All About Bodybuilding with Alex Tilinca, a future Mr. Olympia

You're listening to the PT Proffit podcast, episode number 87. Today I'm sitting down with the future to be Mr. Olympia, Alex Telenka. Are you ready? Let's get started. Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services, and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast. What's up, coach? Thank you so much for pushing Play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson. And if this is your first time hanging out with me today, thank you so much for pushing play. I am super pumped to get this interview out to you. I sat down with the future Mr. Olympia stage. That's what I'm calling this podcast. I hope you don't mind, Alex, but based on the intensity of our conversation, I have no doubt that you are going to get there on that stage. So Alex Tolinka is a 20 year old NPC bodybuilder from Long Island, New York. He's a coach for clients. Also also a full time college student. He also coaches other bodybuilders and happens to be a transgender man and aims to be the first transgender man to make it to the Mr. Olympia stage. In this episode, we talked all about the misconceptions about the sport of bodybuilding. We also talked about nutrition specifics and the differences about being on season, off season, both in the sport and off the sport, and how we use some of the practices in the sport of bodybuilding and translate it to our general population clients. So without further ado, let's go ahead and roll that interview. Alex, what's up? Thank you so much for joining me on the show today. How are you?

I'm great. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate being here.

Oh, this is going to be such a fun conversation. I cannot wait to dive in. So for those of you who've never heard of Alex, I'd love for you please share with us a little bit about who you are, who you serve and how you got there.

Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Alex tolinka. I'm a 20 year old bodybuilder. I live on Long Island, New York. I train at Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym. I'm an NPC competitor. I am also a transgender male. So I'm the only transgender male competitor in The MPC Classic physique division pretty much from there. I do have my Instagram, social media. I'm a gymshark sponsored athlete, and I'm also a coach.

I love that. Okay, so let's just dive in. How did you get to this journey? Tell us a little bit about your journey.

So I actually had. Before bodybuilding, I did absolutely nothing like sports oriented. I was a drummer. I was extremely involved in music. I was in my school's competitive jazz band, choir group. You name it, I was probably in it if involved music. But it was, for me, it was just one of those things that I was very, very skinny. I really ate poorly. I kind of just ate when I was hungry, and that was about it. And it wasn't very often. So I was like £100 wet. And being a transgender male, I never really let that define me as an individual. But it definitely kind of like persuade, like, kind of swayed me to feel a certain way about myself. In the beginning, I was like, I wanted to be more masculine, whatever that took. So I kind of just figured, you know, okay, well, if I want to look more masculine, I have to work out, right? So, like, that's how it kind of started. It was just basically me wanting to feel better about myself, look more masculine. And then also, I think there was an aspect of self control about it that, like, it was an out. Like bodybuilding or working out in general was an outlet for me to feel like I had control over what I looked like, which for me, being transgender was, like, really important and, like, satisfying. So that's kind of what got me into it. But I do have a very all or nothing personality. So, like, you know, it went very quickly from just wanting to do it casually to wanting to be a competitor.

So introduced to the sport.

