About the Owner · Spencer, Indiana
Meet Drew Heckman
Powerlifter, Classic Physique Competitor & Owner of S.O.B. Gym
Drew Heckman, Ph.D., co-owns S.O.B. Gym (Sweet Owen Barbell) in Spencer, Indiana with his wife Stacey. Behind the gym is a competitive powerlifting career built over 13 sanctioned meets: nine first-place finishes, a 2,000 lb total in wraps, and a win in the Open division at the 2021 IPL Olympia Pro. Today he coaches lifters on the same platforms he trains on — and competes in classic physique bodybuilding.
Career competition bests in the 275 lb (125 kg) class. Every meet is on the books — verify them on Drew Heckman’s OpenPowerlifting profile.
Built in Indiana. Forged in Omaha.
Drew started lifting in the 8th grade to get stronger for football. He grew up playing baseball, basketball, and football at a small high school in southern Indiana, and entered his first powerlifting meet as a high-school freshman in the late ’90s. He went on to play linebacker at Butler University, where a string of injuries cut his football career short — but the weight room was a different story. Looking back, he’ll tell you he wishes he’d quit football and started powerlifting right then. After college he ran ultramarathons before finding his way back to the barbell.
The real turning point came in 2012, when Drew moved to Omaha, Nebraska — a city with one of the deepest powerlifting legacies in America thanks to Rick Hussey’s Big Iron Gym. Drew spent about seven years training at Omaha Barbell under Bret Carter, where he was schooled in everything from Westside-style conjugate training to linear periodization, accommodating resistance, and smart exercise variation. He ran Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 and Carter’s Simple Strength, trained alongside Justin Graalfs, and credits the legendary Ed Coan as the single biggest influence on his lifting technique.
By 2015 he was on the platform — and winning.
Drew Heckman’s Powerlifting Career
Thirteen sanctioned meets between 2015 and 2021 across the APF, UPA, USPA, IPL, and XPC — nine of them wins, all in the 275 lb (125 kg) class.
2021 IPL Olympia Pro Champion
Won the Open division at the IPL Olympia Pro Powerlifting meet in Orlando with a 2,039 lb (925 kg) equipped total — at age 39.
2,072 lb Career-Best Total
His biggest total: 940 kg single-ply at the 2021 USPA Clash of Strength in Omaha — a 345 kg squat, 265 kg bench, and 330 kg deadlift. First place.
2,000 lb Total in Wraps
Podiumed at the 2018 XPC Finals in Columbus, Ohio — held Arnold weekend — with a 2,000 lb (907 kg) total in knee wraps against a pro field.
IPL Worlds Runner-Up
Took 2nd in the Open raw division at the 2016 IPL World Championships in Las Vegas with a 1,791 lb (812.5 kg) total.
Winning Across Federations
Took first at the USPA Nebraska State Raw Championships, the APF South Dakota State Championships, and the UPA Illinois State & Midwest Championships — where he pulled his career-best 782 lb deadlift.
From 1,483 to 2,072
From his first sanctioned meet in 2015 to his best total in 2021, Drew added nearly 600 lb — the kind of long-arc progress he now coaches S.O.B. lifters toward.
From Powerlifting to Classic Physique
After his last powerlifting meet in the fall of 2021 — the IPL Olympia Pro win in Orlando — Drew stepped away from the platform and turned his focus to bodybuilding. In late 2025 he committed to competing in classic physique, trading third attempts for posing practice and a long contest-prep cut.
He makes his classic physique debut on August 1, 2026 at the NPC Premier Muscle Championships & NPC Indiana State Championships at the Horizon Convention Center in Muncie, Indiana.
That transition is baked into S.O.B. Gym’s identity: a gym built for powerlifting and bodybuilding, run by an owner who has trained and competed seriously in both.
A Ph.D. Behind the Programming
The letters after Drew’s name aren’t about exercise science — and he’s the first to say so. Drew earned his Ph.D. in school psychology from Indiana University in 2010, completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Boys Town Center for Behavioral Health — where he later served five years as assistant training director of its APA-approved internship — and finished a post-doctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After managing an outpatient behavioral health clinic for IU Health, he now practices as a licensed psychologist at Heckman Behavioral Health in Spencer, Indiana.
