"ERICTASTIC" ERIC TURNER AMERICAN HERO

Next to Matt Schiermeier, no one ranks higher among 'FitHotGuys' than Eric Turner.  Currently he's touring Europe and getting ready for Houston's annual Aids fund-raising walk: 'AIDS Walk Houston 2013' on March 10  at Hermann Square Park.  Eric is a major participant and fund-raiser in this event and driving force.  I have contributed to Eric's fund and you can too... Go here! 

Extraordinary Personal trainer, Major Competitive Bodybuilder, and In-Demand Fitness Model and Top Humanitarian Eric Turner has many admirers.  We often see him in the altogether, or almost, since he’s repeatedly called upon to model in racy underwear ads—may be surprised to know that he started out his adult life very, well-clothed.  A surprisingly shy Utah native, Turner, 31, was a devout Mormon who not only spent two neck-tied years on a bicycle as a door-to-door missionary, but who also once trained others to do so.

It was in some ways his religious upbringing that inspired his devotion to fitness. “Your body is a temple,” he reminds. But his association with the Mormons ended badly. “I made whoopee with a boy and was excommunicated,” says the 6-foot-1, openly gay Turner, who later made his way to Houston to be with his then-boyfriend.

A year later, he’s single. But he’s staying in Houston, where his career has really taken off. He’s in demand at River Oaks’ popular Fit Athletic Club, and he turns up regularly in fitness and fashion magazines here and abroad. Plus, he’s recently entered the bodybuilding arena, and won a major meet in Dallas, the 2012 NPC Ronnie Coleman Classic in March, in the new “physique” category. So far Eric has participated in the following contests:

• 2012 NPC Junior USA Championships placed 2nd
• 2012 NPC Ronnie Coleman Classic placed 1st
• 2012 NPC National Championships 16th 

It’s been a long road for Eric, who's taken 10 years of relentless dedication to get his body into its current show-stopping shape—which, by the way, he shows off this year in a revealing new beefcake calendar featuring former Mormon missionaries as Mr. March. It's so cool that a one-time Latter Day Saint would strip down so easily for the camera; and Eric says “It celebrates, for me, the hard work that I’ve done,” and he notes. “One day I’ll be able to look back and say, ‘Damn, I had a nice ass.’”

Turner’s Hots
Deadmau5, barbell hip thrusts, front squats, David Sedaris, Lululemon, pizza dipped in ranch dressing (“I’m a fat girl trapped in a muscle body”), voting

Turner’s Nots
Potholes, Kardashians, mayonnaise, Abercrombie & Fitch, intolerance