Chris Newton.
Burnt-Out.me Founder. Health Coach. Everyday Adventurer. Husband. Father. Lover of Baseball Caps!
Meet "Coach" Chris.
Before we get started, can I first extend a warm welcome to you.
Thank you for your interest in the Burnt-Out.me community and discovering a little more about me.
Now, seeing as you found this page – out of all the more interesting pages you could have visited here – I guess I should get out of my comfort zone, and talk about myself.
So here goes. (One last chance to read something more interesting, like my interviews with Mother Nature, or What can we learn about Burn-Out from a ‘Honey Bird’?)
No? Okay, you seem persistent. That’ a great attribute for taking on a life enhancing health journey BTW.
The Boring Credentials Thing Made Interesting.
A journey to learn about health.
I started my journey into health coaching back in 1995 when I first popped out of college and became a fitness instructor.
However, it wasn’t until 2006 when I actually went into the health industry after 10 years in photography, design and printing, which I rather fell into.
In 2005 I went back to school to learn Sports & Remedial Massage, closely followed by studying Sports Nutrition, Personal Training and Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology (fancy words for a lifestyle approach to exercise and injury prevention).
These courses changed my life’s path, and I was excited to help people improve their health and wellness, initially through the lens of Pain and Injury Recovery.
Since 2007 I’ve worked in my own clinic helping people recover from injury, manage chronic pain and improve diet & exercise habits. Most of all though, I’ve been educating and empowering people to rebuild their innate resilience, rather than having their symptoms “treated”.
Over my nearing 20 year career it became evident to me that underneath the symptoms my clients presented with were some basic needs that were not being met. So my practice evolved to focus more on foundational health, and coaching people through lifestyle changes that could help overcome their burn-out.
Since 2006 I’ve completed 100+ hours of professional development training most years (40 is the target – what can I say, I love what I do!). Continually learning from my peers, and developing my skills in nutrition, exercise and health coaching is something I plan to keep doing for many years to come.
Before starting Burnt-Out.me, I had the privilege of over a decade of service as a senior tutor, teaching for NLSSM School of Sports Massage, in London. That time in my career exposed me to so many people and taught me to be a better teacher and coach; something that has influenced my work ever since.
Want to hear the twists and turns of my own burn-out?
The Story Of My Own Health Journey.
Culminating in burn-out too!
I’ve been incredibly interested in health for many years now. Mainly because I got myself into a pretty terrible state after a great start in life.
As a kid I was very fit and healthy, enjoying a range of sports and playing Squash to a national level. I was never quite going to make the grade going professional though – Mainly because I was already exhausted by a decade (plus!) of competition.
When I finally stopped playing squash in my late 20’s I’d developed a pretty unhealthy relationship with exercise in general.
(Long story short, let’s just say a lot of people had a greater interest in my sporting performance than I did. So to compensate, and gain some control, I’d rather let myself go!)
Although my own physical and mental health was on a very slippery slope, I still considered myself to be athletic (us men are great at denial). So I found myself moving into the health and exercise industry, despite not actively participating in much myself.
Now I realise that doesn’t sound great. Headline news: Health Coach wasn’t exercising! What could YOU learn from someone like that?
We’ll get into that shortly, but long story short, I just didn’t know how to exercise without it becoming competitive in some way. And that was exhausting!
Even competing with the voice in my head, from my own expectations, was wearing me down.
Alongside this I was running my own business, working countless hours, never really giving myself time off to rest.
At one point I’d gone 4 years without so much as a bank holiday.
Work had completely taken over and I wasn’t giving myself space to take care of myself and release the pressure.
So with my physical & mental health now firmly wedged in the toilet, I was completely unfit, mentally exhausted, and totally Burnt-Out!
It was time to face up to the reality of my situation and do something to break the burn-out cycle. So I decided to start following my own professional advice, so I started a simple weekly practice of walking in a local national park for stress relief.
Before long I was loving my walks. I was becoming fitter and more relaxed, embracing the hills with energy in my body and a renewed clarity of mind. Just this one simple walking practice turned out to be my key to undoing burn-out.
The simple act of walking gave me time and space to re-evaluate myself. And I was beginning to see changes in all aspects of my life, simply by continuing to do what felt good to me as my energy returned.
And all without an ounce of that competition that was holding me back all those years – YES! I beat it. (Oops! Did that just sound a bit competitive to you too? Let’s quickly move on shall we…)
With this one small change I was finally moving better, eating better, thinking better, sleeping better, gaining purpose, and I had energy back in my mind and body again.
You’ll hear me say this again and again:
Profound changes in health emerge from the simplest practices!
Oh! Remember I asked, “what could you learn from someone like me, who wasn’t healthy”?
How Does Knowing All This Help You?
Well, I've lived on both sides of this health coin, so to speak.
I’ve trained with some of the best minds in health, fitness, stress management, nutrition, pain and injury, and in doing so I’ve developed a deep understanding for the physiology of wellbeing.
But I’ve also experienced what it’s like through my clients’ eyes. How it feels to struggle through repeated bouts of burn-out, whilst desperately wanting change.
I’ve learnt first hand, and through working with clients, how easy it is to push yourself when you should be resting, and resting when you have the energy to push yourself.
Because of this, I’ve developed a healthy respect for the energy imbalances of modern life.
Putting this all together has lead me to develop a deep empathy for the health journey of my clients, whilst using my depth of physiology knowledge to help them reach their health goals without going deeper into overwhelm.
And that’s how we got here – With you reading my indulgent ramblings… and me, excited to be part of your health journey.
Want To Write The Next Chapter In Your Own Health Story?
Let’s help learn how to be healthy today and for a lifetime.
Are you ready to get started?