Courtesy of the Natural Fit Federation
As a teenager, Texas resident Ken Jones aspired to compete in the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition, the realm of legends in the sport like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now 59 years old, Jones said he vividly recalled seeing the televised contest and wanting to someday take on a similar challenge, despite some skepticism from family members at the time.
"I thought 'I'm going to do that one of these days,'" he told Business Insider in an interview coordinated by the health tracking app MyFitnessPal. "That's kind of when it started."
After more than four decades, Jones made good on his dream, not only competing in his first physique show in 2019, but going on to win first place in his division in 2021, and later earning high marks among men 20 years his junior.
To get there, he lost about 185 pounds since his retirement in 2015, and kept it off.
Jones said that after a 26-year break from fitness, he swore to transform his health and get in shape upon retirement. Over more than 5 years, he did exactly that with a combination of walking, consistent gym sessions and most importantly, tracking nutrients like carbs, fat, and protein to build muscle and burn fat for the bodybuilding stage.
While Jones didn't hit the bodybuilding stage as a teen, it wasn't for lack of trying. Coming from an athletic background, he said he did his best to get in shape using the advice he could find at the time.
"There was no such thing as social media, I just read magazines and stuff, I had no clue what I was doing," Jones said. "I ate a can of tuna for breakfast. I ate a can of tuna for lunch, with maybe or maybe not some rice. And I ate a can of tuna for dinner."
With minimal guidance, Jones said it wasn't hard for him to fall off the fitness habit as he started a career, got married, and had kids, prompting a nearly three-decade break.
"I rested up a little bit," Jones joked.
During that time, he began to put on weight due to a combination of shift work, high stress, and the influence of coworkers also trying to manage the pressure with food and drink.
"You get in a drinking circle and all of a sudden you're in a barbecue cookoff team," he said. "It does not take long."
But his fitness dreams were deferred, not forgotten entirely. Jones said that several years before retirement, he decided he would use the reprieve from work to lose weight and get back in shape.
After a year and a half, Jones had dropped about 80 pounds by walking regularly and keeping a close eye on what he ate.
Courtesy of the Natural Fit Federation
The next stage in Jones' emerging fitness transformation came as he was working part-time at a local college, and connected with a student who was interested in bodybuilding. Jones said he asked for nutrition advice and then started training with the man, who was about 15 years younger and preparing for a physique competition.
In 2019, Jones competed in his first show himself, and only wanted more.
"Once I did that, my next goal was to win one," he said.
In September 2021, Jones earned first place in his division in the Naturally Fit Federation competition.
Now, he's aiming to earn his pro card, a designation the International Federation of Bodybuilders gives athletes who work their way up through regional and national competitions, and which comes with the ability to earn serious prize money.
Jones said that one of the biggest motivating factors through his fitness journey was having a goal — especially when people didn't believe he could accomplish it.
"I'm hard-headed," he said. "I love it when people tell me I can't do something."
And forget about acting his age — Jones has already competed, and scored well, in the Open class against athletes as young as 18. In one competition, he said the competitor closest to his own age was 32.
"I was looking around going 'where's all the old people?' There weren't none. It was me," he said.
But Jones said he has no intention of slowing down, as long as he's able to stay competitive in the sport, he plans to be working out and eating well for the stage.
"There's a gentleman in the gym where I train who's fixing to be 90 years old. You ain't never too old for this," Jones said. "You can't tell yourself you can't do this, or you're too old for this. You can't compare yourself to the younger guys. You're you and hey, you're here."
