DIY Ranch-Style American Ninja Warrior Course

My brother just competed on American Ninja Warrior last month and we’re super pumped about it! So, inspired by him and his Ninja fam, we have been putting some fun obstacles together to build our own Ninja Course! To keep up with my barnwood building kick, many of these obstacles are built from reclaimed lumber from right here on the ranch. For me, building the course has been just about as much fun as doing it- but I’m a little crazy 😉 I love a fun workout, but not as much as I love building!!


Here is the start of our course 🙂 


My mom helped me build these teeter totters. I modeled them after what I thought my brother Jason had at his place, but I misunderstood his measurements and made the second one way too big! Turns out, it is an awesome challenge, so no loss 😉


My brother, Jason, and the girls built these quintuple steps out of scraps when he was out for a visit this winter.


We made this balance beam using a log and some scraps.


These hurdles are made from pvc with rebar in the legs to make them less tipsy. 


We’ve got the perfect Ana White Style bench in the middle- and the awesome new Ryobi speakers blasting tunes to keep us going! So much fun to play and hang out here on these perfect summer evenings 🙂


I knew we needed more exciting obstacles for our upcoming family reunion, so I consulted my Ninja brother, Jason (@bergstrom.dad), who designs and builds all of his own obstacles and is in the process of starting a gym- he was kind enough to draw up an awesome plan for the rest of our course! Thank you, Jason!!


The kids and I got a start framing everything, and setting posts in concrete. 

It is super hard-working 10 feet off the ground! I had to set a ladder in the back of the truck, but then ranch work got crazy and the truck wasn’t around.

The rest had to wait til the whole crew arrived for the family reunion. We decided to save the warped wall for the next round, but check out how awesome this turned out!! So thankful for the help of our awesome family!

Turns out you don’t need a ladder when Danny is around 😉

Pretty awesome to have 3 generations working together!

I am not in love with heights, so I didn’t mind holding the ladder 😉

I have to take a moment to tell you about this new saw from Ryobi! It is totally battery operated, and the first of their tools to run on two batteries! More power, more run time, more awesome! It arrived just in time to test out on this project, and was so impressive! No more running to the shop for every cut, and it made short work of cutting through this tough ranch lumber. Plus, it has all the features I love about my big shop saw- sliding miter cuts, dual bevel, plenty of power, and even a light for accuracy. LOVE!


Okay, back to the Ninja Course!

So amazing how quick this came together with so much help! I loved how my brother and nephew, Caleb, worked together to come up with cool obstacles out of the pile of wood and random ranch objects I laid out for them! 4-wheeler tires, motorcycle straps, old lassos, a long pipe I found buried in the grass, old meat shop barrels, all turned into fun challenges! I am only sorry for the old ladder I thought was unused only to find Brad actually needed it :/ Oops! Sorry, my love!

Jason did not stop until he had everything perfected and we were even making small tweaks after our big family competition. See that ladder? It makes a great obstacle 😉

Jason and his crew did an awesome job officiating our Ranch Ninja Competition! We all had so much fun, and will continue to enjoy this for a long time! I’m not sure how many families have as much crazy fun as we do, but there was no shortage of laughter and fun!

We even found some fantastic thrift store trophies for our winners 😉

Well, I think you can tell that we love how our Ranch-Style Ninja Course turned out! Let me know if you build one, too! Thanks again to my awesome family for all the help 🙂


Check out this post for the how-to on some awesome DIY Plyo Jump Boxes!

7 thoughts on “DIY Ranch-Style American Ninja Warrior Course

  • July 8, 2017 at 8:56 pm
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    Well, I can see now that we will have a lot of work to do, to get in shape for the next family reunion!!? Maybe now, I’m glad we couldn’t make this one!!? Hopefully there will be a 70 & over age group.?❤️

    Reply
    • July 10, 2017 at 8:08 am
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      Judy, there is no judgement out here- just fun! Us ladies ran the whole course together as a team, helping each other along the way- you’d have loved it!

      Reply
  • July 8, 2017 at 9:58 pm
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    It turned out awesome, Heather! So much fun and laughs!

    Reply
    • July 10, 2017 at 8:09 am
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      Just the way we like it, Mom- fun and laughs 🙂

      Reply
  • June 26, 2018 at 3:10 pm
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    how much did it cost to build

    Reply
    • July 1, 2018 at 5:02 pm
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      Hi there! It’s tough to say the cost, because we mostly re-used old lumber we had lying around. If you build one, I’d love to know what it costs, so I can let others know. Sorry I don’t have an answer for you.

      Reply
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