So I, when I first started working out, I just went to the school gym in my high school, I went with my friends. And then I pretty much, like, I wanted to learn as much as I could about bodybuilding in general. So I started looking into the nutrition aspect of it, the training aspect of it. I looked into, like, the history of it, like, who are some major bodybuilders. I watched, like, Pumping Iron. I watched all, like, the documentaries. And then I learned about Beth Francis Powerhouse Gym. And I guess I started even learning about gyms and stuff. And Bev Francis was a gym I learned about. And for some reason, I was aware that I was in New York, but I wasn't aware it was on Long island where I live. And at the time, I was A junior and I just got my permit and pretty much I found out about Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym and I pretty much decided I was like, okay, the minute I get my full license, like I want to go and like just experience that and like be around people with that kind of mindset. So I did that like in like the minute I got my full license. Every single day after school I would drive 45 minutes to Beth Francis. And that's kind of like the first time I was introduced to actual competitors, not just people that did it for fun. And up to that point I was already kind of working out for a year. I took it seriously, but not to the extent that I take it now obviously. And I think just going there and being so welcomed by everyone and like seeing people push themselves to that limit really excited me. And like, that's kind of what introduced me to bodybuilding competitors. That being said, up to that point I had no inclination to compete because first off, I wasn't sure if I could, to be honest. I was like, I don't know if I can compete. Like, you know, like I don't know the regulations for the npc. And you know, I was making a lot of progress. I was having competitors like Arash and like Arasha Bar, Siddiq Hatzavic, Juan Isa Morel, like I was having these very well known bodybuilders come up to me like, hey, like, you should consider competing. Like you are making a lot of progress really fast. It's really impressive. And I literally was like, I was very flattered, but I was like, I don't know if I can. But luckily the owner of Bev Francis is Steve Weinberger and his wife Beth Francis and they kind of run the NPC shows. So I was like, you know, I'm literally just going to go up to them and be very clear cut and honest and be like, I mean, you know, like, I'm Alex Linka, like I go to your gym. I'm sure like we already kind of knew each other, but I never really directly spoke to them. And I was, I was just honest. I was like, listen, like I want to compete by, I'm a trans guy. Like, is that a problem? Because I don't want to get ready for a bodybuilding show and then show up and then be told that I can't compete because that's a lot of effort and work that goes into getting ready for bodybuilding show. And they pretty much said no, like there's absolutely no issues for you. You know, they said, don't Take any offense to this, but if anything, you're at a slight disadvantage, so there wouldn't be really, like, a problem with you competing against other guys. And I was like, okay, perfect. So from there, at this point, the minute I joined, started backtracking a little bit. The minute I did join Beth Francis, I did get a coach. His name's Jason. So pretty much, it just, like, you know, I told Jason, I was like, hey, like, I can compete. And he was like, okay, perfect. So let's do this. So when I was 18 years old, I got ready for my first bodybuilding show. My legs are already big enough for classic, so I decided to compete in classic. I got first in teens, and then second and junior and novice.

So amazing. Congratulations. Yeah, I mean, I have. There's so many different directions, and I have so many questions, so please feel free. Like, if I ask something that is not appropriate, just shut me down.

Okay. No, absolutely. Like, I always say, like, I'm really an open book. I'm very transparent about everything because I think there is a lot of misconceptions, and I think it's purely just because people are shy to ask. And there's. There needs to be individuals that feel comfortable enough to, like, open up about it and just speak, like, truthfully about it. So, like, don't worry. Like, really, I promise, nothing offends me.

Okay, great. I love that. So, you know, I'm curious, you know, because I know that, and I know a lot of powerlifting competitions also have this. So in their sport is that there are regulations in terms of, you know, steroids and drugs that they're allowed to take, which is what makes them be competitive or not competitive? Is that something that, as. Is that something you've had to deal with as you decide which shows you're going to go to? And how do you navigate that conversation?

Right. So pretty much most transgenders, you go on testosterone through an endocrinologist, then your chronologist, that's your dozing. That being said, through the npc, it's not regulated like that. So they don't really, like, test for. Like, there are. In bodybuilding, there's national. Like, there's divisions that are strictly natural and they do test. But the MPC and ifbb, Lee, which are the most prestigious and really, honestly competitive, don't. So it was kind of one of those things that they were like, I mean, if you take hormones, like, you're not the only one, so, like, you're fine. Like, you know, so even if I just, like, competed on My endocrinologist dose of 80 milligrams, like they don't test. That being said, furthermore, when a transgender is put on testosterone through an endocrinologist, it's only to make their testosterone levels equivalent to a cisgendered male. A cisgendered male is just a male born at birth as a male. So pretty much, if, you know, there are people that argue that, oh well, if a transgender man is on testosterone, they would have a competitive edge over a CIS male, the answer is definitely no. Because if they're only on the prescribed dose from the endocrinologist, that dose dozing purpose is strictly to elevate them to the level of a natural born males. If that makes sense. It's not supposed to exceed that.

So it's perfect sense. Which, which leads me to my next question, which is where I feel like it leads to a lot of the controversy is that when you enter a competition where there is no regulation in terms of, you know, being tested for hormone take, then you have someone like a CIS gendered male who's also taking it. So that gives them, you know, a competitive advantage. Do you feel like that has, you know, you know, how do you feel like the industry specifically has dealt with that and your thoughts on that in.

Like when you say, like, deal with that, like, can you be a little bit more specific? Like regulated it?

