Fitness Carter: This sexy Atlanta dancer shares his fitness tips

By Matt Hennie | Jan 8, 2014 | 11:57 AM

Maybe you've spotted him training someone at the gym. Or showing off his ballet talents on stage. Or muscled up in a sexy gay dog pile ^[2] in Piedmont. But how does Mo Stringer build a body like that?

We wondered the same thing. So we quizzed the 23-year-old French native with a mix of German, Native American and Nigerian on how he's built a muscled body like that. Performing with the Atlanta Festival Ballet Company, among others? Yes. Training clients at Gravity Fitness? Sure, that helps. Competing in bodybuilding competitions? Of course. But Stringer has tips that everyday gays can use to find fitness success, too.

I grew up in a military family so I guess that's were my self-discipline comes in. I grew up in the French countryside so eating healthy and having fresh produce was just the way it was. The way I was raised has been so helpful now that I'm professional ballet dancer and compete in NPC/IFBB bodybuilding competitions.

Eating organic as much as possible and cooking my own food is a big part of staying in shape. I tend to find that when I eat clean–no fast food–I have more energy throughout the day.

My week consists of about 30 hours of dance and 4 to 6 hours of weight training. Since I do so much dancing and cardio, I generally don't do it at the gym. My biggest challenge is finding a happy medium when it comes to dance and weightlifting. They kind of don't mix to well, so in order for me to be able to do both, I really watch my fatty food intake.

The body grows most when it's at rest, so any chance I get I try to rest.

My motivation is always wanting to achieve excellence. It was part of my upbringing and so was being very structured. So when realized I didn't have my parents to provide that discipline, I started looking for it and found it in ballet and competing. Both require the self-discipline and ambition to be the best.