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(Health-NewsWire.Net, June 01, 2015 ) Corbin, Kentucky -- The dynamic between struggle and triumph is inherently human. A victory achieved by just one of person has the ability to inspire countless others in ways that we may never have even dreamt of.
Nathan Smith, a third grade teacher in Whitley County, Kentucky, is one of those victors. He is the first men's physique competitor to place in a NPC Bodybuilding Championship (the Kentucky Derby Festival Bodybuilding Championship) while also having a pacemaker. And so begins the story of how a 32-year-old third grade teacher and married father of two managed to triumph over an unbelievable challenge.
Nathan discovered early in life that he had a knack bodybuilding, and that knack soon became a passion. Along with his bodybuilding career, he also became a third grade teacher in Whitley County, Kentucky. Things took a turn for the worse when Nathan began passing out while at school. In 2010, he went to a cardiologist, who gave him a heart monitor to wear.
After only one night of wearing the heart monitor, he got a call from the cardiologist telling him to come in for emergency surgery to put in a pacemaker. At just 27 years old, Nathan had a complete heart block. A pacemaker would regulate Nathan's heartbeat, both saving his life and, according to his doctors, ending his athletic career.
Post-surgery, Nathan was told he would no longer be able to bodybuild or weightlift due to the limitations that came with having a pacemaker. He was advised not to lift his left arm above his head or engage in strenuous activity. Any attempts to continue bodybuilding or weightlifting were highly discouraged, not only by his cardiologist, but also by family and friends worried about his health.
Faced with the loss of one of the things he loved most, Nathan sank into what he described as a depressive state, but as time passed, so did the way Nathan looked at his pacemaker. Rather than give up, he decided to see what his physical limitations were. He found that his mentality and willpower were stronger than any corporeal barrier.
Nathan worked slowly into his new lifestyle. When describing the general process of getting back on his feet, Nathan said, "I didn't want to take a risk with my health, so I built myself up over time to get to where I am now. The pacemaker placed many limitations on my body that I had to work through"
As the competition grew closer, Nathan received tons of support from fans on social media who believed in his cause and cheered him on. This momentum built up as more and more people began to take notice of just how enormous an accomplishment it would be if he became the first man with a pacemaker to place in bodybuilding championship. Also, doing well at the Kentucky Derby Festival would qualify him to compete at the national level. Despite all this, Nathan was only able to procure two sponsorships for the event, while others at the event would bolster dozens. His sponsors, of which he has expressed great thanks to, are Physiofinity Calf Compressions Sleeves and Total Nutrition Source
On April 25, 2015, Nathan Smith walked into a room packed full of nearly 500 competitors. His mission had taken on a symbolism and gravitas that stretched past anything material—winning a trophy wasn't the point. Placing in the championship was, as he put it, a "personal challenge." He'd become a bodybuilding crusader, out to prove to not only his family, friends, and students that he was a champion, but also to himself.
The results came in and Nathan ended up placing third in both the Men's Physique Class E for the open and the Men's Physique Class C for the novice.
Nathan hopes his children will grow to admire the victory he has achieved and what he had to go through to get there, saying, "I feel like I have proven something, I feel accomplished…I think it's one of the best things I've ever done. I can motivate my children and my kids at school to never give up."
About Physiofinity
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Physiofinity
Dylan Frost
606267107
info@physiofinity.com
Source: EmailWire.Com 
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