Hottest Trainer Contestant #5: John Taylor

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Welcome to Racked SF's search for San Francisco's hottest trainer. Over the coming weeks, we'll profile sixteen smoking hot candidates who work at local gyms and studios. Then, once you've gotten to know everyone, we'll host a March Madness-style showdown in which you get to vote for your favorite. Let the games begin!

Grid View

Expand

• Photos by Arlene Watson

Photos by Arlene Watson

Watching SoulCycle trainer John Taylor ride a bike is like pure magic. And the way he gets pumped up to move and groove to the music is enough inspiration to have us coming back to watch—and ride—some more. Thanks to all those mirrors in the SoulCycle studio, we can get a good view from every angle. (We're talking proper bike positions, of course.) All thoughts of his gorgeousness aside, John also knows his music and always stocks his playlist with good beats and remixes, which are totally clutch for those long, grueling climbs and leg-burning sprints. You'll have to become a regular at his classes to catch him looking especially swoonworthy in a backwards snapback—and trust us, it's 100 percent worth it.

In one line, tell us about yourself.

I played football my whole life and I always thought if I didn't play football, I would coach it so in a way that's what I'm doing—I'm just coaching on a bike.

Why did you become a trainer?

I love SoulCycle! But I had gotten out of shape so I never thought it would be a realistic option to become an instructor. Once I got really good at riding at SoulCycle, I started running again and took up boxing. After I got to that point, being an instructor was something that seemed plausible. I thought about it and rode more and started to really have an itch to play the music I wanted to hear in class. So I auditioned, and here I am.

What advice would you offer to someone who is just starting in your class?

To take my class at their own speed. My class can be a lot when you're first starting out. I encourage riders to get comfortable, and to match their resistance to the pace of the music. Doing that keeps you on beat, which is the main thing we do at SoulCycle.

Tell us one fun fact about yourself.

I have a pretty even skin tone all over, but that evenness tends to end once you get to my feet. For some reason my feet are ghostly white—super pale!

If you weren't a trainer, what would you be?

Most likely, I'd be a DJ. I love that aspect of class. But there's also drama; class can get very dramatic. So a career in drama would definitely seem like a fit.
· SoulCycle [Official Site]
· All Hottest Trainer 2014 posts [Racked SF]