{"id":19518,"date":"2026-05-07T13:13:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=19518"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:13:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:13:50","slug":"fighting-stage-4-cancer-north-texas-bodybuilder-decides-to-defy-the-odds-to-get-back-on-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=19518","title":{"rendered":"Fighting stage 4 cancer, North Texas bodybuilder decides to defy the odds to get back on stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>Naz Thomas is making a comeback more than 10 years after retiring, this time he faces a nearly impossible challenge while fighting prostate cancer. <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>DALLAS \u2014 For Naz Thomas, looking back on his glory days is an exercise in exercise.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Thomas was once a champion bodybuilder and almost turned pro.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>But about a decade ago, Thomas quit bodybuilding to focus on his career as a personal trainer at Life Time in Plano.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Things were going just fine until a few months ago on Thomas\u2019 birthday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_recirculation article__recirc-long\" style=\"display:none\">\n<div class=\"article__story-continues-banner\">\n<div class=\"article__story-continues-left\">\n                                        <span class=\"article__story-continues-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">&#13;<br \/>\n                                            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wfaa.com\/assets\/shared-images\/icons\/arrow-circle-down.svg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\n                                        <\/span><br \/>\n                                        <span class=\"article__story-continues-text\">&#13;<br \/>\n                                            This story continues below.&#13;<br \/>\n                                        <\/span>\n                                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>\u201cI wanted to get back on stage,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was where my heart was. The sport. Bodybuilding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>On his 50th birthday, after 12 years away, Thomas returned to bodybuilding.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>It was a crazy decision, not because of his seniority, but because of his fragility.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Naz is dying. Three years ago, he was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. At this point, there\u2019s nothing doctors can do except try to contain it. The treatment is aggressive, which makes bodybuilding nearly impossible and highly remarkable.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>That treatment he\u2019s on kills virtually all of his testosterone, the building blocks of building muscle.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>\u201cI know it\u2019ll be tough, but I\u2019ll find a way,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI\u2019ll find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>His first competition isn\u2019t until September.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Even with time to train, it may not make a difference. So why even try?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the word,\u201d he said. \u201cYou try. You don\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>More importantly, Thomas said this time around, he carries a heavier burden.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>He wants his clients to dream big and push past their own limitations, and believe that hard things are possible.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>\u201cI got a chance to change another life,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWhich, I believe, is going to be the best reward because this journey is for awareness. And hope. And inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>And proof that real strength isn\u2019t measured by how much weight you can lift, but how you can lift the lives of others.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfaa.com\/article\/features\/fighting-stage-4-cancer-north-texas-bodybuilder-decides-to-defy-the-odds-to-get-back-on-stage\/287-a815bd63-3519-4495-88dc-6998a57199c9\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Naz Thomas is making a comeback more than 10 years after retiring, this time he faces a nearly impossible challenge while fighting prostate cancer. DALLAS \u2014 For Naz Thomas, looking back on his glory days is an exercise in exercise. Thomas was once a champion bodybuilder and almost turned pro. But about a decade ago, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fighting stage 4 cancer, North Texas bodybuilder decides to defy the odds to get back on stage - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=19518\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fighting stage 4 cancer, North Texas bodybuilder decides to defy the odds to get back on stage - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Naz Thomas is making a comeback more than 10 years after retiring, this time he faces a nearly impossible challenge while fighting prostate cancer. DALLAS \u2014 For Naz Thomas, looking back on his glory days is an exercise in exercise. Thomas was once a champion bodybuilder and almost turned pro. 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