#builtnotborn

Wells held the pose and stared into the mirror, locking eyes with the man he was building himself into.

Bigger. Harder. More dominant. Not born that way. Built that way. Every rep, every set, every drop of sweat carved something stronger out of him. Strength wasn’t luck. Power wasn’t given. It was earned through discipline, hunger, and the refusal to stay ordinary.

The mirror didn’t show a dream. It showed a target. Future Wells stood there like living proof of what happens when a bro commits fully and trains without compromise. More muscle. More presence. More command. That was the Golden standard. Keep pushing. Keep growing. Keep going gold. The body follows the mindset. The power follows the work.

Wells isn’t waiting for the future to happen. He’s building it with sweat, discipline, and iron. The man in the mirror is bigger, stronger, and more commanding because Wells is putting in the work to earn him.

The gym was quiet in that saturated, post-training heat that left mirrors streaked and the air thick with iron. Wells stood on the mat barefoot, gold posing briefs catching every stray flicker of light. At twenty-seven he was built to be seen, wide, round delts, a deep chest, tight waist, abs locked into view, and quads that refused subtlety. Confidence clung to him the way sweat clung to skin.

“You’re practically glowing,” the coach said as he approached. His voice carried weight—the kind that came from forty years and a body that hadn’t given up a pound of mass. “Good. Makes my job easier.”

Wells smirked at his own reflection. “Thought you preferred me harder to manage.”

“Oh, I do,” the coach said, stepping around him slowly. “Difficult men are more entertaining. And more rewarding when they behave.”

The tape unrolled from the coach’s hand with a soft hiss.

“Posture,” he commanded.

Two fingers pressed into Wells’ sternum, firm and unhesitating, nudging him back into alignment. Wells adjusted, chest elevated, ribs open, shoulders spread. The gold briefs stretched slightly over thick glutes, and the coach’s gaze didn’t hide the fact that he noticed.

“That’s it,” the coach murmured. “Now you look like something worth measuring.”

He wrapped the tape around Wells’ chest, pulling snug. Wells inhaled, pecs lifting against the pressure. The coach checked the number twice.

“Bigger,” he said. “You’re becoming a full-time distraction.”

“From what?” Wells asked.

The coach smiled without looking up. “From whatever else men in this gym were pretending mattered.” He scribbled the number. “They stare every time you walk past. Half out of envy, half out of curiosity.”

Wells tilted his head. “Curious about what?”

“About how far you’ve gone,” the coach said. “And how far you’d let someone push you.”

He moved behind Wells, close enough that Wells could feel the body heat and density difference.

“Shoulders,” the coach said, adjusting Wells’ arms himself. “No flaring. Don’t show off yet—you’ll get your moment.”

Wells let him move him, but only just. “You assume I take orders.”

“You don’t take them,” the coach corrected, voice low. “You enjoy pretending you don’t.”

The tape stretched wide. The coach whistled quietly. “Look at that. All that width for free. Some men dedicate their lives to being half as interesting.”

“Interesting?” Wells repeated. “Didn’t know that was a metric.”

“I use my own metrics,” the coach said. “And by mine, you’re becoming dangerously attractive.”

Arms next.

“Flex.”

Wells snapped into it, bicep swelling under the lights. The coach took his time measuring, thumb adjusting the angle, knuckle brushing against the hardness of the muscle itself.

“God,” the coach said with a grin. “No wonder the locker room gets quiet when you show up. They don’t know whether to challenge you or stare.”

“Let them stare,” Wells said. “Everyone deserves a good view.”

The coach clicked his pen. “And you love providing one.”

“Why else would I train?” Wells shot back.

“For power,” the coach said, stepping in front of him now, close enough that Wells could see the flecks of blue in his eyes. “For dominance. For the thrill of being wanted and feared at the same time.”

Quads next. The coach crouched, one hand on Wells’ hip to steady him as he measured. His gaze slid up the line of Wells’ thigh, unbothered by subtlety.

“These,” he said, squeezing once, “are the reason I can’t keep other coaches away from my sessions. They want to know how you built them. I keep telling them it’s a combination of genetics and vanity.”

Wells grinned down at him. “You think I’m vain?”

“I think you’re a performer,” the coach said, standing smoothly. “And performers know exactly what they’re doing.”

He took the waist measurement last, tape tight against the narrowness of it. The contrast between mass and discipline was obscene in the best way.

“Perfect,” the coach murmured. “Tight where it counts. Loose nowhere.”

Wells raised a brow. “You talk like you’re flirting.”

“Oh, Wells,” the coach replied, finally looking up at him fully, “I stopped pretending this was just coaching three months ago.”

Wells didn’t break eye contact. “Then what is it?”

The coach capped his pen slowly, deliberately. “Motivation. And you respond to that better than most men I’ve trained.”

He handed Wells the clipboard—numbers, proof, validation, desire disguised as data.

“You’re not done,” the coach said. “You’re just becoming dangerous.”

Wells stood taller, golden and carved and fully aware of the attention. “And you like dangerous.”

“I crave it,” the coach said. “Now show me a pose—and don’t hold back this time.”

Measured. Desired. Displayed.

Golden. And fully aware of the effect.

Then Coach looked at Wells and says “You’re dangerous in gold, Wells… dangerous enough that I almost don’t want to share the view.”

Mirror check. Weight set. No shortcuts.

Wells doesn’t talk much between reps, but when he does, it’s simple:

“Got to train to get the gains.”

Consistency. Control. Intention. That’s the difference.

Some people pose. Some people put in the work

📍Don't call me lucky. I failed more times than you tried.

Behind every “overnight success” are years of failure, doubt, grit, and starting over.

People see the wins. They rarely see the wounds.

So no — it’s not luck.

It’s persistence.

It’s showing up again after falling flat.