Tim Taylor: Personal Trainer
• WNBF Mr. Fitness Male Model Search (overall champion, Nov. 2007)
• Model Universe (4th place, July 2007) NABBA Nationals Men’s Athletic Division (overall champion, Sept. 2006)
• Emerald Cup Men’s Fitness (1st place, April 2006)
• WNBF Mr. Fitness Male Model Search (overall champion, Nov. 2005)
Fitness has been an integral part of Tim’s life for decades, but he didn’t become an athletic competitor until 2005. And even then, it all started as a dare. For years, Tim had read bodybuilding magazines and made comments like, “I could do that,” or, “I’m in as good or better shape than he is.” Finally, one of his friends called him out on it, daring him to compete in the upcoming regional competition, and placing first in the Male Fitness Model division. “It felt good to win that show,” Tim remembers, “but did I really win something significant? I wanted to take the next step.”
The next step was the National Amateur Body Building Association’s Junior Nationals in August. Tim won that one, too, but it was what the head judge told him after that really caught his attention: “He told me there’s a division called men’s athletic, for those who don’t fit the big body builder mold. He told me I had one of the best men’s athletic builds he’d ever seen, and I should try competing in that division in the NABBA Nationals in three weeks.” Tim decided to give it a shot. He competed against experienced men from around the country, and it came down to him and the defending champion. “And in the moment when they called last year’s champ’s name in second, I knew I’d won the U.S. national title.” Tim says. “That was one of the high points in these past few years.”
Although he admits that winning is great, Tim says the competitions are more a way of “making sure I’m still on track and still ranked among the best in the world” than accumulating trophies. “I do believe strongly in giving things my best shot,” he says. “Anything less, for me, would leave me feeling empty. True competition is with one’s self, so if something’s important to you, give it all you have and you’ll be at peace that you couldn’t have done any better, no matter where you place.”
Before he entered the world of fitness modeling, Tim earned a Bachelor’s degree in Corporate/Community Wellness Management and a minor in business administration at Southern College in Tennessee, and a Master’s degree in Wellness Management at Ball State in Indiana. His career experience has included setting up hospital-based wellness centers and cardiac units, teaching lifestyle and wellness courses and working as an ACSM Health Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, & Weight Management Consultant. He’s also worked as a marketing manager for a gym and feature editor for a fitness magazine. When he’s not competing or working with Team Fuel, Tim now works as an Assistant Vice President for a major wall-street brokerage firm.
