Navy Steel
An Interview with Jack Reape
by Nate Green

Jack Reape: Navy pilot, military powerlifting champ, super dad, T-Nation contributor. Time we get to know him a little better, don't you think?

T-Nation: Who the hell is Jack Reape anyway?

Jack Reape: I'm an athlete who, over a lot of time and with a little talent mixed with a ton of research and hard work and trial and error, has gotten to the national level in drug-tested powerlifting.

Powerlifting is my hobby in my mind, but most folks probably think I'm obsessed with training. The truth is, I'm pretty hardcore and obsessed with anything I undertake. I like to compete, I like to prevail, and I'm willing to pay the price that it costs... up to a point. I've never used steroids, for both personal and professional reasons. However, I do question the hype that goes on about their use.

My goals are to make an Elite total of 1824 at a bodyweight of 220, or 1889 at a bodyweight of 242. I also plan to hit a 600 bench press in single-ply lifting gear. It's important to me to do it in competition. I love being on the platform competing and want to leave it on my own terms — I just haven't figured those out yet.

T-Nation: You're in the military and have seen your share of triumphs and hardships. Fill us in on your job description.

Reape: I'm a career Navy pilot, and was fortunate to serve as a Squadron Commander during Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. September 11^th changed my life. Serving our country during a time of war and getting to lead people and go in harm's way was an enormous chance to pay our country back for the life we lead.

But I'm also a husband and father. I've been married over twenty years and have three kids. Interestingly enough, there are parallels. I mean, after leaving the squadron, I had the opportunity to coach my son's little league football team. I was shocked to discover that my own backyard was full of kids living very tough lives.

They were people who wanted to excel but were trapped by their social and economic situation. I found it to be as important and rewarding to serve as an assistant football coach as it was to be a squadron commanding officer, for sure.

And just when I was figuring out Football 101 after two years, Hurricane Katrina hit my neighborhood in the suburbs of New Orleans. Let's just say I learned three crucially important things:

1. When a level five hurricane is approaching, leave!

2. Insurance does a family good!

3. Everything important fits in your car.

I'm also a Christian and find great peace in knowing God is in control. It took me a long time and lot of wasted and frustrating years to figure out that I couldn't dictate to the world how things should go. Maybe that's why I love competing in powerlifting since it's about me making it all happen. How's that for a job description?

T-Nation: Sounds good to us. How did you come up through the ranks of powerlifting, military, and life? What kind of upbringing did you have? I have fleeting thoughts of your parents feeding you motor oil and Testosterone to make you a man, but I may be a little off base...

Reape: I was raised in an Irish Catholic family in the Northeast and am the oldest of six kids. I didn't really grasp it at the time, but we didn't have a lot of money. We moved around a bit since my dad was in sales, so as kids we learned to stick together. We're still close to this day.

We were all pretty athletic, but I was a small fat kid who transformed himself into a small skinny kid by high school. I knew I needed to get bigger and stronger so I traded some lawn work for an old iron weight set, built a power rack out of 4x4s in my basement, and went to work. I read the York magazines and got strong enough to hold my own on the football field.

Going from 119 to 165 pounds in four years still left me a tad overmatched, though. By that time, I started competing in powerlifting (my first meet was actually Olympic lifting and I figured out quickly I needed a coach).

I hooked up with then strength coach at Lafayette College, Glen Reibman, who took me under his wing. By my senior year, I was squatting and deadlifting around 500 and benching around 250, raw. It helped me get into the Naval Academy after years of prep school.

I majored in Operations Analysis (I'm a math geek) and had as much fun as possible while maintaining my grades so I could go to flight school. By graduation I was a light 181 with a 600 squat, 315 bench press, and 550 deadlift. I went to flight school and thought I'd hung up my belt for good, but literally kept it in the closet.

I played rugby and weight trained, but was busy flying and having fun. I flew helicopters off the carrier USS Eisenhower, which actually had a pretty decent gym — you just had to time your reps to push up when the ship was descending the swells.

T-Nation: That must have made training a bit more interesting.

Reape: Well, it was much worse on a destroyer or frigate, which I'd spent a little time on

Anyways, I eventually got married, but was still lifting a bit and even running a lot. I got off-sea duty and went ashore where I saw an announcement for the All Navy Powerlifting Team tryouts. It was a good thing I kept that belt around, which barely fit new 198 pound body.

T-Nation: And you've been competing ever since?

Reape: Yeah, since about 1990 I've trained and competed in between life, deployments, and work. I discovered the writings of Louie Simmons and Pavel Tsatsouline in PLUSA, and that led me to question a lot of what I thought I knew.

Reading, researching, calling people, asking lots of questions, buying lots of books, and then trying it all out on me was my means of sorting it all out. The Internet was a huge help in tracking down information. Lots of nonsense, but lots of good stuff too.

T-Nation: As you know, we've got an eclectic bunch here on T-Nation. What kind of advice do you have for all the powerlifters?

Reape: I'd say to pick a training approach and learn from doing it consistently for at least six months. Stop worrying about if somebody else is using different equipment, supplements, or goes by different judging.

