Jon Parker stepped into our gym with a quiet kind of determination, the kind that shows up before sunrise and keeps showing up, day after day. Our July Committed Club Honoree teaches at Taylor Allderdice High School, and most mornings he arrives with his daughter, Jenna, sharing that familiar 5:15 a.m. rhythm with the rest of the crew. What started as a return to working out quickly became something bigger: Jon found his stride, found his people, and found a version of himself that moves stronger, lifts heavier, and feels more capable than he has in years. One of his favorite markers of progress? He can now fit into his teenage son’s clothes, a milestone that makes him laugh every time he mentions it. Jon’s consistency is the kind that quietly inspires the room, and celebrating him this month feels like celebrating what commitment can build.
Why is fitness important to you?
Sports have always been an important part of my life, whether coaching or playing, and at different stages of my life that led to fitness. I know intellectually that fitness is important just generally for health, longevity, all kinds of reasons but I find it energizing to compete, even if it’s just against myself. So fitness, or just playing and competing, is just something I’ve always found joy and energy in. Our family is really active, and I want to keep up with everybody and be engaged in their lives as much as possible. Fitness is a huge part of that.
What motivates you on the days you don’t feel like working out?
Community and accountability are the most effective motivators when I don’t feel like working out. Knowing the 5:15 crew and coaches will be there is a significant part of keeping me accountable. Also, some self talk is helpful at times. I’ve literally never regretted going to a workout, so on the days I don’t want to get out of bed I try to remind myself of that.
How do you stay consistent during busy and stressful times?
I’m a “win the morning” kind of person. If I can get up, have some coffee, read, and workout before 6am, the rest of the day is always better. Having three teenagers at home and the busyness that accompanies that means I have to have energy, and, weirdly enough, getting up early and getting a workout in always means I have more energy later in the day.
What is your biggest obstacle you face in staying committed?
Honestly, sometimes I’m lazy. I’m not particularly good at doing things halfway or in some sort of balance. I’m an all in or all out person. That’s great when I’m all in on exercise and eating well and whatnot, not so good if I get out of the groove and get lazy, eat trash, etc. So really I have to be super consistent or risk the pendulum swinging all the way back to the bad place.
How do you balance fitness with the rest of the things in your life (work, family, friends, etc)?
5:15am helps. Besides giving up some sleep, nobody misses me if I’m out at 5am. Also, I’ve had fun this year working out with my daughter. It’s the best of all worlds being able to have time and to connect with her while also getting my heart rate up and a good sweat in the morning. My wife exercises religiously and my sons are getting into weightlifting and getting stronger so being able to have that common experience at home gives everybody something to connect about.
What role does mental health play in your physical journey?
I’ve struggled with weight fluctuations for the entirety of my adult life. There’s a pretty big mental health aspect to that, just eating and drinking to deal with stress, the accompanying exhaustion of being out of shape and feeling ashamed at times of those struggles. Losing some weight and being able to move better does make a big difference in the quality of my mental health, but being honest it’s just a struggle that I expect to have to manage for the rest of my life.
What role does diet and nutrition play in your fitness commitment?
Definitely agree with the adage that you can’t outtrain a bad diet. We do eat pretty clean at home and I do all the dinner cooking at the house so we try to eat a good balance of proteins and vegetables at every meal. We don’t eat out. It’s dumb expensive, so cooking at home is really important to us. The times when I’m not feeling great it’s easy to resort to trash fast food, but again, working out in the morning often curbs those cravings on the way home from work before dinner. In October I started a GLP-1. I know there’s some controversy on those but they’ve been life changing for me. Combined with regular exercise and better hydration, the medicine helped me get control of my weight by just eliminating altogether the desire to eat garbage. I actually dropped a little too much weight and am working now to balance out long term what that will look like. I want to be strong not skinny, so that’s a work in progress.
What advice would you give to someone struggling to stay committed to their fitness goals?
The best advice I ever got on fitness came from my kids’ elementary school gym teacher. He really emphasized play, even in adults. Hey, if pounding out five miles on a treadmill is fun for you, I respect that. For me, the competition is just fun. So whatever that is–different people have different definitions of fun–I’d really try to focus on things that bring you joy and also happen to help you stay or get fit. We hike, mountain bike, walk the dog, play some pickleball or basketball, just do different things that happen to help us be fit but are also just enjoyable in general. CrossFit is like that. IA has all of the best elements of sports–great coaching, awesome “teammates,” really challenging every single time you go, but at its core it’s fun.
