David Morris – Trainer and Owner of Fitter than Yesterday

We have a new trainer at Urban!! David has been a part of the family almost a year now; both he and his son train here, and we’re really excited to have him on the team.

Hey David, welcome to the Urban family, how long have you been training and fighting for?

About 8 years all up, I Boxed in high school. I then started Muaythai training about 5 years ago and have switched back and forth between Muaythai and Kickboxing ever since . I’ve had 4 fights, with one loss, and was the National Runner up for WAKO in 2016.

How was the WAKO tournament?

I learned more in those 3 fights than in probably 2 years of training. There’s so much to it, the fitness, the mental preparation, everything. My son and I both competed on the same day at that WAKO Sydney Open, and both of us walked out with medals. And he even won a medal for sword-fighting that day, so it was really cool.

Ah cool! That’s rad that you guys get to do this stuff together. So, what made you start FTY, and what is it?

I’ve been seeing a cardiologist for a number of years now due to having a medical condition called Mitral Valve prolapse. The Mitral valve is weak and basically allows blood to flow back into my heart after it has been pumped out.  Due to a poor diet, lack of exercise and the wrong lifestyle choices, corrective surgery will be required at some point in the future. I was not born with this condition; it developed due to me neglecting my own health and wellbeing in my 20’s.

I started FTY which stands for “Fitter Than Yesterday” and it’s about people coming to us and changing their lifestyle one step at a time, without competition. Its’ purely about helping people become “Fitter Than Yesterday”.  If I can help people see the benefits of exercise and healthy lifestyle choices then I have achieved what I set out to do.  We also help people who are already training by providing a different outlook to round out their training.

Woah, what a lesson to learn… What kind of stuff do you do?

Mostly Kickboxing and Muaythai, but also some circuit training and varied fitness. Everything we do is about functional fitness, not weight gains or muscle sculpting for looks. We do Kickboxing on Mondays here at Urban, and then do Boxing on Wednesdays at Pizzey Park with more classes to come soon.

And what do you do when you’re not here?

Look after my kids! I do everything from school drop-offs, play groups food and everything. You don’t get them back, that’s the way I look at it, I want to spend as much time with them as I can.

That’s smart for sure. What have you learned about yourself from training other people? Have you changed much?

Yeah – being a PT has changed my outlook, I see that everyone has their own problems, which can be widely different from others. I’m here for everything – anything from training to just being someone to talk to. People come to training for many different reasons and I just like to help them find what they’re looking for.

How do you know what that is?

Genuinely listening to people. Often we’re too busy figuring out what to say back that we don’t realise that sometimes people just want to be heard.

Have you ever struggled to figure out what they need?

The biggest problem I’ve found is when people come to training because someone told them they need to train, not because they want to do it. Could be a doctor or their family, it can be hard to motivate them. My thoughts on training are that it should be your journey not someone else’s.

How do you get through that?

Again, listening, and trial and error. Some exercises might work, and some don’t. Also find the exercises they enjoy so that it’s less of a chore and they get excited to come. As long as they come in, and feel better once they leave, then it makes it worthwhile.

Any last words?

If you’ve ever thought you need a lifestyle change or want some help with some health goals, or even contemplated trying a combat sport then get in contact, I’ll be more than happy to help  get you there!