Round One of Our Hottest Trainer Competition Starts Now

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Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to determine Chicago's hottest trainer of 2013. Six weeks ago, we asked for your help finding the city's best—and best-looking—fitness instructors. From there, our panel of experts selected eight nominees, all of whom received photo shoots and profiles on the site. Now, it's time to begin the voting process.

Here's how it works: Today, tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday, we'll pit two contestants against each other in round one polls. Next Wednesday and Thursday, the winners will face off in round two. And on Friday, August 23rd, we'll ask you to vote for one of our two finalists in a weekend-long poll to determine our ultimate champion.

First up: Lara Hudson of The Mercury Method versus Nik Rodriguez of Hard Pressed. Who deserves to go on to the next round? Vote after the jump. (Note: Each poll will close 24 hours after it's published.)

Update: The poll is now closed.