About Dinny Morris
About Dinny Morris
My Story
Hi, my name is Dinny Morris. I’m a personal trainer in Potts Point Sydney, Australia.
I work with men and women at all levels of their physical development, from overweight couch potatoes who want to get in shape and have a go and be another success story in my weight loss program, to professional athletes and natural bodybuilders who want to beef up strength and body muscle mass.
One thing they all have in common at is a commitment to themselves. And one thing they all tell me is that when they change their body, they become more confident and energised in their work and personal lives.
We often say to ourselves “It’s not a matter of life and death” and for most things in life that’s true. But years ago I discovered the hard way that health and fitness is a matter of life and death – and it became one of my biggest motivations for helping my clients take care of themselves.
If you’re reading this and you’re not confident you can make big changes to your health and fitness, then I know how you feel. In fact, once upon a time I may well have been in a worse physical condition than you…
Ready To Take Action? Contact Me For A No Obligation Consultation.
I was that fat kid at school…
You remember the fat kid in your class at school? The one who everyone teased about their weight? The one who was first in the queue for lunch and last out of the changing room for games? That was me. Like a lot of kids, I loved to eat – sweets, baked pastry with icing (I know, but it was sooo good), McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, anything that had sugar as the main ingredient. You get the picture. And for some reason, I didn’t have the same urge to run around and burn energy most of my friends had. With inevitable results. Physical Education (PE) Class was particularly painful. I hated it so much I used to leave my PE gear at home so I didn’t have to take part – but the teacher made me do it anyway, in my school uniform shorts and no top, which exposed me in all my tubby glory. The teasing lasted all the way through High School, and for a long time I had an image of myself as someone who just wasn’t cut out for exercise. Then at the age of 14 I joined the gym. This was a huge step for me, even though I had no idea what I was doing. I was too shy to ask for help, so did the best I could on my own, copying what I saw other gym users doing. The good news is I grew out of my weight as I grew taller although I’m still short. But because I was clueless at training, I didn’t become particularly fit or strong. Ready To Take Action? Contact Me For A No Obligation Consultation.
That day changed my life
In 1998 I lost my father to a fatal heart attack. It was the biggest wake up call of my life. The biggest smack in the face ever. Afterwards, it took me a couple of months to even think remotely clearly. Looking back on my Dad’s life, I remembered that whenever we were out together people would stare, and I never really knew why. I always assumed that it was because my dad was Maori and I look pretty white. But after his death, I was handed another explanation, in the form of a the doctor’s report stating the cause of death as “obesity related problem”. My Dad was obese?! But he played sports! He played rugby when he was younger. He wasn’t a smoker. He didn’t even drink! I never saw my dad as overweight and certainly not obese. But looking back I see why: when you love someone you don’t see their external appearance, you only see the person inside. My Dad was so busy with his business, his kids, his family, and other life events that he forgot to look after number one – himself. And as a result, he lost all the rest. It was amazing how fast someone could be here one day and the next day gone. Dead. Game over. You can’t enjoy all the things that life has to offer. Like my father, who has missed out on so much of his own life, my life, and the lives of my mother, brothers and sister. This made me wake up and realize we are all responsible for our own bodies. It’s your responsibility, no-one else can do it for you. From this point on I thought to myself: I will not let myself suffer the same ending. My life will be different. Ready To Take Action? Contact Me For A No Obligation Consultation.
Time to get moving!
After my wake-up call I started to study to be a personal trainer, moving from Oropi, in the middle of nowhere, to Auckland (the big smoke, to me). To pay for my training I got a job in the hospitality business, and found I was pretty good at it. I loved the stress, the high intensity of dealing with people under pressure. By the time I got halfway through my studies I was managing bars and restaurants and earning a lot of money. So I took the easy option and dropped out of the course. For the next eight years I pursued my hospitality career – while simultaneously buying, renovating and selling houses. Property was something I thoroughly enjoyed – I could be extremely creative with what I did to the houses, and it was an uphill challenge. I always think if it doesn’t challenge you it won’t change you, it won’t make you grow, it won’t get you what you want in life. I lived in shorts and gumboots, with dirt, plaster and paint in my hair, and very little sleep. I was buying a house, settling in it, renovating it and having it back on the market – with a new kitchen, new bathrooms, gardens, and a total new look – all within 2-3 months! It was a great feeling to take a property from somewhere you wouldn’t dare take your shoes off when entering the house to having real estate agents come and say “Woah! you are doing the best renovations in this area”. It was even better when I sold each house for a lot more than I paid for it – and the buyer was thrilled with their new home. Then 2008 happened … I started reading the papers, about the collapse of the property market in the USA and elsewhere. According to the “experts”, the housing apocalypse would soon reach New Zealand. I began to doubt myself BIG TIME. So I went out and asked a lot of other people what they thought. I hired a ‘Guru’ property guy – the first of many. I thought they had the secret answer. But listening to their gloomy predictions made me doubt myself even more. (It turned out all the experts and gurus had no idea what they were talking about. The New Zealand property market escaped the global meltdown. So if I’d kept going with my business I’d have been just fine. But I didn’t know that at the time. Lesson learnt: stay out of your own way.) I followed my fears and got out of the property game, taking a short-term job while I considered my options. That’s when I stumbled across an ad for Outward Bound – an obstacle course in the South Island of New Zealand that pushes you to your mental and physical limits. Next thing I knew I was jumping off sea cliffs, swimming in freezing water, hiking over mountains and canoeing down rivers. I spent 36 hours alone in the bush with just two canvas mats I had to tie to trees to make a shelter. It was scary and tough, but my new challenge made me feel alive again. And that’s when I got itchy feet… Ready To Take Action? Contact Me For A No Obligation Consultation.
