title: The Body Genius, Part 4
author: The Truth
contenttype: podcast
publication: The Truth
published: 2019-05-15T20:00:00-04:00
sourceurl: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/dovetail.prxu.org//97/01efab65-c8c0-4feb-bbb4-6f2e40b528bc/TheBodyGeniusPart_4.mp3
word_count: 3460
This episode of the Truth includes strong language and violence. Please use listener discretion. Okay, guy comes in here at 155 pounds, no tone whatsoever. He wants super prominent glutes and calves, but he wants his thighs to stay exactly how they are. And he's got planter fasciitis. So no exercises with a high impact heel strike. He wants serious results in a month. What do you do? Wait, why can't we wait till his foothills? Come on, that's what makes it fun. Back before all this happened, my co-trainer's jewels and Jake and I used to come up with these little challenges for each other, called puzzle guys. Made up clients with very specific fitness goals and very specific obstacles in their way. Okay, easy. I put him on a high red meat diet, get him in here 6 to 9 a.m. doing circuit training with an emphasis on squats. No way. What? Squats would aggravate the foot. I would say Romanian deadlifts with an added fat burn emphasis. I loved puzzle guys. They kept his sharp and I was the best at them. Uh-uh. Correct answer? Nothing but cable kickbacks. Cable kickbacks all day. Bread for meals. Give him a pillow force foot. Wow. Oh my god. That would work. That would totally work. Wow. I tried to think about my super messed up current situation like it was a puzzle guy. All I needed to do was identify my goals and my obstacles. Okay. You're locked in a gross old gym with a dead body and no idea who put you here. Put your phone. The cops are outside and they probably already think you killed somebody else. You can't go out the window because they'll see that and your head hurts and your arm feels weird and you don't want to go to jail. What do you do? This is the body genius. The five part story on the truth. Part four. Rivals. Now back to the body genius. The guy next to me wasn't just a normal kind of dead. A steel chest expander had been wrapped under both of his arms and twisted around his neck over and over. His eyes were bugging out of his big purple face. Killed with gym stuff. Just like Wesley. Another setup. Somebody was trying to make it look like killing guys with gym stuff was what I was into. But why this guy? He was a fit white hair dude with a gnarly tattoo of the Eiffel Tower that started on his chest and went up his neck. He knew I had to get out of this gym real fast. So I thought, what else has to get out of the gym real fast? Stink. Bam. Stink. It's a central principle of gym design. If your gym stinks, nobody's gonna want to go there. However all that grody gym air got out of this place? That's how I was gunned. Most modern gyms put the heavy duty ventilation in the shower area. It's basically the law that you got to destink that place first. Where is it? But based on the layout, this was a casual gym with an early 2000s vintage. And if they were keeping up with the trends of the day, they would have gone with Bingo. A row of large exhaust fans above the lockers, right where all the action is, known as hot kitchen style ventilation. I opened a couple of lockers so I could double jump like Mario and take out the grading with a moit-tied kick. Then I did a one on flex hang while I gank the fans out of the cases. Practical uses for exercises I'd spent my whole life perfecting. It felt awesome. I climbed into the vent and did an army crawl to the other side. Sorry whoever tried to set me up. Guess I solved your puzzle guy? Luckily, I popped out onto the roof of a sandwich place on the edge of Los Felis, walking distance from Rick Newcombs house. Rick was a TV dad. I helped drop 30 pounds to play a bullfighter. He paid me extra for in-home training because he hated the music I played in my gym. Evan! Hey, what's going on buddy? Hey Rick, can I come in? Hey, I kept awake, uh, see? Yeah, look for the set. That's tight man, cool. Yeah, and that bed right here. Do you know you're all covered in dust? Yeah, um, can I use your phone? Someone stole my cell. Oh, wow, yeah totally here. Here, here. Use my tight. Can I come inside though? Oh yeah, yeah, of course I have, uh, it's just, layers is doing one of her jewelry shows and the damn bunch of people and her trying to stuff on some names. Hey, where's your car? I walked here. Oh, huh. You want some gonna trouble, Evan? Is that Evan? Evan, come inside! Everybody, uh, this is Evan, Rick's trainer for a way of the cake. Oh, yeah. You're the guy that built Liz's