Lyle's office hours: you pay Lyle in sweat
They hit the saunas out by the cement stairs until they’ve got enough incentive on their skin, then they lurk, purled and shiny, in towels, by the weight room door, waiting to enter one by one
Context
Lyle's economy is stated as a physical transaction: the price of an audience is perspiration you have to go generate first. The kids "hit the saunas... until they’ve got enough incentive on their skin," then queue at the door "purled and shiny, in towels" — sweat is the coin, and you can't be admitted until you've minted enough of it. The guru's counsel literally runs off the athlete's body; you buy wisdom with the water your own glands produce. The three-word summary of the whole arrangement: the supplicant's offering is his own beaded skin, held out to be read.