MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Hindsight is 20/20, or so the saying goes. The experiences of our youth serve as a building block for improvement. For some, improvements come from our personal relationships. For others, they come when we recommit ourselves to a cause. For a select few, it’s a combination of both. Abe Roman is one of these few.
The retired master sergeant from Bayonne, N.J., served 28 years in the Corps and actively competes as a powerlifter.
Almost 27 years ago to the day, the Torii Teller featured Roman, then a sergeant stationed here, demonstrating his physical prowess and his goals as a powerlifter. According to Roman, it’s something he still pushes for.
Twenty-seven years have passed and Roman largely looks the same. He laughs and jokes, commenting his hair has thinned out a bit, how he wears glasses now, his joints hurt a little more and he has a new hip, but do not let his modesty fool you.
”I’m not much different than I am right now,” said Roman. “I’m 167, 168 pounds now. I’m actually five pounds heavier than I was back then. I think I was better then.”
Truth be told, he probably looks better now than he did 27 years ago. Again, he shrugs it off. However, at 51 years old, Roman still resembles a granite statue, a physique men half his age spend countless hours trying to obtain.
What drives him to keep pushing? Many of his contemporaries enjoy the glories of retirement, pulling back from the rigorous stresses of powerlifting and a life within the Corps. But for Roman, this is the best time for him.
Roman humbly attributes some of his gains to one person in particular: his wife Barbara.
“She’s mostly responsible for my diet,” said Roman, implying that weight lifters take the adage “you are what you eat” as religious doctrine. “When I retired, I started eating more. I rationalized it as I was lifting heavy.”
Roman saw the side effect of an increased food intake.
“All that did was made my gut grow. I figured out that I didn’t need all that food.”
Having someone who shares the mindset of healthy living has benefited Roman greatly as it has allowed him to see a significant increase in his gains compared to when he was on his own.
“My wife told me to cut back on garbage food,” said Roman. “She’s a much more disciplined eater than I am. She helps to keep me in check.”
The influence of others does not stop there. In the 1985 Torii Teller article, Roman remarked on how the exclusive, almost obscure, nature of weightlifting made the lifters frequenting the weight room a rare breed within the Marine Corps.
Roman is still part of a small group he works out with. The close-knit set has expanded slightly through the years as service members leave and come to the station.
Even though those service members may depart, their influence is never completely gone.
“Legacies are born from what we leave behind,” said Roman. “If you set a record, someone will come along and break that record. If I train three people, who then each train three people who then themselves train three people each, the sport and peoples’ ideas about fitness grows and I’ve touched someone’s life and that makes life interesting.”
This club consists of mostly seasoned men, who spent decades perfecting their techniques and are a pool of knowledge. There are always newcomers who seek to learn from the determination of Roman and company. Roman does not try to run them off. He only wishes for those who say they will try to do just that.
It is those rare moments when Roman is among his brothers in iron, teaching those who wish to learn, he is truly happy and content. Roman’s 30-year legacy of consistency also translates well for those who wish to learn and become better as service members too. However, he still jokingly believes in running less than twice a year.
“I only run when people are chasing me now!” said Roman.