Gym App

Brandon never understood why there were so many guys obsessed with taking pictures of themselves and then posting them online. The thought of posing for strangers online just was too much. People looking at you, then judging every possible flaw while calling you a fuck boy just didn’t seem like fun. Then again, not many people thought the uptight cubical worker was much of a fuck boy to begin with. Honestly even getting a date often seemed nearly impossible as he never really felt comfortable enough with the way he looked to actually pursue one.

It’s why he finally got a gym membership. Even if he was nearing his fifties, he still wanted to try to better himself. After seeing all the guys in the gym who seemed to be overly obsessed with pictures of themselves, he suddenly got self-conscious again. There was no way any woman would find him even half as attractive as the guys in here. Their large rippling muscles glistened with sweat. It was obvious they just needed a wink and a nod and could get just about anyone they wanted. 

“Calm down…” Brandon told himself. “That’s why you’re in the gym. To get better…” He approached the front counter and looked at the smiling bodybuilder.

“Welcome,” he said with an overly peppy tone. Even with the two syllables, Brandon felt like they wouldn’t be able to have a conversation that didn’t include working out, sports, or nutrition. Moreover his overly unnaturally tanned skin made his bleach blond hair stick out all the more. “This your first time here?” 

“Yeah,” Brandon forced a smile he always did with more annoying clients. 

“Alright bro!” the guy lifted up his arm for a high five and a strange but pleasant scent filled Brandon’s nose. He thought it was going to be musty or gross but it was oddly flowery. Brandon complied with the high five to continue the conversation. “Alright! Well, dude. So have you like downloaded the app yet?”

“The app?”

“Yeah man! It’s the app. So like it’s a special offer that comes with the gym membership that gives you all kinds of perks and shit,” he stopped. “Stuff,” he corrected. “Stuff ta help ya with getting in the best shape of yur life.”

“Oh?” Brandon wasn’t all that interested in something like that. “I think I remember the guy I signed up with saying something about it.”

“DUDE! And you haven’t signed up yet? What’s wrong with you?”

Brandon took a step back at the accusation. “I mean… I just don’t want my phone getting clogged up with useless apps.”

“Oh c’mon man, don’t be lame. Just download it,” he crossed his arms against his massive chest and put his weight on one leg. “Here. How bout this. Just try it for tuh-day and then delete it if ya don’t like it.”

“I mean…”

“Dude… It’s just an app.”

Brandon found his phone in his hand. He hadn’t even realized that he’d already dug it out from his pocket. He stared at the blank screen with his reflection in it. “Alright… Why not?” he shrugged and opened up his phone.

“Yeah!” the jock cheered. “You won’t regret it!” 

“Alright… Alright…” Brandon dismissed at the overexcited nature of the guy telling him to download something. For some reason it was on the homepage of the app store. He brushed off why some random local app would ever be there and just continued to download it. It was surprisingly small and didn’t even take up a quarter of a gigabyte on his phone. ‘Must just be a word document,’ Brandon reasoned. 

“Dude. When you go get changed open it up.”

Brandon shrugged it off and headed for the locker room. For some reason he’d listened to the guy and changed then opened up the app. “Might as well,” he reasoned again. “I mean if it’s so great…” He pulled out his phone again and clicked on the app. It loaded instantly with a jingle in the background.

‘Welcome to the Great Trade Off. Become the man you’ve never known you wanted to be. Get rid of those nasty habits and replace them with something better!’ Brandon skimmed through the rest of the text. Then seeing at the bottom, ‘Not responsible for any negative consequences from using the app. Remember to change responsibly.’

“Weird…” an eyebrow raised on Brandon’s face but he still found himself accepting the terms and conditions. A second ‘Welcome’ screen flashed up and asked him to choose his favorite body type; athlete, powerlifter, bodybuilder, jock, or nerd. “Well obviously not nerd…” Brandon scoffed to himself. He’d been called that enough in his life. His eyes were skipping back and forth between bodybuilder and athlete. He liked the lither natural muscles the athlete had but couldn’t deny how much he’d always envied the way the bodybuilder profile looked. 

Seeing the figure’s massive muscles, tight waist and confident pose, he couldn’t help but click on it. ‘Great choice! You’re profile is almost finished being set up. Just wait a few seconds and we’ll have you’re first option available.’ Brandon was about to close his phone when he heard the ‘ping’ sound make him pull it right back out. ‘Hats for days. Gain multiple hats for every occasion while also gaining a bit more muscle.’ Underneath it a green box read ‘accept’ while the red one next to it said ‘decline.’ 

“What the heck?” Brandon looked over the phone a bit more wondering what kind of app this could possibly be. “Sure?” he muttered as he hit the green button. He wasn’t really sure what that was supposed to mean. His hand against his scalp, feeling the bill of his hat. “What the heck!?” flipping the hat off his head. It was in fact a flat billed baseball cap that he didn’t even remember buying. He ran it back and forth through his hands wondering where it could have possibly come from. It’s not like he’d brought something like that into the gym.

