Weeks passed. The seconds grew into minutes. He stopped thinking about “reps” and started thinking about tension waves —pulsing his abs, obliques, and lower back in a synchronized clench, then releasing just enough to breathe. The breathing was the key: short, sharp hisses through clenched teeth, never letting the ribcage collapse. He learned to brace his gut while talking on the phone, while chopping onions, while sitting at red lights.

“How?” he asked.

She was seventy-three, a former Soviet gymnastics coach who now taught a tiny class in a converted garage. Her arms were sinewy cords. When she walked, her entire torso moved as one solid block—no slouch, no sway. Marek watched her lift a sandbag off the floor using only her hands and the invisible corset of her trunk.

He ran to the bathroom mirror, pulled up his shirt, and turned sideways.