Hicksville Transgender Man Seeks To Make Bodybuilding History

HICKSVILLE, NY — A transgender man from Hicksville hopes to make bodybuilding history. Alex Tilinca, an 18-year-old freshman at Hofstra University, in August took first place at the Teen Classic Physique competition at the Victor Martinez Legends Bodybuilding Competition, beating out cisgender men.

"And it felt great," Tilinca told Outsports. "I never really even thought about the cis part — for me, I just wanted to win."

Tilinca, a Stony Brook native, has transformed his body over about 1 1/2 years from fit to bodybuilder. In an Instagram post showing his progress, Tilinca wrote: "People thought I was crazy, too much trying too hard, too regimented, aiming too high for such a short period of time etc.... But I don't think I was and don't think I still am."

He said he knew that he could accomplish his goal and that's why he worked so hard. He stands 5-feet-3-inches and weighs 165 pounds. But his goal is to add a lot of muscle.

"My goal is to be over 200 lbs at my height lean and ripped," Tilinca wrote. "Does that sound insane, yeah sure. AM I insane? Maybe lmao. Is it gonna take a lot of time, consistency, patience and faith? Yes, absolutely. But if you instill the work ethic to back your words up, then nothing is too high of a goal."

View this post on Instagram

About a year and a half apart here. People thought I was crazy, too much trying too hard, too regimented, aiming too high for such a short period of time etc.... . But I don’t think I was and don’t think I still am. I knew that I could do it that’s why I pushed so hard. Most people are SCARED to push so hard because deep down they think they will fail; they are scared of the thought of failing. My goal is to be over 200 lbs at my height lean and ripped. Does that sound insane, yeah sure. AM I insane? Maybe lmao. Is it gonna take a lot of time, consistency, patience and faith? Yes, absolutely. But if you instill the work ethic to back your words up, then nothing is too high of a goal. . Happy #mondaymotivation
A post shared by Alex Tilinca (@alextilinca) on Oct 14, 2019 at 11:50am PDT

For now, Tilinca is focused on his classes. But that doesn't mean he's stopped hitting the gym.

"School is going good!" Tilinca told Outsports. "I never left bodybuilding I’m just talking a long off season."

Tilinca wants to become the first transgender man to win the Mr. Olympia competition in Las Vegas. The competition is billed as the world's premier bodybuilding event.

But it's a recent goal.

He told Newsday in November that at first, he had no plans to get into bodybuilding. He struggled with weight after going through the transition process, which included psychotherapy, estrogen blockers, surgery and hormone replacement therapy with testosterone.

"I just wanted a little more muscle," he said. "But I really think once you get the bug, it's very, very hard to just stop."

He began hitting the gym at Ward Melville High School and then later at Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym in Syosset.

"When I saw bodybuilding, I saw it as a tool of control over what you look like," Tilinca told the newspaper. "For someone being trans, that's amazing. It's really empowering. If you don’t like something, you know you can change it. It’s like sculpting your own body."

You can follow Tilinca's journey on his YouTube channel.

View this post on Instagram

Rest day today . Gotta get my together and study for all my finals!
A post shared by Alex Tilinca (@alextilinca) on Dec 15, 2019 at 9:09am PST