Swinging Spikes

American Ninja Warrior 7's Swinging Spikes in Houston

The Swinging Spikes is an obstacle, firstly introduced as the fifth obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 7 in Houston.

It consisted of eight suspended spikes, divided into 3 sections (the first two section had 3 spikes each and the last section had two spikes). Competitors must use their upper-body to traverse the spikes and reach the landing platform. Some of the spikes moved side to side, some moved forward and backward, and others were attached to a bungee drop.

During Houston qualifiers, the obstacle was proved to be moderately difficult for competitors, as several top competitors (e.g. Evan Dollard, Robert Ing, Jeremiah Morgan, and Karsten Williams) failed on this obstacle, and only 15 competitors could complete it. During Houston finals, 8 more competitors failed on this obstacle.

American Ninja Warrior 8's Swinging Spikes in Indianapolis

The Swinging Spikes returned as the fifth obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 8 in Indianapolis. However, the first 5 spikes were on a tilting S-shaped beam. After the first 5 spikes, there were two branching paths. One path had 5 spikes, but the spikes were on an arch, while the other path had a descending path and 3 spikes. During Indianapolis qualifiers, 27 competitors could complete the obstacle.

During Indianapolis finals, the arch path was removed and the descending path was modified into the ascending one, with the number of spikes remained the same as in Indianapolis qualifiers. As the result, 4 more competitors failed on this obstacle (in which 3 of them completed the obstacle during Indianapolis qualifiers).

Other Appearances

Australian Ninja Warrior's Swinging Spikes

On Australian Ninja Warrior, the Swinging Spikes appeared as the seventh obstacle in Semifinal 3, which was very similar to the Swinging Spikes during American Ninja Warrior 8's Indianapolis finals, except the number of spikes was reduced to just 5.