I approach everything like a learner. I’m a big reader. So anytime I start something new - shooting, fitness, boxing, I always end up grabbing a book and learning by reading.
Jacob Heppner
tactical
Basehor, KS
Jacob Heppner - born and raised in California, he moved to the midwest where he played college football for four years. During his final year of college football he stumbled upon Crossfit and quickly realized a passion for it. From there he dived head first into Crossfit, traveling to local competitions all over. From 2014 to 2020, Jacob was a five-time Crossfit Games veteran with three Top 10 Finishes, and a best of 6th place in the 2019 Crossfit Games. Nearing the end of his competitive career in Crossfit, Jacob found another passion come his way and that was entrepreneurship. Between 2020 and 2022, Jacob got involved in multiple successful companies in the fitness and technology space and is still currently active in them now. Also in 2021, Jacob found another passion, and you guessed it…dived head first, in a fairly new sport Tactical Games, during his first year competing he was able to place 2nd overall at the National Championships. Overall Jacob has a passion for helping others, but also competing in sports that allow you to test your fitness and skill level against others.
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10 MINUTES WITH JACOB
Q: WITH ANY NEW MODALITY YOU GET INTO, HOW DO YOU APPROACH IT IN ORDER TO MASTER?
Q: WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM FITNESS THAT HAVE SERVED YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE?
Be humble. Crossfit is a very humbling sport. Every time you usually think you are really good then along comes a movement, or couplet, or concept that you’ve never practiced before that you are underprepared for. Similar to life. Be humble. Keep learning and striving. Even when you are at the top of your game something might come along to knock you down a few pegs.
Q: WHAT'S THE ONE WORKOUT YOU ALWAYS DREAD? WHAT'S THE ONE WORKOUT YOU ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO? WHY?
Anything with just one element/implement you just KNOW is going to suck since there is no place to run and hide. So think like 2,000 meter Row sprint. You can’t hide from that, its just you and the rower. I love a good ole fashion “chipper” where you have a large amount of reps to work through on each movement before going to the next!
Q: WHAT'S ON YOUR FITNESS BUCKET LIST?
I’d love to hike the Machu Picchu trail!
Q: WHAT IDEA, PERSON OR BOOK HAS BEEN THE MOST INFLUENTIAL IN YOUR LIFE? WHY?
Surround yourself with folks that are better than you at something and learn from them. That doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be better at your passion or sport, but maybe they are very kind, or compassionate, etc etc. By surrounding yourself with great people it will make you strive to be the best version of yourself and to emulate the greatness that is around you.
Q: WHY DO YOU PRIORITIZE FITNESS IN YOUR LIFE?
How I look at it is this - I am absolutely blessed in life to be able to run, jump, squat, press, etc etc - there are some folks in life that can’t due to injury whether acute or genetic, so appreciate the fact that you can do these things and pursue them! That doesn’t mean that everyone has to strive to be an elite athlete but instead ENJOY the fitness you are blessed with!
Q: DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE FAILURE? HOW HAS THAT SET YOU UP FOR LATER SUCCESS?
In 2014, at the Reebok Crossfit Games, I failed rope climbs in front of thousands and thousands of folks. I took that failure and spent a whole year working on that weakness. In 2015, one of the workouts for Crossfit Regionals to qualify for the Crossfit Games involved 27 rope climbs where I was able to set one of the fastest times in the world on it allowing me to qualify back to the 2015 Crossfit Games.