new husband. Oh my goodness, yeah. What's up? Who kept the weight off? Show us an exercise, Evan, something that you and Rick used to be. Oh yeah. Oh, wait, we seriously? Yeah. Um, okay, uh, well this is a squat jump. I'm sorry about that, I'm real dusty. I'm pretty slick. Okay, let's go upstairs, Evan. Evan's going upstairs, everybody. You know, if, usually, if you're gonna stop by, it's best to call a hit. Yeah, somebody stole my phone. Yeah, but you know, when you used to visit, there was a schedule. That was probably better. So we can look forward to it. Hey, I know. Why don't you make your phone call in my workout room? You love it in there. Oh, uh, yeah. Thanks, Rick. Elaine, thank God. Evan? Listen, I'm at Rick Newcom's place. I just had to escape this. We're at the police were here last night, Evan. What the fuck? At my house. What, they were? Did you miss some kind of appointment with a detective? Yeah, but that's the thing about this whole thing. You really alarmed them. Yeah, but I got knocked out, Elaine. Wait, why are the cops talking to you? Someone of the corral told them we'd been speaking. I'm sorry, Elaine. You know, the police said your car's been at the gym. Three told them you threw your clothes in the trash. And then the studio complained that you were sneaking around there. Oh, no. Look, you know the police call all of that erratic behavior, Evan. I don't know what they thought of you before, but you certainly have their attention now. Okay, well, straighten all that out later. Right now, Elaine, I get... People are starting to talk people that I know. And things. Elaine, listen, Straff Motor knows something. They're hiding this guy named Ingvar. And somebody put me in a room with a dead body. No, no, no. Stop, please. Don't make me an accessory. Somebody is trying to set me up. Okay. Wait, but I don't think I'm smart enough to get out of this on my own. I didn't do it, Elaine. I didn't kill anybody. Everybody. Yes, Rick. I'm fine. All right, all right. I'm trying to rush you, big guy. You wanted to contact you directly, given your history, but I advised him that... Evan, hi. Leon Aprin over at Prinemanagement. Kamaria Okafur was set to start training with you next Wednesday for Gothamur, but it's come to our attention that your gym isn't currently operational. And apparently you're also under some sort of police investigation. Yeah, I have a Jean Clearwater from the United Creator. Hi, this is Marty Plaster from Plaster Media Park. Hey, Cap, it's Jake. I don't know if you're checking these. So nobody knows where you are. So I'm in Switzerland, you all I can't. No hard feelings, right? It's Jake, awesome. Hello, Evan. Part of a group closely associated with and we know you're in trouble. We have information about what happened to Wesley, and we'd like to share it with you. People hurt him. We want to make them pay. But we have to move fast. Meet us at the Van Nij's Public Library at 4.30pm. It's Saturday. Hey, Rick. Rick, can I get a ride to the Van Nij's Public Library? It's an emergency. Well, Christ, have you just eaten up my whole afternoon? The body genius will return in a moment. This episode of The Truth is brought to you by Robin Hood. Robin Hood is an investing app that lets you buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options and cryptos, all commission-free. While other brokerages charge up to $10 for every trade, Robin Hood doesn't charge any commission fees, so you can trade stocks and keep all of your profits. With Robin Hood, you can learn how to invest in the market as you build your portfolio. Discover new stocks, track your favorite companies, and get custom notifications for price movements so you never miss the right moment to invest. And Robin Hood is giving listeners of The Truth a free stock, like Apple, Forward or Sprint, to help you build your portfolio. Sign up at thetruth.robinhood.com. Now back to The Body Genius. Rick agreed to drive me to the library, an exchange for four free in-home personal training sessions to be redeemed at the time of his choosing. When I got to the library, I didn't really know who I was looking for, but they found me. It's from the phone. Come sit over here. There were three normal-looking ladies. Mid-30s probably. One of them had a little kid who was shoving baby carrots into a picture book, and one didn't talk as much as the other two. So, um, how do you all recognize me? Wesley has to send us all these cute pictures of you two working out together. There was one where you're drinking, weight gain shakes, and one where you're pointing at his abs like you're scared of them. Wesley didn't really do social media, but