Steve Newell

What made you want to become a PT?

I have been involved in sport since the age of 5 (karate) and high level sport since the age of 14 (played basketball for the London Towers Juniors and for the London youth games team to a national level).

After getting injured at 18 I went to university and discovered a love for strength training and when I managed to get back into sport I noticed the difference it gave me in my performance.

My original plan was to move into professional fighting and then onto coaching after that, but as time went on I realised that I loved the coaching and teaching part so much I decided to train to be a PT.

What are your career goals?

I want to be a top level coach, coaching people from the person who has just had knee surgery and has to relearn the basic movements and strengths of their lower body, all the way to elite level athletes that are trying to break world records.

Training people is my passion and I want to do it to the best of my ability.

What do you specialise in?

I would class myself as a highly competent all round trainer, but if pushed I would say that my speciality is performance, whether that be someone who wants to be able to run 3 miles who has never done that before, or an advanced athlete who wants to get even better. Real results that you can see in your everyday life and the way your body works, that is what I would say my speciality is.

What techniques have you learned from your experiences in life that you will use the get clients the results they want?

I have been involved in high level sports for the majority of my adolescent and adult life, having competed at national or higher level in 4 sports as of now and planning on a couple more before I am done. I have been around high level successful coaches in many disciplines and have learnt and absorbed things from them which I believe help me with my clients.

I have also personally come back from two quite major injuries/illnesses and I think this gives me a unique perspective of how some people feel if they are starting from scratch or are coming back into training after a long lay-off etc.

What do you like most about the Lift Each Other Studio?

The studio has a great mission statement, and is interested in a holistic approach to client progress. Focusing on the mental as well as the physical. Not to mention the incredible equipment.

In my late teens I injured my shoulder severely and was told by my doctors that I would not be able to take part in contact sport or weightlifting again, this shattered me as I was playing basketball at a national level at this point and loved training with all my heart.

The next few years were quite a battle for me in terms of mental health, I undertook physio and managed to get back to some form of training, and for me this was a turning point. I used training as a way to give myself motivation and routine and in turn this helped me combat my mental health issues, as it still does to this day.

Training for me is my passion, hobby, fun but it is also my stress relief and my compass, it keeps me on the right track and gives me something to build a foundation on, and I believe this is the case for quite a lot of people and can be a great tool to battle the mental health crisis which is happening in this day and age.