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Fitness mag features brawny Reagan crew

Although the carrier Ronald Reagan’s motto, “Peace through strength,” didn’t originally refer to maxing quads and blasting abs, it’s exactly that kind of strength that got the warship and its crew featured on the cover of the February issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine.

The warship’s “culture of fitness” — including its formal gym workouts and the additional muscle power it takes to launch and recover 80 warplanes — earned a 12-page spread in the bodybuilding and fitness publication. It features Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Launching and Recovery) 3rd Class Eric Olmstead, who won the ship’s bench-press contest; Chief Religious Programs Specialist Marcus Taylor, who lifts weights for “strength and power”; and Senior Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) Tracy Johnson, who likes to train by “killing” one body part per day.

The story also profiles the ship’s civilian “fit boss,” Britt Callison, a contractor who works with crew members on workout and diet plans. Even though there are five gyms on the Reagan, Callison told Muscle & Fitness that it’s still a problem finding space for people to work out.

“This is a warship,” he said. “It wasn’t designed for treadmills and benches.”

Muscle & Fitness’ cover model, Lt. Zack Sheetz, told the magazine he stays fit by doing CrossFit, the hard-core workout regimen that has become widely popular in the Navy and Marine Corps. Most of the other sailors preferred to pump old-fashioned iron.

Other sailors got a natural edge from their jobs — “No one needs to convince the ship’s ordnancemen to be regulars in the gym,” wrote reporter Eric Velazquez. “Storing, moving, loading and unloading 500-pound guided bombs and other aerial munitions is done by hand, and it requires both strength and precision.”