A NEW Stourbridge gym for dedicated musclemen and women is set to open its doors this weekend.

Personal trainer Lewis Majid, aged 25, and fiancee Emma Goulding, aged 26, have pumped everything they have into opening Black Country Barbell, a new state-of-the-art strength and sports performance training facility in Talbot Street at the back of Waitrose.

The new venture, which aims to cater specifically for bodybuilders, power lifters, athletes and strong men and women competitors, is set to open this Saturday (January 6) from 8am.

Lewis said: "I've been working on this for two years. I've been looking at venues across the area but I really wanted it to be in Stourbridge."

He has spent the last four months turning what was previously a market hall into the brand new independent gym, which is set to host the West Midlands qualifier for the British Drug Free Powerlifting Association's national singles and national full powerlifting contests on Sunday January 28.

He said: "We've brought in a lot of interest as there aren't that many gyms for people who have been training for a while - and a promotional membership offer on Facebook sold out in nine minutes."