Jon Pritikin (born February 26, 1973) is an American strongman and motivational speaker.

Early life and education

Pritikin was born in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

to a Jewish family, Andrew and Nancy (née Kunz) Pritikin. Pritikin had speech and learning disabilities as a child. Placed in

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

in first grade, he was bullied and abused by schoolmates and neighborhood children, and has said he had no friends. In high school, a teacher worked with him on his speech impediment and academic problems, and he was accepted on academic probation to

Bethany University Bethany University was a four-year private coeducational Christian university located in Scotts Valley, California, in Santa Cruz County. It operated from 1919 until closing in 2011 and was endorsed by the Assemblies of God USA, a Pentecostal d ...

Scotts Valley, California Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about south of downtown San Jose and north of the city of Santa Cruz, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the city populati ...

Career

In 1994, Pritikin co-founded a nonprofit organization, ''Feel The Power'', which produces an anti-bullying assembly for elementary, middle, and high school students. The assembly consists of motivational speaking and a presentation of Pritikin's physical strength through various strongman exercises. His message focuses on the long term effects of bullying and the importance of accepting others. In 2008, Pritikin became involved in an anti-steroid program known as S.W.A.T.S., which is an acronym for Sports With Alternatives to Steroids. As of 2021, Pritikin has spoken to more than 10 million students in 60 nations. In October 2021, Pritikin released his first book titled
Feel The Power: A Survivor's Guide to Happiness
'.

World records

Pritikin broke and set two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

for "the tightest circumference of two aluminum frying pans rolled together with his bare hands in less than 30 seconds.” The frying pans were 30 cm (12 in) and he broke the record at Rectory Road Park in Sittingbourne, Kent, UK on July 11, 2007.

Personal life

Pritikin met his wife Rhonda (''née'' Garcia) when they were both students at

; they married in 1995. They live in California and have one child.

References

External links

Jon Pritikin
on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

Jon Pritikin
on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Jon Pritikin
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Jon Pritikin homepage

Feel The Power homepage

Guinness World Records profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritikin, Jon 1973 births Living people Bethany University alumni 20th-century American Jews People from Lodi, California 21st-century American Jews