David Laid is an Estonian-American fitness influencer, bodybuilder, and YouTuber born on January 29, 1998, in Estonia. He built a global following through body transformation videos and now serves as Gymshark’s Creative Director of Lifting.
Laid began weightlifting at 14 and turned his own physical transformation into a media career.
Who is David Laid?
David Laid is best known for documenting his body transformation on YouTube, starting as a skinny teenager. His videos, filmed between ages 14 and 17, later drew tens of millions of views.
That online following turned him into a sponsored athlete and fitness model. Laid has worked with major fitness brands throughout his career.
In 2023, Gymshark named him its first Creative Director of Lifting. He now shapes product development and athlete recruitment for the brand’s weightlifting line.
Early Life of David Laid
David Laid was born in Estonia on January 29, 1998. His mother, Nino, had immigrated to Estonia from Russia before David’s birth.
He lost his father at age two in an accident after his father fell from a docked cruise ship. That loss left his mother to raise David and his two younger brothers alone.
A few years later, Nino moved the family to the United States. They settled in New Jersey, where she eventually opened a family café.
Laid attended Mainland Regional High School in New Jersey. During his teenage years, a sudden growth spurt left him tall and underweight, and classmates bullied him over his frame.
At 14, doctors diagnosed him with scoliosis. He began weight training under medical guidance, a decision that reshaped the rest of his life.
David Laid Age
David Laid is 28 years old as of 2026, born on January 29, 1998. His zodiac sign is Aquarius.
He started lifting weights at age 14 after his scoliosis diagnosis. Within a few years, that early training turned into a full media career.
David Laid Ethnicity and Nationality
David Laid holds Estonian-American nationality. He was born in Estonia and became a naturalized American citizen after moving to the United States as a young child.
His mother, Nino, is of Russian background and had settled in Estonia before his birth. That mixed Baltic and Russian family history shaped his early years before the move to New Jersey.
David Laid Height and Weight
David Laid stands at approximately 6 feet 2 inches, or 188 centimeters. He weighs around 198 pounds, or roughly 90 kilograms, at his competition weight.
As a young teenager, he weighed closer to 90 pounds before beginning weight training. That contrast between his teenage frame and his current physique became the core of his early YouTube fame.
David Laid Education
Laid attended Mainland Regional High School in New Jersey. Public records do not show him attending a college or university.
Instead, his education in fitness came largely through self-study. He researched training and nutrition through YouTube videos in his early teens.
He drew inspiration from bodybuilders like Jeff Seid during that period. That self-taught approach later became a selling point in his public persona.
David Laid Career
Early Transformation and YouTube Rise
David Laid created his YouTube channel in July 2009 under the username “computerman91,” originally for unrelated content. He later renamed the channel after himself and shifted it toward fitness.
His breakout video, showing his transformation between ages 14 and 15, went viral in 2013. A follow-up three-year transformation video eventually drew tens of millions of views.
That attention turned Laid into one of the earliest widely recognized fitness YouTubers. Brands soon took notice of his growing audience.
Sponsorships and Modeling
Following his viral success, Laid became a sponsored athlete for Gymshark, then a rising activewear brand. He also worked as a freelance fitness model based in New York.
He trained using a method called Daily Undulating Periodization, which varies weight, volume, and exercise type from session to session. That approach became central to how he discussed training with his audience.
Laid continued building his YouTube channel alongside his modeling work through the 2010s. His following grew steadily across both YouTube and Instagram during that stretch.
Gymshark Creative Director
In February 2023, Gymshark named David Laid its first-ever Creative Director of Lifting. Gymshark founder Ben Francis said he had known Laid personally since 2016.
In the new role, Laid took charge of product development, athlete recruitment, and in-person events tied to Gymshark’s lifting line. He also helped launch and run the brand’s dedicated lifting social media accounts.
Laid described the move as a natural fit, noting he began lifting around the same time Gymshark launched in 2012. The appointment marked an unusual step for a fashion retailer, handing creative control of a product line to an influencer rather than an in-house designer.
David Laid Awards and Recognition
David Laid does not hold traditional bodybuilding competition titles, since he has built his career primarily as an influencer and model rather than a competitor. His main recognition has come through brand partnerships instead.
His appointment as Gymshark’s Creative Director of Lifting stands as his most significant professional honor. Few influencers have received that level of creative control from a major activewear brand.
David Laid Girlfriend
David Laid has been linked for several years to Julia Jackson, a dancer and choreographer, who has appeared in some of his workout videos. The two have kept most relationship details out of the public eye.
He has not confirmed details of the relationship through his own official channels recently. Their appearances together online have largely centered on shared training content rather than personal updates.
David Laid Net Worth
David Laid’s estimated net worth is $2.5 million as of 2026. His income comes mainly from YouTube advertising revenue, brand sponsorships, and his role at Gymshark.
He has built that wealth over roughly a decade of content creation. Merchandise sales and modeling work have added additional income streams alongside his main YouTube channel.
David Laid Social Media
David Laid remains active on Instagram under the handle @davidlaid, where he shares training footage and lifestyle content. His account has grown into one of the larger fitness-focused profiles on the platform.
He also runs a YouTube channel under his own name, David Laid, which has drawn hundreds of millions of total views since 2009. The channel remains centered on training routines, diet content, and updates from his Gymshark work.
Laid maintains an official website, davidlaid.com, where he shares training programs. He has not maintained a widely followed public TikTok account under his own name.
The Bottom Line
David Laid built his career on a single viral transformation video, posted between ages 14 and 17, that eventually drew tens of millions of views. In February 2023, Gymshark named him its first-ever Creative Director of Lifting, handing him control over the brand’s weightlifting line.
He grew up in Estonia before his family moved to New Jersey following his father’s death when Laid was two. Doctors diagnosed him with scoliosis at 14, and weight training became both a medical response and the foundation of his public career.
Laid continues to run his YouTube channel and shape Gymshark’s lifting products from his base in Los Angeles. He remains one of the more recognizable names in online fitness content nearly two decades after starting his channel.
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