As he gripped the bar with determination, his adrenaline pumped and sweat ran down his face. Preparing for his first squat, the man balanced 495 pounds, the weight of small elephant, on his shoulders. The weight plates clanked against one another as the bar flexed under the load.

He grunted and bent his knees 90 degrees, the weight still resting on his cannonball shoulders. He paused briefly. Sweat hit the floor as he powered the weight and extended his body upward, ending the first rep where it began. He was just getting started.

Chief Petty Officer Shawn Campbell is a Nashville, Tennessee, native and a powerlifter. At 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 265 lbs., his stature demands attention. But beneath heavily-calloused hands, his freshly-shaven head and the obvious loads of muscle draped on his stout frame, is a story that offers some unique insights and lessons on how to shoulder adversity, raise your own bar, and hit your all-time personal best.

Campbell joined the Navy at 18 after graduating from McGavock High School, where he gained an infatuation with sports.

"I was always active and loved to compete," he said. "In high school I played football, wrestled, ran track, and I was part of the weightlifting team."

Although he stopped competing in sports after graduation, he continued spending time in the gym and enjoyed maintaining a steady, challenging workout regimen. He hadn't yet discovered his passion for powerlifting; that would come later after an event which almost ended not only the Navy career he loved, but his life.

On Feb. 16, 2006, Campbell was stationed aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in Norfolk. After spending time at the mall with some friends, he headed home on his motorcycle. He had no way of knowing that ride would change everything.

Evening rush hour traffic had already filled the highway when he left the mall, and construction was forcing three lanes of traffic into two. As Campbell began to merge into the adjacent lane, a car slammed into him.

"I was ejected from my motorcycle and rolled back into the street," Campbell recalled. "My motorcycle jacket got caught on a delivery truck, and I was dragged about a football field's length on the asphalt."

Campbell admits he's lucky to have survived, but remembers the struggles he faced after the accident.

With a broken left leg and a shattered right ankle, the man who so strongly embraced his active lifestyle now had to learn to cope with a long recovery period. He had difficulty accepting the limitations his injuries placed on him, and he confessed he let himself go.

"I was in a wheelchair for months, and I got enormous," he said. "I wasn't working out. I was eating all the time. I didn't have to work, so I just got way out of [Navy fitness] standards."

But when doctors told Campbell he could be medically retired or separated from the Navy due to his physical condition, he knew something had to change.

"That was unacceptable," he said. "I told myself, if I wanted to stay in the Navy, I needed to figure something out."

It took him three surgeries and a year off work to recover from his injuries. Doctors told him he couldn't walk for six months. With renewed motivation, however, Campbell found his way back to the weight room after only five.

Campbell not only made the pledge to himself to get back in shape, he wanted to go farther and be better than before the accident. And for the next five years, Campbell pursued bodybuilding as a way to stay on the path he'd set for himself; that was until a friend introduced him to what would soon become his true passion -- powerlifting.

Campbell seemed a natural powerlifter from the start. At his first competition while stationed in Japan in 2011, he easily out-lifted the reigning, four-year champion. He was instantly hooked, and he adopted the sport with more energy, determination, and motivation than anything he'd done since the accident.

Today, Campbell continues to sweat it out in the gym daily, summoning what his past has taught him when the barbell seems like it just won't budge. Now, no matter what the situation is, he knows to keep pushing.

At his last competition, set for a bench press beneath a bar loaded with 465 lbs., Campbell once again proved the power of this mindset.

"When I tried it the first time the weight did not move off my chest," he recalled.

With two tries left, the same thing happened. The weight just sat there.

"I could have turned and gave up on it, but I'd done that before and seen where it had gotten me," he said. On his third try, "the weight flew up like it was nothing."

His attitude and training have paid off, and Campbell now holds multiple California state records for the 35-39 age group, including a 650 lb. squat and 501 lb. bench press. And his 611 lb. deadlift personal record deserves equal respect.

Campbell knows he won't be able to powerlift forever, but he promises to keep pushing himself.

"I want to have a 725-pound raw squat and 540-pound bench press in competition before I turn 40," he said. "And I want to deadlift 700 pounds before the end of 2016."

He strongly believes he can achieve anything he sets his mind to, and he offered an analogy on how positive thinking helped him push through adversity and come back stronger than ever.

"Let's say a mountain climber climbs 500 feet, but decides he wants to get all the way to the top," said Campbell. "As long as he never looks down and keeps climbing, he'll accomplish his goal no matter how high the mountain."

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