The Non-Specialist: Jon Pera

June 18, 2012

Daisy Alvarez

"Last year was difficult. But after the Games were over I had the desire to get myself up to where I need to be to get on that podium again."

 

“I want to make it to that podium. I want to win. I think that you are not in the right place going in to the Games if you don’t go in with the mentality that you want to win,” Jon Pera says. “I made it and now I want to win it.”

Pera secured his spot to the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games after taking first place at the Southern California Regional. Pera managed to take seventh place or better in every event, including a first place finish in Event 5, the Snatch Ladder, with a 255 pound lift and 36 double-unders.

Just weeks away from the Games, SoCal’s first-ranked man is certainly focused on CrossFit, however, it is not Pera’s only priority. He accomplishes his balancing act in the same manner he excels in CrossFit: he specializes in not specializing and keeps his priorities in check. A supportive husband, father and law enforcement officer, it is “a constant battle to keep what is most important in the forefront,” he says. 

The Sheriff Deputy and father of three began to CrossFit at 27 years old. Without boasting any prior athletic experience other than little league and high school baseball, he made a quick transition from a novice CrossFitter to a viable competitor at the 2010 Sectionals after just months of joining CrossFit Rancho Cucamonga.

“A lot of it is hard work and dedication. I think there is natural ability there too,” he says. “Maybe it was not displayed in a collegiate setting or professional sports, but there was the ability there I had not yet tapped into.”

From One Year to the Next

Pera is putting in the work to do better in this year’s Games than his 41st place finish 2011. He says it was a surprising end after a second place finish at the Regional behind Josh Bridges.

“We had just had our son a week before and I remember feeling like I had already done the workouts,” Pera says. “I was so tired and beat up. I didn’t feel like I had the right mentality and my focus wasn’t all there. I wanted to take care of my wife and my baby.”

Armed with the knowledge he gained, Pera is convinced his athletic capacity will now be relevant beyond Southern California. “Last year was difficult. But after the Games were over I had the desire to get myself up to where I need to be to get on that podium again,” he says. “So we will see what happens.”

Five to Six Hours a Day

This year, Pera is focused on giving proper time and attention to each of the facets of his life, which he even parallels in his training methods, as well.

Pera dedicates five to six hours of training daily. “Right now I have the mentality that I have absolutely nothing to lose. I am going to workout as much as possible, as hard as I can up until about a week before the Games,” he says.

His training methodology is centered upon constantly switching up his endurance training and his CrossFit workouts. He tries not to accustom his body to begin with endurance or vice versa.  “To keep things varied, so that way when I get to the Games there won’t be any surprises,” he explains. “This way I’ll be ready for anything.”

Winning Mentality

Along with his natural capabilities, diet and training, Pera relies on the changes he has made in his mentality to also compliment his athletic performance.

Pera looks to the example set by his father. “I think my dad really is a big factor in my drive to do well because he came over from Iran when he was six and he was told he wasn’t going to amount to anything,” he says. “He said, 'I am going to be a doctor.' He paid his way through college by working nights. Now he has been practicing radiology for 20 years and is a dean at a medical school. Talk about a success story. To see what he did makes me believe that anything is possible.”

With each of the areas of his life in check, Pera is headed to the Games not as a specialist in any particular area. Rather, he returns to the Games this year as a well-rounded and balanced athlete, who is looking to prove his athletic relevance beyond sunny Southern California.