Savvas Kyriacou

Kyriacou was born in Larnaca into a Greek Cypriot family. His father was a truck driver and the owner of the family shop, while his mother was a seamstress. As a child, he frequently visited the cinema with a predilection for films featuring bodybuilder and actor Steve Reeves. From the age of eight, he helped his mother in the shop until the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Aged 15, Kyriacou fled to England and settled in Tottenham, London. Isolated from his family in Cyprus, he started working shortly after his arrival in England and continued his secondary school education.

At the age of 21, Kyriacou started training as a bodybuilder. In 1992, he was crowned the South East Britain Bodybuilding Champion and was nominated as a finalist in the British Championship in the under 80 kg weight class.[1] From 1996 to 1998, he was barred from the European Federation of Bodybuilders (EFBB) – now the United Kingdom Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation (UKBFF) – and instead competed for his native Cyprus during this time. He won the Cyprus Grand Prix in 1996 and 1997, but was not allowed to compete internationally for the country since he was no longer a resident. He retired from professional bodybuilding in 1998 to focus on owning his own gyms and coaching bodybuilders.

In 1985 Kyriacou opened the Bodyworks Gym in Tottenham. According to Kyriacou, he wanted ‘somewhere to train that was the best in the country and that would also produce the best’. In 1988 he opened another gym, the now world-famous Muscleworks, in Bethnal Green, London. The gym covered 8,000 sq ft and had more than 2,000 active members, including professional bodybuilders, hardcore weight trainers, and other fitness enthusiasts.[2] The original Muscleworks premises in Bethnal Green has since been converted into a female-only gym by the name of ‘Bodylines’ (also owned by Kyriacou), since Muscleworks itself has moved to a larger site (also in Bethnal Green) in Vallance Road.

Kyriacou opened Island Fitness in Enfield, London in 2001, and Muscleworks 2 in Stoke Newington, London in 2006. Among its current staff, Muscleworks Gym includes a number of fitness gurus and bodybuilding champions. The gym has gained international renown in the bodybuilding industry over the years, and has attracted a number of notable industry names to its member list who have trained under Kyriacou, including Mark Smith, Jamo Nezzar, and eight-time Mr. Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman. Muscleworks Gym was named ’Gym of the Month’ in October 2008 by Bodybuilding.com, and has also received the UKBFF's title of ’Most Successful Gym in British History‘. In 2010, over half of the UKBFF men's champions reportedly trained at Muscleworks Gym.

Kyriacou, who exercises ultimate control of Muscleworks gym[3] as the gym's owner and manager, was arrested[4] twice in 2019 for possession with intent to supply and conspiracy to supply Class C drugs, namely anabolic steroids. He was also arrested for facilitating the acquisition or acquire or possess criminal property. The London Metropolitan Police requested Kyriacou's license to offer tanning booth and sauna services be revoked, as the police did not find him "fit and proper." The police also believed that there is a risk of the Muscleworks premises in Bethnal Green being used to supply illegal drugs. Kyriacou denied the allegations.

• Muscleworks Website