Watching Tremayne Dortch race through an American Ninja Warrior course is like watching a graceful athlete conquer gravity-defying challenges.
Tremayne is calm, shirtless and collects himself mentally after each movement before attacking the next. He hangs from a pullup bar and methodically hoists himself vertically into the air jumping the bar up rung-by-rung to climb the iconic Salmon Ladder. At the top, he swings and catches himself on another obstacle - The Walking Bar. His wife, Cassandra, and their young son, Uri, watch from the sidelines as he hangs, launches the bar up and travels several feet forward all while dangling 10 feet in the air.
“A lot of people don’t know how to handle trials or obstacles,” he says. “But that’s why we love American Ninja Warrior, because it’s nothing but obstacles.”
NINJA FITNESS LIFESTYLE
Tremayne, a Cypress gym owner, professional athlete and father, has completed eight seasons on the show. He and his wife recently opened their gym called Beast Body where Tremayne trains for three hours daily and coaches alongside Cassandra, a former Ninja Warrior competitor herself. Beast Body offers group dance and boot-camp style fitness classes, but it’s also the headquarters for the bulk of Tremayne’s ninja training. Inside the belly of Beast Body, is a creative course that resembles a grown-up jungle gym. It’s complete with monkey bars, overhead ladders, a punching bag and a rock wall.
“This is a lifestyle,” Treymane says. “It is a professional sport.”
Tremayne is known on the show for his physique. Over the years, he earned the nickname The Muscle. At 5’9’’ and roughly 160 pounds, Tremayne’s steely abs are hard to miss - even when he’s swinging from pull up bars. His Instagram is filled with gymnastic-like feats of strength. In one video he suspends his body horizontal to the floor while gripping a pullup bar. In another, he completes one-legged, weighted box jumps while wearing hip bands to increase difficulty. His workout videos are set to motivation music or speeches.
It takes a well-rounded athlete to make it onto the show, Tremayne says. Tremayne’s college football background and past life as a boxer perhaps helps with that. But to be successful requires precision, focus, athleticism and a sharp mental game.
“I’m a big believer that mindset is key,” Tremayne says. “If you can strengthen that, then everything else is easy.”
Cassandra has her own way of explaining it.
“You almost have to be - I don’t want to call it fearless - but in love with attacking a fear,” Cassandra says.
BEAST BODY FITNESS TRAINING FOR ALL
At Beast Body, the two aim to keep gym training for their members as surprising as their own ninja challenges. The training involves high-intensity movements adapted for all ability levels. The goal is to build athletes out of everyday people who might have little to no knowledge of fitness. They train members to work within their ability, have fun while building strength, speed, power and endurance.
“They surprise themselves because they never thought their bodies were capable of performing such great tasks,” Tremayne says.
The two also make mindset a priority with their gym members. Beast Body is filled with motivational word art, a meeting space and a chalkboard wall where members record fitness goals they’ve accomplished. Tremayne and Cassandra also host seminars on goal-setting, positivity and how to have a successful marriage.
“We’re constantly talking to our members about positivity, self-development,” Cassandra says. “If you’re not improving yourself, you can’t expect your family to improve.”
FITNESS – A FAMILY LEGACY
Fitness is what holds their family together. The two first met when they were both instructors at the YMCA. Cassandra was taught dance class while Treymayne worked as a personal training and boxing teacher. They married in 2010 and a few years later the couple had their first son, Uri. The birth, however, was traumatic for Cassandra who had a cesarean section, developed postpartum depression and gained sixty pounds during pregnancy.
“The one thing that really did save me was just fitness in itself,” she says.
Ten weeks after giving birth, Cassandra began ninja training. Within one year she competed on the show for the first time. An audition video she submitted to the competition shows her completing weighted pullups, dragging tires and lifting weights spliced between footage of her holding her son. Her second time competing was on Tremayne’s team, Trez Amigoz, in 2015. It was during that competition she learned she was pregnant with their daughter, Ezri. The two children are a regular sight at the gym working out alongside their parents. Cassandra also homeschools them so they can spend more time together as a family.
Tremayne hopes one day his son will carry on the family ninja warrior legacy. He hopes to keep competing until his son is old enough to qualify for American Ninja Warrior’s junior division. By that point, he’ll have competed for at least ten seasons.
BeastBody.org 15750 Tuckerton Road 832-253-1175