Member Spotlight on John Newman: Youth Coach, Financial Professional, and Special Needs Parent
If there is one thing you can say about the 5am crew at Manic Training Highlands Ranch, it’s that they are driven. Plenty of people cannot fathom getting up at that hour to do anything—let alone coming to a Highlands Ranch gym where you are more than likely going to have your butt handed to you.
Longtime Manic member John Newman is one of those driven folks. This fifty-something Denver native does his best to bring his A game to each workout, although he admits that it doesn’t always happen. That’s where the group fitness dynamic comes into play because when the person sweating next to you is working hard, you are just naturally going to push yourself just a little bit more.
Recently, as part of the Manic podcast series, Coach Scott Jones sat down with John to give members an opportunity get to know him a bit better. After all, there isn’t a lot of conversation happening at the 5am class—unless it’s Coach Pete Beuth advising you on how you can enhance your partner’s workout experience or telling you to quit leaning.
When your fellow class members are giving a workout their all, you quickly learn what kind of people they are—but you don’t get to know a lot of “data” about their lives. That’s where the podcast series comes in. And here are some of the highlights of this one.
Coach
Plenty of Manic members are involved with sports outside of the gym in some capacity—whether they are participants, competitors, or coaches. John, the father of four, has been coaching for years. He and his wife Stacy are preparing for their youngest to finish up high school next year, so this summer will be his last as a youth coach.
The basic tenets he tries to instill in the kids he coaches pertain to Manic members when they come to the gym:
- Practice the way you want to play (“train in to adventure out”)
- Play with high energy and a smile
Professional
As a financial professional, John has worked his way up the ladder at the firm he started with fresh out of college at the tender age of 22. Spending 33 years at the same company—through more than one buyout—is somewhat unique in this day and age, and John is grateful for the experience. He says it’s been a great ride that has brought a lot of consistency to his family life.
He attributes his success in part to being willing—eager, even—to step out of his comfort zone and seeking out opportunities that scared him. (Kind of like a Manic Training workout!)
Parent
John and his wife have three sons and one daughter—Kyle, Jack, Brett, and Kelsey. All of their kids are special, but 21-year-old Jack has special needs that require a family commitment to his care. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was an infant, Jack’s condition has had a profound impact on John and the rest of his family.
John says that the physical part of meeting his son’s needs makes a Manic membership “almost a requirement.” He credits a lot of the movements in a typical workout with keeping him strong enough to care for his son as needed.
Find out more about John and his family by listening to him and Scott talk; you can find the entire podcast here.
If you want to find out more about the great community at this Highlands Ranch gym (as well as our other locations in Fort Collins and Steamboat, CO; and East Greenwich and Wakefield, RI) and unique workouts of Manic Training, sign up here for a free week.