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 The 5-foot (1.5-meter), 100-pound (45-kg) powerhouse is known
as Mighty Kacy ever since she leapt, pulled, climbed and swung
her way through the show's obstacle course that has bedeviled
many men. She credits her victory to mental focus and upper body
strength.
“The course might even be more mental than physical,” said the
24-year-old New Jersey native. “Once you get out there you need
to control your mind to tell your body what you want to do.”
“American Ninja Warrior,” which is in its sixth season, is based
on the long-running Japanese show “Sasuke.”
At one point Catanzaro had to hang high in the air on big red
rings while swinging them from one peg to another. That, she
said, was a surprise.
“I’m a big visualization person, so if I didn’t have a technique
prepared I had to visualize what would work for me,” said the
former competitive gymnast.
“A foot can slip, an arm can give out. I never took it for
granted until I hit that buzzer (to complete the course).”
Catanzaro prepared at Alpha Warrior, an obstacle-course gym in
San Antonio, Texas, where she works with her boyfriend and
fellow Ninja competitor Brent Steffensen. He was disqualified
from the competition when he fell from the rings.
“We do body weight circuit training exercises, using just our
own body weight, in a circuit that really gets the heart rate up
so we have the endurance to make it through,” she said. “We’re
not doing dumbbells or heavy weights.”
Stretches and cool downs punctuate Catanzaros’s roughly
90-minute routine, which centers on high-intensity aerobics and
includes pull-ups, leg-lifts, jumps and squats.
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For the course Catanzaro, who works out four to six times a week,
said her lightness is a plus, but her height is a challenge.
“I might have to jump when others don’t, but then I don’t have as
much weight to hold up,” she explained.
Exercise physiologist Jessica Matthews said gymnasts like Catanzaro
exemplify the effectiveness of body weight training.
“There’s a bit of misconception that in order to gain strength we
have to add load,” said Matthews, who teaches exercise science at
Miramar College in San Diego, California.
Catanzaro’s method, she added, embodies the principle of specificity
training, which states that to be really successful, you must train
in the way your body will perform.
“To run a marathon, you train by running,” Matthews said. “Catanzaro
had a strong foundation from college gymnastics and knowing that,
she trained specifically at an obstacle gym.”
Catanzaro will be one of 90 competitors to compete in the Las Vegas
finals of the show in September.
“I want to do well, especially because I’m a girl it would be extra
nice,” she said.
(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Tom Brown)
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