Yeah. Or, you know, your thoughts on, you know, is it an unfair advantage? And do you think it should be something that is regulated or not in a way that makes it fair to all competitors?

Right. Well, the way I see it is again, there are divisions that are strictly natural. So if that is very important to you, then I think there's always that option. The issue with regulating it through the NPC and IPB is that it's been unregulated for so long. Like how and exactly how would you regulate it? Like, would there be like, like you, like what would you cap it out? Like, you know, like be like, oh, 200 grams, 200 milligrams of testosterone. That's your cat. Like that's, it's just, you know, and there's so many, like there's so many compounds and stuff like that. I don't think it would be realistic to do that. And at the end of the day, again, even if you were trying to regulate it, right. Everyone reacts differently to hormones. So if one individual took 200 milligrams of testosterone and then the second individual took 400, it's actually. And then like, for example, if you're trying to regulate the MPC show when you went to go do the blood work. It's actually possible that the person taking the 200mg has higher levels of testosterone because either they have naturally more testosterone in them or they just absorb it better. So it's really almost impossible to regulate like that because everyone reacts differently to hormones. So even though the person b might be taking more testosterone from an outside source of their body, if they're not absorbing it as well and they naturally have lower levels, then how can you possibly determine, you know, how would you be like, oh, well, person but in, you know, I don't know if that makes sense, but it's just then actually.

As we're talking about it, it remind. You know, it just reminds me to remember that, you know, we want to be focusing on the things that we can control. And there's that we're just talking about one component that's like saying, you know, so and so spends 100,000 on their Facebook ads, so now their business is better. Right? And it's just not true because there's so many other components that go into it. So I totally, I totally get that. It's just surprising to me that, that it. It seems like it is a controversial topic in terms of drugs or no drugs.

You know, it's definitely controversial because at the end of the day, it's not something that you could deem like, healthy, you know, but I think by the end of the day, like, there's like, people drink alcohol. Like, there's so many vices, like it doesn't that are legal necessarily. So it's just like, in my opinion for something like that, that again, it's so it's impossible to track someone like that. I think if anything, instead of trying to regulate like gear usage, you should maybe provide more health care services for these athletes. Like, you know, be more like preventive, like to help them, you know, because instead of. Because that's something that, you know, every sport, every, like, especially the IPB pros, every sport that's at a like a national level, they have some type of healthcare system for their athletes. So like football players, if they get injured, they're covered like bodybuilders, like the only athletes that if something happens to them, that's on them. So like, you know, and there's like a lot of other sports use hormones and like, do crazy stuff too. So like, instead of trying to regulate the hormone usage, maybe just try and be proactive about, you know, making sure that they're healthy. And if anything happens that they have options to get help or blood work, you know, like, maybe like, provide blood work for them. Like, you know, like every six months. Something at least if you're a pro or definitely if you go to Olympia, if you're an Olympian, you should have something like that, in my opinion.

I love that. Okay, so now when we first. I would just want to circle back, because when we first started talking on the podcast, we were talking about some of the. You said that there are a lot of misconceptions out there. So. About the sport. I'd really love for you to. If you wouldn't mind like, just diving into some of the misconceptions and how you have used your message to shift perspective.

Right? Yeah. Okay. I mean, we could go from, like, a nutritional aspect. You go from training. Like, there's so many spots I can start on. I guess we can start. Is one big misconception that I think is a. Like, a product of social media is. I think people think bodybuilding is very, like, glamorous lifestyle. And, like, because you see these, like, guys with ripped abs and, like, their cars and, like, girls or whatever on Instagram. But, like, that's not what bodybuilding is like. Bodybuilding is probably the most redundant sport there is. Like, you pretty much do the exact same thing every single day. It's not like I go to the gym and I change up my workout. Every single time I train, I do the exact same thing. Everything serves a purpose. It's very meticulous. It's a life. It's a total lifestyle change. We don't have seasons. Like, you know, just because you're not getting ready for a show doesn't mean you're not eating like a bodybuilder anymore. So I think, like, a big misconception is that I think it's very glamorized in by social media. And a lot of young kids just want to, like, get ripped or whatever. But, like, I don't think they really understand the level and, like, what it really takes to get that lean. Like, you suffer. Like, honestly, you really do suffer. And it's something that, like, if you don't really have a passion for the sport, it's very tough to do for a very long time. And that's another thing. Like, bodybuilding athletes, they last a long time. Like Dexter Jackson, one of the most famous bodybuilders, he competed into his 60s. So it's not like a sport where athletes retire in the 30s. Like, you can go for a while if you really Want so because you.