Getting fighting fit with the “Thai Hulk“
I went to Australia, then Thailand, where I landed up at a Muay Thai kickboxing camp. I thought “OK sweet, I want to give kickboxing a go”. It turned out I was bad. So bad, they put me with a 12 year old kid. I smiled and thought “Oh yeah whatever, this will be easy”. Then he beat the shit out of me. If you have ever been to Thailand, you’ll know they start training kids for Muay Thai about the age of four or five, and their professional careers are generally over by the age of 24-28. After a few beatings from this skinny little kid I decided it was time to try something else. I jumped in at the deep end, with mixed martial arts (MMA) – full contact fighting using striking and grappling techniques from all kinds of different martial arts. Unsurprisingly, as a novice and the smallest guy there, I got my ass kicked again. But this time I thought “No, I’m not giving up!”. So I hung out in the gym and trained twice a day with Chainarong Reungjaristearn – a.k.a. ‘The Thai Hulk’, a regular of the famous Mr Thailand Bodybuilding Competition. I learned a lot of old school bodybuilding techniques as well as how to lift when you have very little equipment. At the time the gym didn’t have much: a tin roof with basic kit and no air conditioning, with the temperature well over 30C. Within ten minutes of working out you were drenched in sweat. And it was great: everyone smiled and everyone was there to train hard. I was never the best fighter in the gym but I learned to take care of myself. I felt myself getting fitter, leaner and stronger. And the experience inspired me to pick up my pursuit of a fitness career. I had my eye sight on being a personal trainer in sydney…………. After spending two and a half months at the camp, going to beaches, full moon parties, and all the other places Thailand has to offer, I moved onto Hong Kong, and remote parts of China, where I learned what it was like to be stared at again – as the only European for miles around! Next up was Europe: Italy, France, the UK. And finally the USA, with a month in sunny Los Angeles. I love the sun. I then returned to New Zealand and that was a reality check: I’d forgotten the rain! The rain in New Zealand goes sideways, it goes down, it goes up! So I decided to move back to Sydney, for the sunshine and one of the biggest fitness industry markets in the world. Arriving in Sydney I had no idea where to go. I spent the first two weeks in a hotel with cockroaches the size of baby mice, before I found a flat in Surry Hills. Australia has such a large fitness industry it’s crazy. I thought if I could train or meet enough people I would be able to share my story and inspire other people to believe in themselves and take control of their bodies the way I had done. Which is exactly what I’m doing now. Ready To Take Action? Contact Me For A No Obligation Consultation.
My training philosophy: Tough Love
My training philosophy starts by facing the fact that training is tough. It takes time. It takes commitment. There’s no two ways about it – changing your diet, mindset, and lifestyle habits, pushing yourself hard in the gym, and sticking to it long enough to see results is not easy. It takes you way outside your comfort zone – as change should. We all know this, and I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you.. But what most people don’t realise is how great it feels when you push past the pain, when you surprise yourself with newfound strength and stamina – and when you leave the gym with a natural high that lets you know you’re doing yourself the power of good. It feels even better when you look in the mirror and see a different person – not just slimmer and stronger, but glowing with health and brimming with confidence. Not to mention receiving compliments and admiring glances from other people. That’s what I want for my clients – and why I’m known for my ‘tough love’ approach to training. I push you hard because it’s the shortest route to feeling and looking great. So if you work with me, rest assured you will be working – and because of that, you will see the kind of results my clients experience: If you want to make big changes to your health, fitness and confidence, you can read more about my training philosophy and training programs. If you’re interested in working with me one-to-one, you can apply for a training place here. And if you’d like my advice on training hard, eating well and motivating yourself to reach your goals, you can have my latest articles and videos delivered to you – just enter your email in the box below (of course I’ll never share your email address.). Ready To Take Action? Contact Me For A No Obligation Consultation.
My qualifications
This is why, as well as taking the best foundation training I could find, I am constantly updating and deepening my knowledge by taking new courses, on subjects ranging from Mindset, Nutrition, New Equipment, Strength Training, Supplementation, Bodybuilding, Biomechanics. So when you train with me you know you are getting the latest and most authoritative advice in the industry. These are some of the courses I’ve taken and the certifications I hold.
- Poliquin International Cert 1+2
- Bio Signature level 2
- The Biomechanics Method
- EKI- Kettle Bell Instructor
- Strength Sensi Hypertrophy Bootcamp
- Certificate 3+4
- Clean Health Internship
- First Aid
- Precision Nutrition
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