Then his eyes caught the mirror. He paused, mouth agape. His steps were slow and controlled as he walked a bit closer to the mirror. “No way…” he muttered as he rounded his hands around his belly. The big ball gut was a good inch or two smaller than he was used to. Every morning he had to wake up to the sight of that round belly pushing far out in front of him while his shirts were pressed hard against it. But right now there was slack. “No way…”

‘Ping!’ his phone beeped again. ‘New wardrobe. Toss away all that drab old clothes for something new and stylish.’ Brandon felt his thumb shaking over the accept button. Never in his life had he wore hats before but right now he could clearly remember an entire closet full of them back at his house. He even remembered trying to wear them into the office and being reprimanded for inappropriate attire. At the same time he hated how he hadn’t bought anything new in at least the last ten years. It was slowly growing tighter and tighter around his frame but he didn’t want to admit that he’d need to get another X in front of the L. 

“Why not…” he muttered as he hit the button. Looking in the mirror he could see the old button up shirt change into a bright powder blue polo. It fit tightly around his shoulders and belly and dipped down into some dark black pants. Even if he wasn’t very fit he felt good in the vibrant colors that contrasted the faded colors of what he had been wearing. Not to mention how much better the clothes fit around his body. Everything seemed to round his curves nicely, accentuating them instead of folding around them.

‘Ping!’ he opened his phone again. ‘Attitude adjustment. Forget being walked all over again, with this attitude adjustment you don’t take no for an answer. Muscle and confidence will be added, some intelligence will be lost.’ 

Brandon clicked the accept button without even thinking. Of course he wanted something like that. He could already see the difference in his body. The huge belly was starting to tuck underneath his pecs while his ass pushed hard against his pants. The belt he was wearing was a bit more of a fashion statement than an accessory to hold them up. He raised his arm to see the firm but bulky muscle pressing hard against his sleeve. Thinking back through the day he could remember getting into arguments with his boss but at the same time he knew he wasn’t being pushed around the same way. And at some point the change had caused him to be promoted. No longer was he stuck in the cubicle staring at the fabric walls, but in an office overlooking the city.

“Holy shit…” he cursed feeling the added power. He flexed and relaxed his hands several times trying to calm himself down. Just thinking about what he was able to do and how he was able to tell his equal to, ‘fuck off’, just felt amazing. 

‘Ping!’ Brandon went back to his phone. ‘Hair is for the head. Lose all body hair and only retain it above the neck. Slight muscle gain.’ 

Brandon grunted at the idea. The business he worked at had a strict no beard policy. All the men were required to shave every day. Even a bit of stubble would be enough to be reprimanded. But the slight muscle gain was calling out his name. “I could always just shave…” he told himself as he clicked the accept button. 

Instantly all the body hair over his chest, arms and legs fell off his body. He could see a strong beard growing out of his chin, squaring off his already masculine jaw. The polo he was wearing shifted into a sleeveless shirt and his black pants pulled against his legs. The lycra held tightly against the firm muscles and showed their definition. “Dude. Fuck yeah!” he flexed through the tight pants watching the different muscles bulge out. “Damn this is fucking awesome. But what about work?” 

He knew that this would have never been an acceptable wardrobe to wear. This was far too vain and self-aggrandizing but he didn’t want to stop showing off. ‘Ping!’ his phone sounded and he pulled it out. ‘Instafamous! Become 20 years younger. Lose some intelligence and privacy, gain muscle.’ 

Brandon didn’t even think about it as he hit the accept. The thought of being 20 years younger in a body like this was too much to pass up. He didn’t care about that intelligence anyways. Why should he care? Hell, he’d be stupid if he passed it up. 

The lines around his eyes started to firm back up. Any wrinkles or sagging skin pulled tightly against his growing muscles. He could see their overly smooth nature caused light to bounce off his skin. “Fuck yeah man! I’m so fucking huge!” he bragged throwing up another flex. Watching his muscles bulge and tighten as he moved was too much. Sleeves were a thing of the past. He wouldn’t let any of this hide away from the world. He pulled out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures. It had to be the right angle. Even if it was getting harder to move, he didn’t care.

‘Ping! Branded. Gain a sponsor. Muscle growth, some loss of independence.’ 

All Brandon needed to see was muscle growth. He clicked it instantly watching his body grow even more. Never in his life did he think he’d have arms at 20 inches. Or a chest that pushed his shirts to their limits. Or a tight set of abs tucked underneath him. The perfect V shape pointing down to his muscular butt or the thick thighs holding him up. He opened up his phone again to see all his photos with him wearing his sponsors gear. And every 5th or 6th photo with their protein powders somewhere in the frame. 

‘Ping!’ Brandon looked down at his phone a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the app. Instead it was his one of the guys from his sponsor. ‘Hey there big guy. Make sure you take a video of you doing arms today. And make sure you drink the new drink too. Adrian will be there to get your good side.’ 

“Yeah… Yeah…” Brandon dismissed as he slid his phone back in his pocket. Had it been anyone else, he’d tell them to fuck off.