Dustyn Rodgers is well known to many people in Ballarat as a personal trainer and co-owner of the new gym in Latrobe St, The Playground, but it has been a long journey for this local Ballarat boy, who grew up raising and showing chickens from the family farm at Magpie. As a boy Dustyn grew up on the farm helping to care for and raise the animals, riding motorbikes in local motocross competitions and playing outdoor tennis. At 16 he left school to start a trade apprenticeship as a joiner. When Dustyn was 18 a new gym opened in Magpie and it was there that Dustyn’s passion for weight training and fitness really ignited. As a favour to a friend he completed his Cert 3/Cert 4 in personal training in 2012 and became a part time PT whilst still working as a joiner. Dustyn’s role as a PT has allowed him to work in various gyms across Ballarat including Anytime Fitness, Ben’s Army and most recently D2E. Having built a solid client base Dustyn was able to step back from work as a joiner and focus on working as a PT full time. Five years later Dustyn took the leap with business partners Troy Jones, Harley Tempest and Josh Driscoll, branching out to create their own gym, The Playground. Though it hasn’t been an easy journey, Dustyn has pushed through the mental battle of wanting to quit, to follow his passion of helping others on their own personal health and fitness journey.