he'd send stuff like that to us. Evan doesn't know who we are, Ceciel. Oh, duh. Sorry. We're the Wesley Maniacs, Wesley's fan club. My name's Ceciel. I'm Morgan. I lean. Dope. Hey, everybody. Spencer, don't do that, honey. That's not your book. Basically, we all got very, very into Wesley's turn when we saw anywhere you wanted in 2003, and never looked back. We loved everything that came after that too, of course. Skip Miracle, World above the clouds. Sleep dance. We actually, we promised Wesley we'd never watch that one. Oh, so you said you know what happened to him. Spencer, go play over there. Go see what's going on with that fun rabbit. It was suicide. What? No way. Show him. We send Wesley notes of encouragement every few months to let him know that we believed in him. Morgan, it's okay. Sometimes he'd send us stuff back, little updates and stories, but the day before he died we got this. Here, read that. Dear Wesley Maniacs, I want to thank you for sticking with me all these years, when the rest of the world had counted me out. Things didn't turn out quite like we planned it, but whatever happens next, please know that through all these years of struggling and creating and trying my best to do what was right, you were always in my heart. Love Wesley. Tell me that's not a suicide note. I mean, come on. But why? Carve got. Pro, Carve got. Yes. The Swedish action star from Pistol Ariel? He's an asshole is what he is. He basically bullied Wesley to death. What do you mean? It happened last spring. Have you heard of Silver Fist, the superhero from the comics? Wesley was a huge fan. When he heard they were making a movie, he let everyone know he wanted the role. This whole campaign, he was perfect for the part, but Carve got wanted it too. Even though he's got that dumb accent and he's way way too big. Too big. Primordial pictures decided to turn the whole thing into an event. They had Pral and Wesley go on late night TV together to fight it out. They let the fans vote on who would get the part. Who won? I think we'll do it. Carve got did, but not before Wesley got completely humiliated on TV. He was never the same. It was all fixed. They were going to give it to Carve got the whole time, no matter how people voted. How do you know that? Because hello. Primordial pictures already had a whole Silver Fist cross-promotion planned with the Swedish fitness equipment company, Straff Motor. Straff Motor? And guess who has a lifetime endorsement deal with Straff Motor? Pral Carve got it. We think Wesley killed himself in a Straff Motor as a final fuck you to the people who broke his spirit. Listen Evan, tonight Pral Carve got is going to be at the Octane Awards. You know that award show that's just for action movies, the octees, at the litmus in Westwood. It's his first public appearance in months. So we're going to be there too. We're going to make sure the world knows Carve got Wesley's blood on his hands. Are you in? These ladies had figured out a lot more than I had. But I knew some stuff that they didn't. Like about Ingvar and the dead Eiffel Tower tattoo man. Plus, I knew Wesley. Like, really knew him. I don't know. My dude was a complicated guy, but he really killed himself over something that happened on a talk show? Watch it and see for yourself. Come spend your mommy's done with their meeting. You can call us at this number. The quiet one, Eileen, gave me a kind of weird look and then the Wessel Maniacs were gone. I rolled up to one of those sticky library computers with no space bar and looked for this silver fist thing. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Pral Carve got an Wesley Sturder. Wesley looked psyched to be on TV. Pral was a total beast. The crowd seemed into it. The whole fight started out kind of fun, honestly. Whoa, that's a strong grip. Wow, I'll lift you. So, Pral, yes, you've made it clear. You think you should play silver fist. Huh, Rich, not even the question. Look at me. And Wesley, why are you the better choice? Well, Rich, it'd be more accurate for one thing. The real silver fist is smart and sexy. But then it got kind of brutal. Yeah, yeah, Wesley, I'm sure it's everyone's dreams. I have a superhero played by America's oldest teenager. Pral, that's not very nice. Come on, this guy's not even a movie star. I had to look him up to discover who he was. Oh no, his name didn't make it to Sweden. His name barely made it to Wikipedia. Okay. Pral was rude as hell to Wesley on this thing. Not that Wes came off great either. I just think when it comes down to it, people are going to want a real actor up there. An American actor. What? No, the character is American. