Physique Bodyware's Brush With The Sun Gym Gang In 1994

It was the mid 1990's. The Miami Beach club scene dominated the nightlife while the bodybuilding and fitness craze ruled the day at the beach! Seinfeld was the hottest show on TV and Physique Bodyware was the Best Selling, American made line of Workout Clothes for Guys and Gals on the planet! Sun Gym was the best place to train. Times were good. Also during this era Miami Beach real estate was booming! Night clubs, bars, restaurants and ocean front property worth billions was your ticket to fame and fortune. Not to mention the exotic line of over the top cars Porsches, Lamborghini's and Ferrari's that all the shiny people changed like shoes.


It just happens, during one of those Miami heat waves in 1994 the CEO of Physique Bodyware, Mr. G. was in town on business, hooking up some new clients with huge wholesale accounts. One of those meetings was with the owner of Sun Gym, Daniel. He was a nice guy with a charming personality and great physique. That night a deal was struck, Physique Bodyware was going to supply the Juiced Up Freaks of Sun Gym plus a full line of exclusive workout clothing for the grand opening of their new Gold's Gym franchise. Sun Gym, located north of Miami Lakes was "the gym" a place where bodybuilders hung out. Not for Geek's, they preferred hardcore freaks, the bigger the better! With 600 members, the gym featured a pro shop, equipped with the latest line of Free Weights, Hammer Strength, Nautilus, Treadmills and more not to mention the full line of anabolic steroids, AKA "Juice Bar" for sale in the bathroom... business was booming!


Over the next few months Daniel, John and Physique Bodyware were best friends. Fancy cars, a Villa, private parties with singers, movie stars, endless champagne, beautiful women... then the money stopped rolling in. Daniel decided that he wanted to renegotiate his terms, he wanted exclusive sales rights for all of Florida with a longer, net 90 term payment plan with Physique Bodyware, big mistake! Later that same day I, Mr. G. was on the "red eye" From NY to Miami to pay the Sun City Gym gang a little visit. At five foot nine inches and 270 lbs. I was not impressed or afraid of a couple of gym rats, besides I figured they were reasonable business men who wanted to keep a good reputation in the Gym World and would reconsider.



It must have been around midnight when I pulled into the gyms dimly lit parking lot. By chance, John, the other owner was pulling in at the same exact time, what are the odds. I walked over to him, still sitting in his white Carrera convertible and said politely "if Sun City is unable to pay Physique Bodyware according to terms of their contract then" ...but before I could finish my sentence John, looking very nervous, confused and sweating profusely, insisted that everything was cool! He assured me that Physique Bodyware would get paid soon. Realizing that something was off, especially since this guy had a crazed look in his eyes, like a wild animal who has not slept for days, I encouraged John to pay now and receive a 5% discount for both Sun City and Gold's Gym accounts. After what seemed like a 10 minute pause, John said "sure, you bet lets go upstairs and see Daniel he should still be here, he's got your money". We both proceeded to the main office inside Sun City gym.


The office was dark, cold as ice with an odd smell of burnt grilled chicken. There was Daniel holding a dirty orange duffle type gym bag that looked heavy even for him. He knew why I was there so he proceeded to reach into the bag and pulled out a block of $100.00 bills around 6-8 inches thick and said, "this should cover it, and your welcome!". I Replied boldly without hesitation, "your welcome? who's money is this in the first place?" Yours, but I stopped this guy from keeping it" looking over at John, said Daniel. I replied, "thank you, now I gotta catch the next plane back to NY".



Daniel yelled, "what's your rush? we're going to party 'till dawn! besides what's in NY that can't wait a few more days? We have a big score that's gonna make us all rich enough to buy 10 Gold's Gym franchises around the world and Physique Bodyware is going to supply them all with gear, Lets talk!" Sensing things were going from bad to worse I did my dead on impression of James Caan from the movie "Thief " If you wanna talk to somebody join the lonely harts club.. Do what? "I'm gonna stay home feed the pigeons, watch day time TV, what the hell do you care?" Not even a chuckle. Then I tried my best Arnold from The Terminator and said "I'll Be Back". they looked confused, laughed then walked into the gym to make a protein smoothie. I managed to get the hell out of there fast and caught the next flight home.

Days later the Miami Herold broke a story about a gang of bodybuilders and personal trainers from Sun Gym in Miami Fla. who killed people in a botched robbery. Rumer has it that the suspects were seen wearing Physique Bodyware clothing and were easy to identify. The rest of this story is history. I hear that The Sun Gang heist was made into a movie staring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Mark Wahlburg, Ed Harris, Tony Shelub and...due out in 2013.


After being drilled for 2 days by the Miami Police regarding Sun Gym and Physique Bodyware's relationship, I was cleared of all charges.  'Till this day many unconfirmed sources say the money from the dirty orange duffle bag was from an earlier heist that took place, maybe that same night in fact. Also, the smell of BBQ chicken was really that of human flesh?   But keep this in mind,  the one story you will not hear about or see in the movie "Pain and Gain" is how I, the CEO of Physique Bodyware almost joined the list of victims killed by the Sun Gym Gang. Some or most of my story is BS or is it? You decide!