Meet J.R. Warren of Downtown Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to J.R. Warren.

Hi J.R., we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m originally from Southern, New Jersey. I’m the son of a pastor and my mom was a stay at home mom. I’m one of seven children. I come from humble beginnings. Didn’t have much growing up and learned at an early age you had to work hard for anything you wanted in life. I always enjoyed being active in school. I played basketball and football but hurt myself junior year which limited my athletic career. I did my undergrad at Rowan University in Southern, NJ. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in business management. From there I would get my first management job in Maryland. Before going to Maryland I proposed to my then girlfriend who would soon become my wife. I lived in Maryland for about 10 years. Here I would take on multiple corporate jobs, get married, buy my first home and file for divorce.

After my divorce I realized I had so much life to live. I was 28 with no kids, no house and wanted a change of scenery so I decided to apply to jobs in Los Angeles, California. I had visited California once and knew one day I’d end up living there. I ended up getting a job in my field shortly after applying for jobs. I packed my bags and moved to California in October 2019. I didn’t have any close friends or family that lived in California at the time of my decision. This forced me to get out my bubble and meet new people.

California is where I found community. I lived in DTLA then once the pandemic hit I relocated to Long Beach. In Long Beach I joined a gym called Iconix and that’s where I found a community of people that loved working out. I enjoyed exercising and eating but I didn’t know how to get the results I was seeking and decided to study fitness.

I studied fitness and got my CPT certification with NASM and learned about the body and nutrition. I had a personal weight loss transformation of 60 pounds. I went from 270 pounds to 210 pounds. I started my posting my transformation results on social media and went viral. Once I saw the feedback I was getting I knew I found my passion. From there I started helping others seeking the same results. I started my own fitness business and started training clients in-person and online. I named my company J.R. Warren Fitness after myself.

Around this time I met my then girlfriend Zaina. We dated consistently for about 3 years. The opportunity came up for us to be on a Netflix show called The Ultimatum. At first I was like “why would we do that?” Everything is working in our relationship. We don’t need to rush and get married. We built our relationship on letting things happen organically. But we talked about it and thought it would be the ultimate test for our relationship and give us answers as to if we were meant to get married or not. Zaina wanted to go into the experience with boundaries and I told her it would be a waste of such a unique experiment. So we decided to go forward and enter the once in a lifetime experiment with no boundaries. During the experiment I treated it as if I really broke up with Zaina per the rules of the show. I treated dating week and my first trial marriage as if I was single. Though I knew in real life we weren’t broken up I treated it as such in hopes to get the answers I was looking for. The producers stressed that in order for the process to work we had to take the process seriously and if we weren’t able to that then we should leave. This resulted in two couples leaving the experiment early. In the end I realized I wasn’t ready for marriage and left the experience single. I knew I had some things to work on including healing from past relationship trauma and knew if I stayed with Zaina I would end up hurting her. Choosing yourself is never popular in reality dating shows. The people want a fairy tale ending. Unfortunately, Zaina took the break up hard and could not cope with me taking time to myself to process next steps in our relationship. Even though I thought Zaina attacking my character at the reunion was out of line I have no hard feelings towards her and wish her the best. At the end of the day you can’t force someone to be with you.

After the experiment I put more focus on my fitness business and launched the J.R. Warren Fitness App. This is an inexpensive subscription based app with various workout plans and one time purchase plans available including the popular “The Ultimatum Workout”. The same workout I used to get in shape and stay in shape while filming “The Ultimatum.” I also do 1:1 online coaching where I build custom workout and nutrition plans for each client. My goal through my business and social media platform is to educate and motivate people to become the best version of themselves.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not always been a smooth road with fitness. I struggled with my weight and physical appearance my entire life. I know firsthand what it’s like to feel stuck in your fitness journey. Growing up as the skinniest kid in school, I spent years battling insecurities. and trying to bulk up with no success. This led to horrible eating habits and long days at the gym with minimal visible results and a gut. As I got older I continued to exercise with no structured workout plan or diet. After years of trial and error, I discovered the proven principles of fitness, nutrition, and mindset—and that’s when everything changed.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Fitness coach specializing in fat loss and muscle building. I’m also best known for my appearance in Netflix The Ultimatum. I’m most proud of my personal fitness journey and how far I’ve come. What sets me apart is I’ve been on both ends of being skinny and overweight. I personally know how to get the results and this is proven with my transformation.

How do you think about happiness?
I feel happiest when I’ve competed a goal I’ve set for myself. For example, it can be a personal record in the gym, seeing a new country or advancing in my career. Accomplishing something I set out to do and seeing the fruits of my labor is rewarding and what keeps me going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jrwarrenfitness.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_jrwarren?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jrwarrencoaching?mibextid=wwXIfr
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-r-warren-8332662b?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: https://x.com/_jrwarren?s=21&t=Ptj6E99Xaeiajt3-pOxwlA
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jrwarren?si=2bETC82pgltR5pI2
• Other: https://snapchat.com/t/sxbGydq7