MONESSEN - As a youngster growing up in Monessen in the early 1980s, Ken Heilman started out as a boxer.
"I boxed with Michael Moorer and his grandfather Henry Smith at the Charleroi AC," he recalled. "I really liked the sport but gave it up because my mom hated it."
Although he boxed in college while attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he also enjoyed weight lifting.
"I learned boxing and weight lifting are not a good mix because I didn't have much success fighting in college," he said. "I made a choice of going into lifting and body building."
It turned out to be a good move.
Coming back after a 10-year layoff, Heilman stands out as the current Steel City, West Penn Ironman and Mid-Eastern States NABF (North American Bodybuilding Federation) champion.
Heilman won the men's open overall title recently at the Mid-Eastern States at the Palace Inn in Monroeville after capturing the West Penn Ironman gold in a strong field of Westmoreland County bodybuilders at the Steel City Classic.
Now he's setting his sights on bigger things.
"I'm focusing on one show the NABF Nationals Pro-Am which are scheduled next November," he said. "It's normally in Rhode Island but Pittsburgh is supposed to get it next year."
The NABF Nationals features the country's top bodybuilders.
"I'm expecting it to be a humbling experience for me because I'll be competing against the best in the country," he said.
At the age of 36, Heilman isn't one of the younger competitors.
"I can compete in the masters division but I still want to compete against the young guys," he said. "When I started out I was young and cocky. I enjoy beating the younger guys more than guys my age."
Heilman, who's in his tenth year as a credit manager for one of Pittsburgh's bigger department stores, takes the sport serious.
"Five days a week I'm up at 4 a.m. and at King's Gym in Pittsburgh at 5 a.m. for an hour and a half."
"Training in the morning has raised my energy level," he said. "I'm not tired during the day."
Heilman credits his wife, Paula, for some of his success.
"She's my backbone," he said. "Posing for over an hour each night, she can see if they're right and lets me know."
