PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Megan Johnson is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and in her third year of medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. And, if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she’s training for her third attempt to win “American Ninja Warrior.”
The TV show contest features an intense physical obstacle course, which the Reading native and Saint Joseph’s University grad said is much harder than it looks.
“We train for anything,” she said. “Most ninjas rock climb, do parkour, do gymnastics, do all sorts of things to train for it. It’s a lot of upper body strength but also a lot of balance and agility — it really is everything.”
“Ninjas” participate in qualifying rounds in cities across the U.S., and the winners compete in the final obstacle course in Las Vegas. Johnson previously competed in seasons 10 and 11.
Johnson has always been athletic, but this takes her workouts to the next level.
“I kind of say I’m a medical student by day and a ninja at night,” she said. “I’m in medical school all day, studying, in the hospital, doing whatever that day brings, and then I usually train late at night, then go to bed and do it all over again.”
Her qualifying round in Tacoma, Washington, airs on Friday.