Edinburgh granddad inspires This Morning viewers with workout from garden gym

An Edinburgh granddad who built a home gym in his garden is inspiring the nation to stay fit amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Viral star Tony Robertson appeared on ITV’s This Morning today where he gave a demonstration to hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in a hilarious segment filmed at his Buckstone home by wife Lisbeth.

As we reported last week, 72-year-old Tony set up his own work-out space after the virus forced him into lockdown and closed his local gyms.

The granddad-of-three usually works out regularly and is determined to stay fit as UK citizens are ordered to stay indoors.

He has been avoiding public spaces since Covid-19 started to spread across the country, but came up with a novel way to stay active.

In a bid to lift spirits amid the chaos, Tony and Lis, 70, have been filming routines from his innovative garden gym.

After daughter in law Viki Mendelssohn posted them online, the couple started attracting fans from all over, and now have a dedicated Tonyvator Twitter page where they are keeping people updated, with their videos racking up more than 10,000 views so far.

By tying resistance bands around trees, he has been able to work out his arms and stay active.

And it’s these top tips he was sharing with Holly and Phil this morning when they appeared live from their Blackstone home.

Tony told Phil and Holly: “To be honest I just walked into the garage when I knew the epidemic was coming and got stuff out and started training a bit, and then Lis took some videos.

“I can’t believe all the people that have got in touch and all the nice messages.”

Showing off his home-made equipment, Tony had resistance bands tied round trees and larger tubes for harder exercises. He was also filmed lifting tubs of garden essentials.

The light-hearted slot brought laughter to the London studio, where Phil and Holly have said they are “hanging on by a thread” with a skeleton crew and tight safety procedures on set.

Holly could be heard giggling, “She’s laughing” in reference to Lis, whose camera work got a bit less than stable at times as she laughed affectionately at her husband’s impressive efforts.

Tony said he wants people to “get active” and could be heard shouting positive messages as he worked out like “I’m building my biceps” and “I’m not a professional by the way”.

Phil, also in fits of laughter, proclaimed: “We think you’re amazing and Lisbeth.”