A Hamilton man who did time for car conversions, break-ins and aggravated robbery says the current crop of ramraiders are idiots who will regret their actions.

By the age of 17, Daniel Rudolph was in Mt Eden prison after a string of car thefts and house break-ins.

The then Auckland teenager's crimes included a ramraid, which he was never caught for, and selling drugs as he fed his drug and alcohol addiction.

In an aggravated robbery, Rudolph beat a shop worker so badly with his fists that he put him in hospital.

But Rudolph, 40, has turned his life around after his three-year prison stint and founded a top powerlifting gym in Hamilton, Kiwi-Strength.

He thinks today's ramraiders are copying what they're seeing overseas, and says they would be better off finding a job.

'I just think those guys are idiots, what the f… are you doing?” he says.

'It's not really worth it. You're going to have to do another one the next day. You've got no money. It's just stupid.

'Go get a job. There's plenty of work out there if you want to work.”

Rudolph came through dark days after prison, including a spell of homelessness as he fought his addiction.

The turning point came around 2004 when he was contemplating suicide, but snapped out of it at the last moment.

He got back with his partner, moved out of town and got off the drugs.

Today, a married father of three running his own business, his mindset is completely different, he said.

'I see stuff done and it's like, why?”

They're going to regret it, the same way he regrets his past.

That includes apologising to his aggravated robbery victim at his sentencing.

It's why he's putting so much into the powerlifters he coaches at Kiwi-Strength, which includes members who are among the best in New Zealand.

'I just want to give back for the things I have done and help as many people as I can.”

-Richard Walker/Stuff.