John’s Gym

My fitness journey began years ago, as a kid spotting my dad in our garage gym. Fitness was in my blood; it would soon be in my heart.

I believe that anything you can imagine, you can achieve. I believe that you can accomplish any goal with the right mindset. I believe the outside begins on the inside. Select one of my sample workouts to get started on your fitness journey, check out my partner links below to get the gear I use, or scroll down to read my story.

How the journey started

I grew up spotting my dad in our home’s garage gym. Almost as far back as I remember, my father had me standing behind him as he pounded out reps on his old Weider bench press. I would watch the bar go up and down and stand ready to grab it if needed.

Throughout the ‘80s, my dad was the guy in a sweatband and sleeveless shirt who insisted on moving a few hundred pounds of iron around in his garage several days a week. When the ‘90s rolled around, having a legit home gym wasn’t common, but my dad was still hard at work, sweating in the humid Southern summers and freezing in the wet winters.

At the time, I didn’t realize how unusual it was to have a dad who worked out regularly. It was normal to me. It never occurred to me that there was a reason my dad was fit and healthy while all the other dads in the neighborhood were out of shape. It also never registered to my young mind that my dad was teaching me things I didn’t even realize I was learning until much later.

Fast forward a few years. I moved to Los Angeles with almost fifteen years of regular exercise under my belt and became a successful fitness model. I found myself on the cover of the magazines I grew up seeing my dad reading. I had features in magazines like Muscle and Fitness, Men’s Health, and GQ. Throughout my career, people often asked how I could become a fitness model without steroids, and my answer was always the same: I’m consistent. But in retrospect, it goes deeper than that. If you asked me today, I would say it’s the consistency my dad taught me as I watched him be consistent.

After over two decades of training and ten-plus years of fitness modeling, I still haven’t missed a planned workout. Fitness has been a stabilizing anchor in my life. I love teaching others on their fitness journey because I know firsthand how important it is. Fitness taught me discipline, consistency, perseverance, courage, and strength.

Fitness has also helped me pay the bills. In addition to magazines, I’ve also appeared in numerous commercials and on television shows, often as a superhero. I also write on fitness topics, and you can find my articles at Bodybuilding.com, Fitness Trainer Magazine, and numerous other publications. You can read my fitness blogs and keep an eye out for my first fitness book coming in 2023.