As it turns out, Michelle Warnky, an experienced veteran of “American Ninja Warrior” held mini warrior events at the gym.
“I went to my first event about two years ago and my life hasn’t been the same since,” explained Adam.
Adam, also known as A-Train, has competed on American Ninja Warrior for the past two seasons. In 2014, Adam first competed in the St. Louis regional competition where he advanced to the St. Louis city finals. In the end, he finished in 18th place, narrowly missing the opportunity to move on to the national finals by only three spots.
That just made Adam more determined and he returned to the show again this year. He competed in the Pittsburgh regional, once again qualifying for the city finals. However, this year, he finished 8th overall at the Pittsburgh city finals, earning him a spot at the national finals in Las Vegas.
One of the primary reasons Adam has been so successful is because he sets his goals high and works hard to achieve them.
“Many of my co-workers and friends laughed at me when I told them I was going to try competing on ‘American Ninja Warrior’,” said Adam. “But I worked tirelessly and devised a plan for success.”
And his hard work, determination and commitment to achieving his goals are paying off!
“I’m already training for next year,” said Adam. “I want to make it back to Las Vegas for another shot at the course.”
Adam trains by rock climbing at his gym at least two times a week. He also trains at Michelle Warnky’s new parkour/ ninja warrior gym -- Movement Lab Ohio -- in Columbus. In addition, he has transformed his basement into a training facility with about a dozen replica obstacles.
Not only has Adam achieved success on “American Ninja Warrior,” he has also been very successful professionally. After graduating from Chartiers Valley High School, Adam earned his mechanical engineering degree from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. Today he works in the automotive crash safety group at Honda R&D Americas as a test engineer.
“I specialize in Pedestrian Impact Protection,” explained Adam. “We actually design and test our cars to mitigate the injuries to an unlucky pedestrian.”
According to Adam, his time at Chartiers Valley helped prepare him for success in college and beyond.
“The advanced classes I took at Chartiers Valley really helped set me up for college,” said Adam. “When I started at Kettering, I seemed to be ahead of the curve in mathematics and science.”
Through his personal and professional experiences, Adam has learned one of the keys to success is setting goals for yourself. And his advice to current CV high school students is to do the same.
“The most important thing is to set goals and set them high,” said Adam. “You might surprise yourself when you achieve something you thought was impossible. Even if you fall short, in most cases you can still say you did better than someone who didn’t even try or didn’t push themselves to the limit.”
Adam also believes you should always give credit to those who helped you succeed.
“I wouldn’t be here today without my parents, Bill and Ruth Mihm, my brother, Brandon Mihm and my wife, Tori Mihm.”
