minimal body fat have made him an excellent candidate to compete on NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior.”
But what makes him exceptional in a competition show packed with teens and 20-somethings is his age: He is 62 years old, born just after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He recently became the first person in their 60s to make the semifinals over the show’s 17 seasons. (The previous record was 57 years old, and Davis was 61 when the show taped in October in Las Vegas.)
The Flowery Branch resident, a former gymnast and gymnastics coach, now runs the Rig Gym in Hoschton, which specializes in ninja challenges.
“It’s funny,” Davis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I hear all the time, ‘Man! You’re competing against all these kids!’ When I started doing ninja, I was 50. They’ve always been kids to me!”
At the same time, Davis has watched a new generation grow up tackling ninja obstacles, an opportunity he didn’t have because the sport didn’t exist until the late 1990s in Japan and America a decade later.
“These kids are absolutely phenomenal,” Davis said. “They blow through the courses these days. They have the advantage of youth. But I’m still around because of my gymnastics background. There are comparable skills: swinging, grip strength, agility, balance. I train ninjas the same as I train gymnasts. I’ve been doing this all my life. That’s what keeps me competitive.”
The show’s hosts often marvel when a man or woman in their 40s hits the course. Davis gave them a chance to go even more hyperbolic.
“When I grow up, I want to be like Glenn Davis,” raved 46-year-old co-host and former NFL player Akbar Gbaja-Biamila during this season’s qualifying round. “I want to move like this when I’m 61.”
During that round, which featured six obstacles, Davis made it to the fifth, called the Ferris Wheel, first introduced during Atlanta qualifiers in Season 11 in 2019.
It features two large wheels spaced 3 feet apart, each with 12 handles that swing side by side. Competitors move from handle to handle and in each case, when their body reaches the equivalent of 12 o’clock, the wheel rotates 120 degrees clockwise, creating a quick drop that tests the athlete’s grip strength.
After he rotated downward on the first wheel, Davis held on for several seconds but struggled to gain traction to get to the second wheel. Instead, he fell into the water.
Davis later watched a recap video and noticed he was pushing himself up instead of swinging back and forth to build proper momentum. “It was a rookie mistake,” he said. “I should’ve known better.”
Still, he finished in 17th place, which qualified him for the semifinals.
Credit: Trae Patton/NBC
Credit: Trae Patton/NBC
Unfortunately, during his semifinal run, he misstepped on the Log Roller, the third obstacle featuring four rolling logs, and crashed into the water.
“I hit the second log on my toes instead of my arch and I couldn’t recover,” he said. “I’ve done that right 1,000 times. That’s why I want to be on the show again.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Davis grew up on Long Island and competed in gymnastics in the 1970s. After attending SUNY Cortland, he moved to Texas and Oklahoma to coach gymnastics. In the early 2000s, he moved to Atlanta to be closer to family and ran a gymnastics center in Buford for several years.
In 2014, he discovered “American Ninja Warrior” on TV and reached out to friend and early “Ninja” competitor Ryan Stratis, who introduced him to a local gym with ninja obstacles for him to practice on.
While gymnastics is highly regimented, he found ninja obstacles, which change frequently, more stimulating.
“Ninja is basically gymnastics on steroids,” he said, though he noted this is a metaphor.
After competing in Season 6 and failing to clear the Warped Wall in the qualifying run, he opened Ninja Quest in Marietta, one of the first ninja-themed gyms in metro Atlanta.
His gym, with a passel of coaches like Stratis, helped train several “Ninja Warrior” competitors, including former Marietta resident Vance Walker, who was the show’s grand champion in 2023 and 2024.
Credit: COURT
Credit: COURT
His gym also led Davis to his second wife, Melissa, a divorced empty nester who came to Ninja Quest in 2017 and fell in love with the sport. Soon, she also fell in love with Davis. They married in 2022 when the building holding Ninja Quest was sold and he had to shut it down.
He and Melissa then joined forces to open and operate the 6,000-square-foot Rig Gym.
“We’re already bursting at the seams,” he said. “We are looking for a bigger space.”
The Rig Gym is packed with obstacle courses he and Melissa built from scratch, including two versions of the vaunted Warped Wall with different heights for varying skill sets. There are sundry rope challenges, trampolines, spider walls, quad steps and balance beams.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
His training methodology focuses on progressive improvements that keep kids motivated.
If a child successfully scrambles over the 14-foot Warped Wall, for instance, they get to sign their name on a special board. And when someone achieves a major milestone for the first time, they ring a bell and everyone stops and applauds.
“I want everybody when they leave here feeling like they are achieving something,” Davis said. “Our motto is, ‘If I believe it, I can achieve it.’”
Ashley Parisi, a Jefferson resident, said her three sons — ages 4, 7 and 8 — enjoyed the gym so much after attending a birthday party there a few months ago, they began taking regular classes and joined the Rig’s summer camps.
“They are learning how to use their bodies, their core strength, their upper-body strength,” she said. “They love it. I wish I had this when I was a kid.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Davis has now competed on “American Ninja Warrior” six times. For some seasons when he wasn’t a contestant, the show hired him to test out new obstacles. He was happy to make it to the semifinals this past year and is awaiting the call to compete again for Season 18.
“I can still compete,” Davis said. “I’m more than capable of making it to the finals.”
Fellow “Ninja Warrior” competitor Stratis, who has competed multiple times since Season 1 and is now 42, said the show obstacles have only gotten tougher each year.
“Being able to maintain that fitness level as a gym owner and coach is tough to balance,” Stratis said. “It’s really impressive to see Glenn doing well out there.”
Davis’ wife, Melissa, 54, has made the show twice but failed to make it past the qualifiers and is also working hard to get back on the show. They work out alongside their students to stay in tip-top ninja shape.
Even at home, Glenn created a way to get bonus exercise: Every time they enter the bathroom, they are required to do 10 chin lifts and on the way out, 10 leg lifts.
“He really loves this sport,” Melissa said. “He loves teaching. And he loves being a role model.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
If you watch
“American Ninja Warrior,” 8 p.m. Mondays, NBC and available on Peacock
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