Episode Details

Motivation is unreliable, but purpose can carry you through almost anything. I sit down with Jonathan Kolowich, a strength and conditioning specialist and coach who’s spent 14 years helping people move, perform, and live better and who’s also been living with type 1 diabetes since age 12. He explains what most people never see: the nonstop mental math of blood sugar management, the razor-thin margins between feeling strong and feeling fragile, and how those realities shaped a grit-first approach to fitness and life. 

Jonathan also shares two moments that forced him to grow up fast, including a blackout behind the wheel and another low blood sugar episode at home that could have ended in disaster. From there, we get into the concept he repeats throughout our conversation: winning the day. Not perfection. Not a highlight reel. Just doing more good than bad and staying consistent when it would be easier to quit. 

Then we shift into one of the most practical parts of the conversation: Parkinson’s training. Jonathan has worked extensively with people living with Parkinson’s since 2021, and he breaks down why movement is medicine, how “on times” and “off times” change the strategy, and his Parkinson’s Daily Five framework built around big movement, power, reaction speed, gait work, and brain-body connection. We close with a simple daily practice almost anyone can do for longevity and functional fitness: sit-to-stand done with intention. 

If you care about wellness, resilience, movement, and aging with strength, you’ll get a lot from this one. Subscribe, share it with a friend who needs momentum, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.