In his pomp he was the idolised by the “Toon Army” – and was one of football’s most feared strikers.
These days, he is more familiar to fans of the beautiful game as one of the pundits on BBC’s Saturday night Match of the Day show.
And yesterday, Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer was in the north-east to showcase a new way of keeping in shape.
He was at the Newlife Fitness Club in Laurencekirk, which has undergone a £40,000 transformation to become Scotland’s first Speedflex gym.
The system allows people to exercise – without waking up the following morning to agonising muscle pain.
There were a few jokes that the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer would be off the pace – but his form on the fitness machines was more akin to that being shown this season by his former club Southampton than his beloved Newcastle.
Shearer, who works as an ambassador for Speedflex, said: “The machines let people take part in a high-intensity workout without muscle pain.
“Normally, if someone is coming back from injury and goes for a run or to the gym they would feel pain, but not with this.
“They weren’t around when I was playing but they would have been useful.
“They came over from America in 2009 and we’ve set them up in gyms in Newcastle, London, Dubai and now Laurencekirk.”
Gym owner Gary Fairweather added: “We’ve had the gym for two-and-a-half years now.
“Speedflex contacted us about setting up here, they normally take over a gym but this is the first time the gym has stayed open and brought in their equipment.
“We’re glad to have the first Speedflex gym in Scotland and we hope it will be a hit and many more will be set up.”