Vegan ninja powers beat injuries to recover top rankings

Things went badly wrong for vegan Ninja Warrior Calle Alexander in late 2018 as he suffered an injury to one of the most important assets to competitors in his sport – his hand. The fracture to his scaphoid, a small bone at the base of his hand needed surgery just four weeks ago where a screw was used to enable it to heal.

As a competitor in the races which require agility, speed, strength and grip, Calle's fracture was a big loss.

“My doctor said I wouldn’t be able to do any obstacle training until 10 weeks after surgery but I did everything I possibly could to accelerate the bone healing and I think it worked” Calle told Great Vegan Athletes, six weeks away from that ten week date – and just after competing!

“A few of the main things I did was eat the most nutrient dense plant foods and started including special herbs that are known for bone healing like comfrey, CBD oil, and eucommia bark. I also went to a chiropractor to do laser therapy twice and to use a bone stimulator twice a week.“

Three weeks after surgery he started training – with his eye on a local competition. “The course was super long and was taking out every competitor one by one” he says. “I was fortunate enough to push through and make it to the final obstacle before I fell and my run earned me 2nd place.”

The placing pushed him back into the higher rankings, placing him at #15 nationally. Soon after he was competing in the High Exposure National Ninja League Competition. He took fifth place and moved up to #10 in the national rankings.

Aiming higher!

“Soon I have to get ready for the National Finals in mid February and the American Ninja Warrior Show in March. Feeling good and just happy I can train normally again.”

Calle has featured in the prestigious American ninja Warrior competition each year since 2016 – each as a vegan. He gave up animal products in 2015 to support his girlfriend, and found it an effective way to eat. He's also broken the record for dead hang – hanging from a bar using hand strength alone and no chalk for over 15 minutes.

He’s previously said “I hope to one day conquer all four stages of Mount Mydoryama [the challenges offered by American Ninja Warrior] with hopes of making a name for myself in the ninja world. I also want to spread the vegan message that you don’t need animal products to be healthy and strong because the opposite is true. True strength comes from plants, not flesh.”

“As Michael Gregor says, ‘The most ethical diet just so happens to be the most environmentally sound diet and just so happens to be healthiest.’ ”

Calle's Profile

Subscribe to our site and catch all the news