How fitness coach Tyriek Taylor reclaims his power from HIV with self-commitment

The Switch is a video series sharing positive lifestyles and health routines to help you thrive while living with HIV. Listen to our guests living with HIV talk candidly about the positive switches they have made in their daily lives, including their approach to HIV treatment. Watch more episodes here.

When Tyriek Taylor, 34, took an at-home HIV test more than four years ago, the last thing on his mind was for it to come back positive. Sitting in a studio in Austin, TX, where he currently resides, Taylor admits he was scared of his diagnosis at first.

“My partner went for his routine checkup,” the artist, activist and fitness coach recalls in the new episode of The Switch. “We had just got back together. Seeing that I was positive, I felt like — No! No! This is impossible!”

Having barely processed the news, Taylor decided he must inform his partner at the time. Unsure of his reaction, Taylor texted him while sitting in another room. To Taylor's surprise, his partner was very receptive — This gave Taylor the courage to travel to Florida to tell his siblings in person.

“They didn’t get upset,” Taylor’s voice shakes. “They didn't get mad. They all hugged me. They said they still love me. That was something I needed for a very long time and it was coming from a baby sibling — It meant everything to me.”

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Since then, Taylor has received plenty of support from his family and the fitness community. He started his treatment by taking a pill every day and he has now been undetectable and untransmittable (U=U) for more than four years.

“It’s crazy,” Taylor tells Plus. “I've healed from so much and I've been able to learn to love a lot more about myself having HIV than ever before.”

In 2021, Taylor founded Black and Queer Fitness in his home city to celebrate and support the diversity of the Black and queer communities. The health and wellness company offers group classes, nutritional guidance and personalized training — all specifically designed for pre- and-post operative transgender individuals. Taylor openly discusses his HIV status in class.

“This is me taking my power back,” Taylor says. “This is not a death sentence and you can still do so much more in the future. You just have to really, really make that choice and that commitment to yourself.”