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, the character, he gets his powers from a silver media right, Wesley. Not from doing some heroin, right? Right? Wesley has a drug problem. Everyone knows this, right? I gotta say, I don't know what I'd pick. I mean, you're both super talented. You both have those bright blue eyes like silver fist did in the comics. Yeah, I reached the other thing that Wesley and me have in common is we both have one hit movie. Only difference is, mine came out eight months ago. His came out 15 years ago. It's really sad. But what really messed me up was how much the audience enjoyed watching Wesley lose. The guy just wanted to make a movie about something he dug. So what if he was kind of old and not cool anymore? Was he supposed to just die? And oh my god, Rich, listen to this. My manager showed me this one movie that Wesley Stern has made. God, don't bring up. It's all there. Sleep dance? Fuck you. Yeah, sleep dance. He made it and he tried to hide it. It is so bad. In this movie, he's supposed to be 19 years, but on his dance, the leotard, you can see his, what is it, the beer stomach? Beer belly. Beer belly? Huge beer belly. Just very gross, so big and fat. By that point, Wesley was ignoring Praul and staring out at the audience while they laughed their butts off. His face looked weird, kind of unplugged. Knowing Wesley, I could tell something serious was up. He had come out on stage all confident, ready for his big comeback. But this audience was letting him know there was only one way Wesley Stern could come back. As a joke, his face was still burned into my brain when I left the library. Get in. It was Eileen, the quiet Wesley maniac. Did you watch the video? Yeah, that's rough stuff. You guys were right, that silver fist off really pushed Wesley to the edge, huh? It goes further than that, further than the other wasl maniacs know, actually. Where? They can't know any of what I'm about to tell you. They just can't. Yeah, that's sure, man. You got it. I met Wesley six years ago at a 10-15 showing of Mind of Glass, one of his last movies to make it into theaters. Almost no one was there. When the lights came up, he hit his face, but I introduced myself and I asked him out for a drink. I mean, I couldn't help it. He was Wesley Stern. My biggest, most serious crush since forever. We started seeing each other. Wesley wanted to keep it secret and I understood. Dating one of the three remaining members of his fan club just felt like too much of a punchline. It was often on either the drugs or the secrets would drive us apart. But then he'd call me. And I think part of it was I knew his whole story. He liked being with somebody who already knew what he was going through since he never wanted to say it out loud. And I kept taking him back because... Well, he was my biggest, most serious crush since forever. Yeah. I was with him during the Silver Fist thing, and I can tell you for sure, Wesley did not want to kill himself. He wanted revenge. He wanted something he could use against Praul. So he hired a private investigator. Oh shit. And then last June, he left me this. But this was last summer? He never mentioned it to me again. If I even brought up Carve Gott, he'd get nervous and change the subject. My guess is he brought it to them, and they threatened him with something specific, and it shut him up. But when I heard he died in that machine, I knew they'd killed him, for what he knew. You're right. You gotta be. I can't bring this to the police. If I'm wrong, it'll ruin Wesley's reputation. And then the last time I saw him, he told me you were someone he trusted. I guess I came here hoping you'd know what to do. Oh yeah. I know what to do. I was gonna go to the Octane Awards. I was gonna look Praul, Carve Gott in the eyes, and beat the truth out of him if I had to. I was gonna stick up for my dead friend, and my good name, and my nice ass Jim. I'm gonna rent a talks. The final episode of the Body Genius is coming in two weeks. There are more stories like this to go to thetruthpodcast.com. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Our handle is the Truth Fiction. The Truth is a part of Radiotopia from PRX, the curated network of extraordinary cutting-edge podcasts. You can learn more about all the Radiotopia shows at radiotopia.fm. And if you'd like to sponsor a future episode of the Truth, send an email to sponsor at radiotopia.fm. Special thanks to the Magnet Theatre. They offer classes and shows on improv, sketch, and storytelling in New York City. Learn more at Magnet Theatre.com. For a full list of credits, visit our website, thetruthpodcast.com. The Truth.