Clifford Looby still remembers how the girls he was interested in laughed at him because he was so skinny.

He was six ft tall and weighed 126lbs.

“Can you imagine how slight that was? I felt bad,” he recalled.

At 18, he started working out and bulked up to 220lbs. Suddenly the girls weren’t laughing anymore.

It’s a memory Mr Looby shares with relish. His bodybuilding has kept him fighting fit at 81. He also paints, plays the piano, tap dances and fixes up old cars.

“I can still bench-press and do dead lifts,” he said. “I work out with about 100lbs.”

He was living on Friswell’s Hill in Pembroke when he transformed from being a skinny teenager.

“People asked me if I was on steroids,” he said. “I liked the way I looked. I ate raw foods rather than junk food, went to bed early and had mentors to train with.”

So many people started asking for help that in 1951 he started a gym in an empty horse stable on Parson’s Road using weights made out of cement.

He left Bermuda briefly to work on the Queen of Bermuda in 1963. He returned to find his friends hadn’t kept the gym in good shape. A bit disgusted, he gave it up and took on a series of jobs — hospital orderly, prison guard and laundry worker.

He met the love of his life, Cheri, when he was 30 and they were married in 1965. They lived on Happy Valley Road in Devonshire, where Mr Looby started another gym in a downstairs room.

Its popularity quickly outstripped the space.

“People were constantly running upstairs to use the bathroom or the phone,” said Mr Looby. “I decided we needed a bigger space.”

A friend cautioned that if he moved the gym out of his home, it would lose its personal touch and people wouldn’t support it. Luckily, the friend was wrong — Cliff’s Health Club grew rapidly. At the time there were few gyms in Bermuda; most people worked out at home.

Gina Swainson was one of his clients as she prepared for Miss World and Miss Universe in 1979.

“She really pushed herself,” said Mr Looby. “I knew she had what it took.”

He took part in the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio that same year, and placed 26 out of 109 bodybuilders.

He participated in local bodybuilding competitions well into his 60s, but had to stop when he injured his arm.

“I went to sleep with my arms over my head,” he said. “When I woke up I couldn’t move one of my arms.”

He had torn a ligament and his bicep was hanging like “a wet bag of clothes”. He had surgery but things were further complicated by infection.

“The doctor said I would probably never use that arm again,” said Mr Looby. “I couldn’t even touch my mouth with my arm.”

He was determined to defy the odds. He started working out again once his arm healed and now has almost full use of it.

“A friend of mine would stand over me holding just the weight bar,” he said. “Slowly I gained my strength back and was able to lift it.

“Then we added weights to it and I was able to lift that too. The only thing about it now is that I have to be very careful lifting my arm over my head. But I can bench-press and dead lift.”

Of all the things he has accomplished in his life, he is most proud of being a member of the Salvation Army.

His grandmother, Anetta Looby, often took him to worship at the Pentecostal Evening Light Tabernacle on Parson’s Road when he was a child.

“The strangest thing would happen,” said Mr Looby. “It was usually at night and I would see the face of Jesus reflected in the church windows.

“It scared me half to death, but my grandmother would say he’s nothing to worry about, he’s your friend.”

As he got older he resisted religion, until he had a strange experience working at the Sunshine Laundry.

“I was in my early 20s,” he said. “I was loading up the machines when I suddenly felt like all the strength went out of my limbs.

“It was similar to the Bible story about Paul on the road to Damascus. I was thirsty but I couldn’t drink. I got hungry, but food couldn’t satisfy myself. At break I went up the street and found a member of the Salvation Army. I told him I wanted to accept Jesus as my personal saviour.”

The person was initially sceptical, but Mr Looby convinced him he was serious.

“I met him at his house at 1pm that day and accepted Jesus into my heart,” he said.

He credits many things in his life to his faith and the mentors that helped him along the way: Calix Darrell, John “Pickles” Spence and Alpheaus “Ardie” Black.

“God keeps his promises,” said Mr Looby. “He has afforded me good health, strength, and good memories.”

His wife died from cancer after 19 years of marriage. They had two children Mistie and Shannon, and three grandchildren.