You own the decision of what federation you lift in, so shut up, show up, and step up. You don't put one pound on your total by trashing anybody else. This sport is ultimately about beating your previous bests. There are meets where winning is important, like the WPO, the Nationals (one or two of them), or the Worlds, but I'd rather hit a PR than win with lesser lifts.

T-Nation: What are three things every powerlifter should stop doing immediately?

Reape: First, they should stop squatting or running in crosstrainer shoes. Unstable shoes rob you of so much strength and explosion.

Next, stop using lifting gloves. First come the gloves, then it's the do-rag and genie pants and a wife beater. Stop yourself before you're wearing Otomix shoes and a gold chain.

Finally, stop benching with elbows out like a bodybuilder. This is a great way to buy an orthopedic surgeon an outboard for his yacht dingy. Tuck the elbows and save the shoulders.

T-Nation: All right, now what are a few things they should start doing immediately?

Reape: I'd say to follow these points:

1. Find a group of powerlifters stronger than you to train with at least a few times a month. I do this to this day. Strong lifters will pull you along faster than you could ever improve yourself, and they'll set you straight. It's not always easy to take but worth the trouble.

2. Learn how to set up properly in the bench press.

3. Work on perfecting the exact technique and lifting equipment you'll compete with. Lifting in a meet is a skill. There are differences between improving strength and speed and displaying it. Ten weeks of raw training followed by a week or two in lifting gear went the way of the Marathon Supersuit and the Inzer Blast Shirt.

Dialing in your gear, or lack of gear, is part of the game. You have to know what you're doing and have done it a few times before you do it in front of the judges.

4. Do mobility work! If I had Magnificent Mobility ten years ago I'd be much more comfortable every day.

5. Take back-off weeks every 3-5 weeks. You can't go above 90% week after week without a major crash. This has worked for everybody who's tried it.

T-Nation: From all of your experience in the military and the iron game, what kinds of similarities have you seen?

Reape: Well, George Patton said a good plan executed violently today is better than a great plan next week. So many lifters argue back and forth on the Internet about what's better or worse or who's right or wrong.

Most lifters would be better served by picking an approach and getting to work. You won't really figure things out until you do a bit of trial and error. There are several good approaches to training. Pick one and work at it. This is a case where working hard is more important than trying to be too smart.

Also, in three situations in my life I've experienced "time compression" where it seems time slows down and every sense seems to be heightened. You're literally hearing yourself breathe and your heart beat and everything seems to be running on automatic, just like you practiced.

The first was running under kickoffs during my years on the varsity football team. The second was flying in harm's way at night doing a helicopter rescue during hurricane Hugo. The last was stepping onto the powerlifting platform in a meet.

I won't get to do the football thing again and I think my operational flying days are over, but lifting in a meet is the same mix of fear and adrenaline-fueled rush that I can't imagine never experiencing again. The challenge of succeeding is what it's all about, at least for me.

Louie Simons once said he didn't come up with Westside to further the science of powerlifting, but to improve his own total. I completely follow that idea. I'm not working hard or pursuing every bit of knowledge I can find for self-actualization; I'm working to get better so I can succeed! Turning around and helping others to succeed is how you pay back all the folks who helped you.

T-Nation: Have you ever not wanted to lift or compete or fly a mission?

Reape: Yep, but I never let my feelings guide me on those kind of things. Go by what you know, not what you feel. Anytime you do something with a great reward there's a risk involved, so your mind and body may play tricks about why you shouldn't do something.

I always have some weird ache the week of a meet. This is where you have to have great mental discipline and know and believe in what you're doing. I've never had a meet or a big training PR where I wasn't nervous.

Even with flying you have to rely on your training and do what you've learned and practiced. If something is seriously out of whack, you wave it off and come back another time. This is where experience pays off a great deal. The saying, "The more you sweat in peacetime the less you bleed in wartime" is applicable to many aspects of life.

T-Nation: So what's next for you, Jack?

Reape: I'll probably compete about two more years. I want that Elite total and 600 bench, and I'm just not ready to give up the fun and rush of competition. Still, the grind is the training and the time commitment.

Last week my son drove in the winning run with a two-out, bottom of the fifth double, and later in the week made two diving catches in center field to preserve a lead. We practice hitting a lot and diving catches a lot, so I'm glad I get my personal workout stuff in.

Helping him and others excel is very rewarding and a place I want to spend even more time. I have a few articles and maybe a book in work, but the Elite total is about credibility almost as much as getting to a goal for me.

I don't write from the perspective of my certifications or folks I've trained; I write from the point of view of an athlete who's doing it every day in the gym and who's constantly figuring it out by reading, asking questions, and trial and error. It's easy to build on success, but more important to learn to build on failure and mistakes. I've sure had my share!

T-Nation: Any final words for us?

Reape: Enjoy the ride along the way, but never be satisfied or comfortable with what you've accomplished. There's more knowledge out there than you can imagine that can make you bigger, faster, and stronger. You just have to find it, then do the work and keep on doing it. Be relentless.

T-Nation: Now that's some sound advice, Jack. Thanks for the interview!

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