Local 65-Year-Old Bodybuilder to Compete in World Championship

JERSEYVILLE - Jim Nanney, 65, has been bodybuilding for decades, and he’s proud to share his discipline and passion for the sport.

“It’s probably the single longest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life,” Nanney said. “I’m extremely competitive by nature. I’m mediocre in every other sport that I compete in. But bodybuilding, somehow, I seem to have a knack for it.”

Nanney started bodybuilding in his early 20s, after he saw his brother’s success in the sport. He quickly fell in love with the discipline of diet and exercise.

To this day, Nanney works out six days a week at JerseyFit Barbell in Jerseyville or Planet Fitness in Alton. He still gets a thrill out of pushing himself as hard as he can.

“I think the workouts are the thing that I enjoy the most, the discipline of the dieting. It’s kind of a weird enjoyment to have, but I do. It’s fun to see how disciplined you can make yourself. And then, of course, going after titles and things like that just appeals to my competitive nature,” he explained. “The bodybuilding shows are only once or twice a year, so you only get one or two opportunities to go compete against others. But you can compete against yourself every day of the week.”

Nanney competed with the National Physique Committee until he won the Missouri State Title, and then he “hit a ceiling” because he was “never, ever going to take any sort of steroids.” He eventually found the International Natural Bodybuilding Association, a bodybuilding organization that has rigorous drug testing, and has been competing with them since 2002.

Most recently, Nanney competed in Tulsa at the Tournament of Titans alongside his friend, Jerseyville native Colten Skinner. He noted that the community in the natural bodybuilding world is tightknit.

“I might be biased, but it seems like more so in the natural community, we tend to be really supportive of each other,” Nanney said. “If you go backstage at one of these events, virtually everybody is extremely supportive of everybody else.”

When he isn’t bodybuilding, Nanney works as a certified physician assistant in Bunker Hill, specializing in family medicine. He collaborates with his patients to help them create meal plans and exercise programs that work for them, which he believes is especially important as weight loss medications become more popular.

“I have some credibility when I talk to my patients, especially about how to meal plan, how to lose weight, how to set up an exercise program,” he explained. “It requires a lot of discipline, of course. But my patients tend to say, ‘If I’m going to take weight loss advice for somebody, I would rather take it from somebody that looks like they know what they’re doing.’”

As classic bodybuilding — think Arnold Schwarzenegger or Frank Zane — becomes more popular, Nanney jokes that this is all he’s ever known. He looks forward to sharing his techniques with some of the younger athletes, including Skinner, at Natural Olympia in November in Las Vegas.

This world championship will bring in athletes from 70 countries to compete in natural bodybuilding. While competing is nothing new to Nanney, he will be classified as a “pro” this time instead of an “amateur,” which excites him.

“I never pictured myself ever winning a world title, and I never, ever pictured myself becoming a pro. It’s uncharted waters,” he added. “We’ll see how that shakes out.”

Nanney thanked his wife, Karen, for her support, and he credited his faith as a main driver in his success.

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