His lifting knowledge came from the platform, not the classroom — but the psychology shows up in how he coaches. Drew tells lifters what they’re doing right, and he never gives more than two corrective cues at a time. Lifters don’t get overwhelmed, and good habits get reinforced until they stick.
For Drew, the connection between mental and physical health isn’t theory — it’s the through-line of his whole story, and a big part of why the gym exists.
Catch lifters doing it right — reinforce what works.
Never more than two corrective cues at a time.
Why S.O.B. Gym Exists
In the winter of 2021, Drew moved back home to southern Indiana, bought a pile of gym equipment, and started training in his garage. Borrowing from one of his favorite movies — if you build it, they will come — he soon had a handful of lifters training alongside him and asking for programming. Testing his theories on real lifters, drawn from every training style he’d absorbed in Omaha, turned a garage crew into a coaching practice.
In 2025, Drew and Stacey opened S.O.B. Gym — Sweet Owen Barbell — inside the Tier 10 Sports Campus in Spencer, Indiana. It’s a family-owned gym built around powerlifting and bodybuilding but welcoming to every kind of lifter: two deadlift platforms with Texas Deadlift Bars, a monolift, two power racks, specialty bars, and upper- and lower-body machines, open to members 24/7.
Meet Stacey Heckman
S.O.B. Gym’s other owner has a trophy shelf of her own. Stacey Heckman is a competitive powerlifter with ten sanctioned meets on the books — including four straight first-place finishes from 2022 to 2025 and a career-best 722 lb (327.5 kg) total in wraps. Her best competition lifts: a 281 lb squat, 132 lb bench, and 319 lb deadlift. Like Drew’s, every meet is on her OpenPowerlifting profile.
Outside the gym, Stacey is a tattoo artist and the owner of Serenity Ink. She books tattoo consultations through the form linked in her Instagram bio, @staceyheckman.
Giving Back in Owen County
S.O.B. Gym is built into its community — the barbell is just the excuse.
Rescue Recovery
The gym regularly partners with Rescue Recovery, a faith-based recovery ministry of Spencer First Church of the Nazarene. The 2026 Pulling Through Recovery deadlift meet raised $1,500 — funding a longtime S.O.B. member’s certification as a recovery coach. Pulling Through Recovery returns in 2027.
Boys & Girls Club — Owen County
Drew serves on the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Club’s Owen County Club. For the 2026–27 school year, the club offers after-school programming at all four Owen County elementary schools — no small thing in a county that has faced a real childcare shortage.
Quick Answers
Who owns S.O.B. Gym in Spencer, Indiana?
S.O.B. Gym (Sweet Owen Barbell, LLC) is family-owned by Drew and Stacey Heckman. It opened in 2025 inside the Tier 10 Sports Campus at 2499 IN-43, Spencer, Indiana.
What are Drew Heckman’s best powerlifting numbers?
Drew’s career competition bests are a 780 lb squat (wraps), 460 lb bench press, 782 lb deadlift, and a 2,000 lb total (wraps) in the 275 lb class, plus a 2,072 lb (940 kg) equipped total. His full meet history is on OpenPowerlifting.
Does Drew Heckman still compete?
Yes — after retiring from powerlifting following his 2021 IPL Olympia Pro win, Drew now competes in classic physique bodybuilding. He makes his NPC debut on August 1, 2026 in Muncie, Indiana.
Who is Stacey Heckman?
Stacey Heckman co-owns S.O.B. Gym with her husband Drew. She’s a competitive powerlifter — ten sanctioned meets with four straight first-place finishes from 2022 to 2025 and a 722 lb best total in wraps — and a tattoo artist who owns Serenity Ink, booking consultations through Instagram (@staceyheckman).
Is Drew Heckman really a doctor?
Yes. Drew holds a Ph.D. in school psychology from Indiana University (2010) and practices as a psychologist at Heckman Behavioral Health in Spencer, Indiana. His doctorate is in psychology — his lifting expertise comes from over two decades under the bar.