David Laid - Wikipedia

David Laid is an Estonian-born American fitness influencer, YouTuber, and fitness model. His transformation videos on YouTube, which showcased his changing physique starting at 14 years old as a result of weightlifting, became popular online, particularly among teenage boys. He was named Gymshark's creative director of lifting in 2023.

Laid was born in Estonia^[2] and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Laid's mother, Nino, is a café owner who moved to Estonia from Russia and, after David's father died from falling off of a docked cruise ship when he was two years old, immigrated to the United States with her son. Laid attended Mainland Regional High School, where he received average grades.^[3]

Laid was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 14, and soon after—inspired by fitness YouTubers such as the Hodgetwins, Marc Fitt, and Jeff Seid and by mockery from his peers for his then-thin frame—he began working out and bulking. He later became known for his transformation videos on YouTube beginning at that age, uploading his first, an 18-month-long transformation, in December 2013.^[4] His second, uploaded in August 2015, documented his body's changes from ages 14 to 17 and became especially popular, earning over 14 million views by 2016 and 43 million views by 2021.^[5][6][3] Laid also became popular as a trainee of bodybuilder Elliott Atwell, who, in 2023, was arrested and charged with six felony counts, including accusations that, from 2013 to 2020, he pressured minors to record themselves having sex and send the videos to him.^[2] By 2021, Laid had over 1.7 million followers on Instagram.^[7]

After having previously been an athletic model for the direct-to-consumer fitness brand Gymshark, Laid was appointed its creative director of lifting in 2023, also launching and curating the brand's lifting social media accounts.^[8][9][10] He had over 4.9 million followers on Instagram in 2024.^[11]

As of 2020, Laid is vegan.^[12] He is based in Los Angeles as of 2023.^[8]

Laid has stated that he does not use anabolic steroids and that he has suffered from body dysmorphia.^[13] MEL's Angelina Chapin wrote that Laid had become a "role model" for young boys on YouTube by 2016, while, that same year, ABC News wrote that he "look[ed] to be the poster boy for physical perfection" and compared his habits to "bigorexia".^[3][6] For USA Today, Marco della Cava wrote in 2021 that Laid's fitness journey had become a "touchstone for many teens", with many commenters on his YouTube videos "debat[ing] whether Laid took steroids".^[5] In an interview with Vice, fitness influencer Baby Zyzz described Laid as one of "the top dogs" in the fitness community in 2022.^[14]