Said that, you know there's no, it's a lifestyle so. And there's no off season. So I mean does that mean that you guys are literally RPE10 all day every day? Like what's, what does your bodybuilding season look like?

So for example, like it. Yeah, I mean year round I wake up for fasted cardio. I still do fast cardio every single day in the morning fasted. I am a college student so once college starts back up again, I'll be in the gym six in the morning doing fast cardio. I eat six times a day. Like yesterday I woke up a little late so I had to have my last meal. I literally woke up two in the morning to eat it. It's like very like there's like, if you want to take it seriously, like every little detail matters because everyone is just as crazy in this, in the bodybuilding world. So it's like who can out crazy the other one, you know, because it's, it sounds like one meal but you know it's, I do believe in habits. So it's like skip one meal here, sk skip another one there. It starts to add up, you know and then there's me another competitor that they didn't skip it. And it's going to show in the long run. Definitely. You know, year round I train really, really hard. I, there's many days I'm just physically very exhausted because like my body's so beaten down. We train the way we train is pretty much, I like to say powerlifting but with reps, like we train very heavy but we do reps. Like we stick in the, you know, I mean sometimes I will go in the 6 to 8 rep range but you know, I'm doing hack squats, 7 place each side for 10 reps. It's a lot of weight for a lot of volume. It's very taxing. Again even just like you're like the kitchen is like almost a full time job. I'm cooking six times a day before if I'm going to college I'll meal prep that. I have to like take the time to do that. So it's definitely like a commitment. And then add like just being a normal human being. Like you know, I have family, I have a girlfriend, like I go to college, I have, have clients. Like it's a lot of work cleaning up after yourself. Like you know, it's that they don't have like a private special chef like some of these athletes do and others like you know, other sports. So it's definitely not as glamorous as people think it is for sure.

So I'd love to talk a little bit about the recovery process. So you know, what is your, how do you manage recovery? Like what do you do if you get sick? Do you get sick?

So honestly I'm very lucky that I don't, knock on wood, get sick very like often I do like, I do a lot of preventative things to like ensure I don't get sick. Because if I do get sick, honestly if it's a head cold, I will still work out. Like if it's very, very sick, then no, I will take a step back. But if it's just like runny nose or like something like really not serious, I'll probably take a day off or something just to make sure I don't get anyone sick. But from there I will go back to work out. But recovery, honestly, it's very basic, but it's just like you gotta sleep, you have to eat. We take, you know, there's, it's, there's also like intro workout. We do a lot of like Perry nutrition stuff like that. So we'll take aminos, combine that with like a cluster dextrin. What happens is we spike our insulin levels. So we'll consume like a fast acting carb intro workout, which suspects your insulin levels. Insulin is a catalyst for amino absorption. So the minute you spike your insulin levels you tell your body absorb. Literally that's what it's like your body knows to do. So your body will literally absorb those aminos as you're working out. So you're literally repairing the muscle tissue as you're training. So that really, really is something great that as us bodybuilders we do, um, especially if you train more frequently, like if you train a muscle group more than once a week, that's definitely something I would always put any person on is like an intro workout stack like that. Um, you know, you just again it's, it's really the, it's the diet. Like 95% of the sport is the diet because if you don't have the diet down then like you're not going to recover and then you're not going to grow.

Okay, great. So I do, I definitely want to get into nutrition because it also sounds like that's super, something you're super passionate about. But real quick, how many hours a day are you training?

Uh, really depends on the like body part. But typically I do, I do 30 minutes fasted cardio and then for training I would say hour and A half is like the general amount.

Six days a week.

No, actually right now I train two days on, then I take a rest day and two days on rest day. Um, so it's kind of like five.

Four or five, depending on where you are. Totally. Do you go on vacation? And if you do, you just work out.

