Paging Dr. Ninja.
Dr. Stewart Mahler, a primary care physician in Upstate New York, is competing on “American Ninja Warrior.” He appeared on the second episode of season 14 Monday night, advancing to the next round after previously failing on the third obstacle last season.
Mahler wore a medical coat and T-shirt that referred to him as “Doctor Ninja.” Hosts Matt Iseman, Akbar Gbajabiamila, and Zuri Hall said Mahler works at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y., where he practices in a clinic, does house calls and educates residents coming through the medical center.
As a married father-of-three, he has little time to practice at a gym, so he used “Ninja-nuity” to build a mini-gym in his Henrietta home’s basement where he, his wife Jaime, and their children can work out. (“ANW” also showed footage of Mahler training at the hospital, doing reverse pushups at a desk, lifting water jugs, and walking on furniture — though he admits he doesn’t really work out often between patients. That was mainly fun for his audition video.)
“I do have to be creative with how I train,” he told syracuse.com | newyorkupstate.com in a phone interview.
After a long day of work, he doesn’t want to go to the gym for hours and leave his wife with the kids. So instead he’ll go to his basement with the kids and they’ll train together.
“It’s become this family affair... which makes it easier to combine family time with physical activity,” he said.
Mahler said he’s always been physically active, but started doing ninja warrior training more than four years ago when he took his oldest son to a program at the local Warrior Factory gym. He had watched “American Ninja Warrior” since its early days on the G4 network and always thought it looked like fun.
He soon found a passion for the sport, and a few months later a trainer started suggesting he submit an audition video for the show. Mahler never imagined himself on it, but tried out anyway. He got to participate in course testing in Baltimore, but didn’t get a call back until 2020 — and then the Covid pandemic wiped out filming that year.
Mahler was eventually invited on season 13 last year, but he failed on an early obstacle known as the Log Runner during the qualifying round. Looking back on it, Mahler said the pandemic tapered off his passion for training and he wasn’t as ready as he could’ve been — plus the show itself was different because there were still Covid restrictions, so episodes were filmed without a live audience.
“Being on stage, in front of the cameras, is really nerve-wracking, but getting my feet wet, if you will, helped,” he said. “It was also strange being there without an audience cheering you on. It was a totally different energy that I didn’t know was there until I competed this year with (a crowd and my family there). It was totally different.”
On Monday’s episode, the Log Runner was replaced by a different challenge made of Dominos he had to run on top of, barely making it across. Mahler made it to two more obstacles, but ultimately fell in the water during the Piston Plunge as his grip strength wore out.
Still, Mahler was among 30 athletes from the San Antonio qualifying episode to advance to the next round. He ranked 21st overall.
His perseverance was even more impressive when the hosts noted that Mahler nearly went blind from corneal disease in 2012. During his third year of medical school at the University of Arkansas, he was diagnosed with keratoconus — a degenerative corneal disease that caused him to lose his eyesight for six months. A procedure to implant plastic rings underneath his cornea failed, but he eventually found a doctor in Toronto for a new, non-FDA approved procedure that helped him regain his ability to see.
Now Dr. Ninja has his eyes on the prize.
Dr. Stewart Mahler, a primary care physician from Rochester, N.Y., competes on "American Ninja Warrior." (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)
“American Ninja Warrior” features obstacle courses, including the notorious Mount Midoriyama, challenging athletes to jump, climb and swing across things like the Floating Boards, Salmon Ladder, Dangerous Curves, Razor Beams, Twist & Fly, and Warped Wall. If they complete the course, they hit a buzzer for a chance to win $100,000 — or as much as $1 million. (Since the show’s 2009 premiere, Isaac Caldiero, Geoff Britten and Drew Drechsel are the only three competitors to finish the entire course and achieve “total victory”; Caldiero and Dreschsel are the only ones to win the $1 million grand prize.)
Mahler said he hasn’t thought much about what he would do if he won the money, but would want to pay off his student loan debt.
“Step two would probably be something in the community,” he said. “My wife and I have talked about possibly opening up our own ninja gym locally or in my (Arkansas) hometown... My family still lives there, my parents and my brother.”
His wife Jaime also plans to compete on “American Ninja Warrior” next year and their oldest son, 10-year-old Caden, hopes to try out for “American Ninja Warrior Jr.” soon.
Mahler recommends other people interested in “American Ninja Warrior” to find a community of other people who are fans. He said the training and the people involved have both been a huge boost to his physical and mental health.
“The biggest thing is finding community... Work with those people, learn from those people. I can’t tell you how many things I’ve learned just by hanging out with other ninjas. Sometimes I’m not even training, I’m just watching people do stuff and learning,” he explained. “That’s part of why I love ninjas so much, it’s the community. You’re not pumping iron for an hour by yourself at the gym. People will help, give advice, show you how they do it... it’s always a learning experience.”
“That’s the same mentality that I give to the residents I teach. This is a medical community, we are all trying to help each other get better at what we do.”
“American Ninja Warrior” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBC. Episodes can be streamed live on fuboTV (FREE TRIAL), DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV (FREE TRIAL), or watched the next day on Hulu.
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