Bradley scanned the gym floor. It didn’t take long for him to spot a few of the newly-infected: a portly man running for dear life on the treadmill, a group of older gentlemen chatting by the water fountain, and two scrawny guys who couldn’t make it anymore obvious this was their first day in the gym.
The young men pretended to busy themselves by studying the incline leg press machine like it was an alien spaceship, squinting at the fine print of caution labels and rudimentary instructions. But Bradley could see the curious glances they kept sneaking at the other gymgoers. They were practically begging for his help.
But first things first: if he wanted to get huge, he’d have to put in the work. The coach found an open spot within view and began his dynamic stretches. He noted how tingly he felt even though he hadn’t taken any pre-workout. It was like his body was anticipating the pump. Bradley couldn’t help suppressing a grin as he warmed up; he was practically bouncing on his toes.
“Um, a little help-!”
Brad had taken his eyes off the boys for only a few seconds and suddenly they were in a predicament. The taller kid with curly brown hair had crammed his shoulder up against the footboard of the machine, frantically looking around. The red-headed one appeared even smaller, all but folded in half in the seat; his panicked face was beet-red with exertion and his knees pressed into his chest as the leg press closed in on him.
Coach Kanning didn’t waste a second. He rushed over, vaulted one leg over the helpless kid’s head onto the other side, braced his hands against the footboard and pushed. ‘Jesus! How many weights did these kids pile on?!’ He thought.
He pushed and pushed, only moving incrementally as his thighs and arms burned. It felt like pushing a car. Suddenly, the entire footboard was lifted and Kanning nearly toppled forward. The guy beside him did, landing on the ground with a thump.
“Twist the handles.” A deep timbre voice commanded.
The safety handles clicked and Coach sighed with relief. He looked up to thank the unknown hero only to be rendered speechless by the sight of a massive hand casually holding back the footboard. The bulging forearm it was attached to had more mass than one of Bradley’s upper arms, let alone the enormous boulder-like biceps stretching the pale skin taut. As he looked up and up, past the impossibly wide torso and mountainous traps, Coach gulped as he saw the face of his linebacker, Cody.
“Careful, guys. The weights here are a lot heavier than they appear. This ain’t your regular- oh, hey Coach!” He boomed.
“Christ, Cody! The hell’ve you been eating?” He craned his neck up at the towering junior. At the end of the season, Kanning remembered Cody only being a few inches taller than him, albeit twice as wide. Now though, he felt totally eclipsed by his student by over a foot. While nowhere near as big as Stan, Cody still had an imposing figure that casted a looming shadow over the trio. His powerlifter build had been scaled up his 7-foot stature, making him staggeringly huge.
“Just hittin’ all my macros,” Cody beamed. He brushed his short blond hair, thick arm muscles crashing into each other. “I’ve been bulking like crazy for next season. Almost to 600 pounds.” He dropped his arm to squeeze his growing bulge. “And I ain’t done growing yet. Gotta get back to my workout. It was good seeing ya, Coach, and glad to see you’ve come to the dark side,” he chuckled, and then lumbered off.
Kanning stared at the shifting mass of muscles of his student’s backside when he suddenly realized something was prodding and squirming against his tender ass. Oh shit, the poor kid on the leg press! He hopped over to one side.
The young man gasped. His face was flush as he sat there regaining his breath. “Th-thanks…” he wheezed.
The other guy glanced between Cody and the coach. “That’s your student? Do you work at the local college here? I’ve never seen anyone like him before.” He wondered aloud.
“High school, actually.”
“Damn, he’s younger than us!? I’d kill to have just a fraction of that size.” He finally looked at his recently-traumatized friend. “Dude, you ok?”
“I’ll live.”
“Fuck, you had me scared there for a second.” He helped his buddy up and they both looked at Kanning bashfully. “Thank you for your help, sir. We really appreciate it.”
“It was all Cody, really. You should thank him. But you should also listen to what he said, and don’t just pile on weights so carelessly.”
“We didn’t. It was just like this. We didn’t think it’d be so heavy.”
“Well, always look before you start a set. Here, lemme-“ Bradley stopped as he attempted to pull a plate off, realizing it was much more than a standard 45-pounder. “Okay, well that explains it.”
The shorter kid looked at his friend. “I dunno, man. Maybe this isn’t for us. Let’s just go home.”
Coach Kanning turned around to face them. His eye for appraisal was already at work, seeing the potential these young lads had as if they were on his team and he needed to whip them into shape. He thought of Diego, who pushed past his limits and became one of the freakiest bodybuilders he ever laid eyes on, all packed into a stout frame. His asshole clenched. He also thought of Cody, just now, growing from a wall of muscles to a walking fortress in just a few short months. If the contagion could transform these young teens into muscle gods, then there was still hope yet.
“Look, I know it can feel a bit intimidating if you don’t know what to do. I’d be more than happy to give some guidance to get you started. I’ve been doing this for my whole career.” They looked at each other warily. “What are your names?” He asked.
“I’m Brycen,” said the lanky one.
“Finn,” replied the other.
“Th’name’s Bradley. But you can call me Coach. Tell you what, why don’t you join me for my workout today. It’ll give me a good idea of where you guys are at, and I can show you a few things to build good habits, like good form and safety. You were lucky today,” he nodded at Logan, “but biting off more than you can chew can result in a serious injury,” he warned, thinking of his own past experiences.
“We’d really appreciate it,” Brycen chirped. He turned to Finn. “C’mon, dude, he’s even a coach. Let’s try it, just for today.”
Finn shifted his weight between his feet. “Yea, alright.”
“Great!” Coach Kanning clapped his hands together. “Then let’s get started.”
—-
They may be new to the gym, but that didn’t mean Coach Kanning would go easy on them. He put them through the wringer, gauging their baseline stamina and strength through a series of high-rep sets with low weights. They responded to his goading as any newbie would: exasperation and mild disdain. But what surprised him was how responsive they were; each set they managed to complete a few more reps than he expected. And their stamina was nothing to sneeze at. Even more surprising was how much weight Finn was able to throw around. The kid may be small, but he had an intense focus matched only by his explosive energy when completing his reps.
Bradley gave a guiding hand wherever needed; a correction on their elbows here, a tap on their lats to focus on there. Unbeknownst to any of them, their contagions were already spreading between each other, the strains interacting in unforeseeable ways.
By the end of their crucible, Brycen and Finn were a sweaty, heaving mess. But their efforts were not in vain. Kanning had never seen such a drastic pump from a single workout; they already looked bigger, filling out their once-loose clothes a little more snug.
“Alright boys, you made it to the end. You’ll be feeling sore tomorrow, and even worse the next day-“
“I’m feeling sore right now,” said Brycen, curling and uncurling his arms, wincing.
“I’m impressed that you kept up with me. If you go into every workout with that same intensity, you’ll be gaining mass in no time. The same goes for you, Finn.”
Finn nodded silently, blushing.
“I’ve still got a few more exercises to complete. But you two need to be able to get out of bed tomorrow, so we’ll stop here for now. I’ll be seeing you boys around.”
The two gave their thanks and waved him goodbye, watching him saunter towards the free weights and adjusting their stiffening members.
In the mirrors, Brad studied his own reflection. He was already looking pumped; his a-shirt was damp around his pits and collar as it clung to his body. Yet he still felt a thrum of energy coursing through his muscles despite leading the students through a whole body workout. His dick twitched in his shorts, unabashedly presenting his semi across his hip like many of the other patrons here. There were dozens of jacked men still milling about, dripping with sweat and testosterone. Coach Kanning grinned at himself; this was going to be fun.