Ayrshire Post

Get flexing at Ayr’s own muscle beach

- Michael Reynolds

The Low Green could soon become Ayrshire’s very own Muslce Beach.

Stuart Duthie, 23, from Ayr, travelled the world after leaving school and was inspired to create outdoor gyms after seeing similar setups in America and Australia.

The former Belmont Academy pupil now wants to turn his dream into a social enterprise business that he hopes can revolution­ise deprived communitie­s across the county.

He said: “I’m not really driven by sending people to a gym and having them pay money, I’m more driven by making sure the equipment is there and ready to use.

“Any money we make would go straight back into that to make more outdoor gyms, whether that’s in deprived areas, public areas, universiti­es, wherever that may be.

“You can point someone to a gym or to a field to go and do sprints but the gyms we want to provide will mean it’s not just you doing that yourself, its the community.

“It’s not about going into a gym and standing in front of a mirror and doing your dumbbells, all that kind of thing. We like to encourage everyone to help each other to get to a goal, and become more healthy.”

Stuart grew up in Dalmilling before moving to Castlehill, and after finding himself penniless and without a home on his travels he said practising calistheni­cs – intense upper body workouts – helped keep his head up.

His dream is to build outdoor gyms across Ayrshire, and he says he’s already been in contact with councils about his plan – and aims to have the first Bodyfounda­tion gym set up within six months.

He said: “We’re working full steam ahead to try and get one up, even just a prototype, to get the feel of it and promote what we’re trying to do.

“Hopefully in the next six moths we’ll have something we can work out of.”

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 ??  ?? Show of strength Ayr man Stuart Duthie practicing calistheni­cs, which he hopes to bring to people in Ayrshire with his plans for a series of outdoor, Muscle Beach- style, gym
Show of strength Ayr man Stuart Duthie practicing calistheni­cs, which he hopes to bring to people in Ayrshire with his plans for a series of outdoor, Muscle Beach- style, gym
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 ??  ?? Life’s a beach Could Ayr become a big beach draw?
Life’s a beach Could Ayr become a big beach draw?

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