The township muscle movement: Kids getting ripped in Grandma’s backyard

Huge. That’s the only way to describe Tumi Masite. And this beaming bulldozer of a man is jacked on giving back. He’s using his championship knowledge and experience in bodybuilding to inspire and uplift the spirits of the youth in Alexandra township.

Masite’s personal bodybuilding dreams were set back by a hip injury. Rather than moping, the effervescent strongman used his misfortune as a way to help others. Addressing the lack of access to health and lifestyle facilities in his township, he opened a gym. Right in his grandmother’s backyard.

Trained by the late Reg Parker, famous for coaching bodybuilding great Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matise now mentors and trains young athletes at his iKhasi Gym. He’s out to prove that healthy living is not only an upper class prerogative.

While sports like soccer and rugby hog the limelight, Masite insists that weightlifting can be an equally effective tool for youth upliftment. To judge from the outsized impact he is having in his community, Alexandra’s Arnold Schwarzenegger raises a point.