The Bulldog and the Rock
Like to get in shape but worried you are too old or out of puff to start? Here is our seventh Fit for Life interview with a Londoner who shares their life-long love of exercise.
An increasing number of women are seeing the benefits of weightlifting, says gym owner Dave ‘Bulldog’ Beattie.
Dave, a former powerlifting world champion, says an intense 45-minute workout burns more calories than most other forms of exercise and puts less stress on the joints.
“I enjoy training women because they tend to dig that little bit deeper and don’t complain. You can see good results from three sessions a week if you are focused on what you are doing.
“The majority of people tend to drift around a gym. They don’t have a proper training programme and spend more time looking at their phone than getting on with it.
“It’s also a great way to keep yourself in good mental shape because you get rid of a lot of stress. I was loaning equipment out to members during the lockdowns because I could see how much they were missing it.”
The Genesis Gym is on an industrial estate in Alperton and is as old school as its owner who first took up weight-training after discovering some ‘iron’ gathering dust in a cupboard at school.
Dave subsequently joined a local weightlifting club and, after serving in the Royal Marines for more than a decade, went on to win several world titles including a squat lift of 462.5kg - the equivalent of lifting a horse.
He prides himself on running a friendly ‘no attitude’ gym and says people shouldn’t judge on first appearances.
“We’ve got a lot of big guys working out here but it’s a good atmosphere.
“Anyone is welcome as long as they are serious about training and we offer one-to-one sessions for people who want it.”
One customer who did turn heads was Dwanye ‘the Rock’ Johnson who worked out in the gym during the filming of Fast and Furious 6.
Dave added: “He was a lovely guy. He just wanted somewhere he could work out when he wasn’t on set.”
“He asked me to take him through a leg training session one day and rang to thank me the following week saying he was so sore after the session he had trouble getting off the can (toilet). I took that as a compliment.”
For more information, see www.genesisgym.co.uk