So if I go on vacation, I definitely still work out. I usually pack my meals with me, especially if I'm pre. If I'm pre show, it doesn't matter where I am. I have my meals on me. I will eat. I've eaten fish cold. I've eaten many gross things cold just to get the meal in. So yes, if I'm not pre contest, then I probably won't go that hardcore. But I will definitely still like be eating pretty much what I would on my diet. You know, it's not that hard. Like I have eggs and oats in the like morning. I can find that. If I'm going vacation. I do want to go to Olympia this year really badly. So I probably, I would always bring with like me like some supplements, like whey, my intracarb, stuff like that. But for the actual food, if I'm off season, I'm a little more bit more lenient about it, but you won't see me like eating chips and stuff like that ever. So yeah, I mean, I maybe like on a cheat meal, but that's about it. Like, I wouldn't like binge or anything like that.

Okay. All right, so let's go into your misconceptions of nutrition. So tell me what, like the number one misconception is for nutrition.

Number one misconception for nutrition is that people eat too much protein. Actually, in my personal opinion, they think that they see these really big bodybuilders, they're like slamming down 340, 400 grams of protein a day. Meanwhile, they weigh 150 pounds and they don't take any external hormones. And it's just going to absolutely ruin your gut, it's going to cause distension, and you're not going to even absorb all of it. And quite frankly, all that extra protein will just turn into fat. Um, so pretty much the body can only naturally absorb about 30 to 50 grams of protein per sitting. Um, and then that will take about three to four hours to digest. So when I see like young guys, like trying to slam down a hundred grams of protein a meal, it's just absolutely unnecessary. And then like they think carbs are bad for you, so they'll have no carbs. And then a Hundred grams of protein, and that's just gonna cause so many problems for your gut. Um, carbs, you know, are. You need carbs just for actual volume fiber. It cause helps with bowel motion. Again, going back to the whole insulin spike.

When you say carbs, I do want to go to insulin spike. But when you say carbs, can you be specific on the types of carbs we're talking about? Because some, you know, are. Some people will be like, vegetables don't count. They do count. What about what gets. What are the specific. Like, what do you mean by carbs?

Well, it really depends on your caloric needs and on your goals. But honestly, typically, I always stick to, like, carbs that sit nicely in this. I'm very big on, like, digestion and gut health, typically. Honestly, brown rice just wreaks havoc on most people's, like, digestive system. It's too harsh. It's insoluble fiber. We want to aim for soluble fiber. Insoluble fiber, it's just too high in it, and then it kind of just gets stuck in the stomach. Combine that without drinking enough water, you're gonna get bloated and not use the bathroom for, like, three days. So I honestly like white rice, jasmine rice. It sits wonderfully. Most people's stomachs. Combine that with some veggies, which have soluble fiber. Soluble fiber will turn into, like, a gel paste in your stomach. It'll coat the intestines and help bowel. It'll pretty much help, like, lubrication and help bowel motion in general, unlike insoluble fiber, which is very harsh, and it doesn't, like, gel down like that. So I think, like, a combination of, like, a white rice, white potato, something that's very light and digests very easily with some type of soluble fiber with, like, you know, cauliflower. I actually don't even like broccoli because it's a. It's a high fodmap food. Fodmap food pretty much is high in acidity. So again, it might sit really harshly in most people's stomach. But cauliflower, asparagus is amazing. Zucchini, you got to listen to your body. And just from working for a lot of clients, a lot of people have had issues with very specific foods. And I've seen a pattern. Baby spinach is amazing. It's very high in potassium, will help digest, and it's very easy to eat if you just, like, you know, saute a little bit. So for carbs, I would absolutely. Like, people would be surprised. But Bodybuilders, there's a reason we eat white rice, white potato, cream of rice. The only really complex carb we eat is oatmeal. But the reason for that is because oatmeal, unlike other, like brown rice, stuff like that, has soluble fiber, not the insoluble fiber. So oatmeal is great in the morning because it'll help. It'll spike your insulin a little bit, but then it'll kind of keep it elevated because of that fiber. Um, so it kind of gives you like a really sustained source of energy. Or before bed is great too. But throughout the day, definitely something light in the stomach, carb wise.

Hmm. So when you say people are like, oh, I'm not going to eat any carbs when I'm going to crush a hundred grams of protein, are they not even eating vegetables?

Yeah, like, I mean, I've seen, I. They'll just do like Shakespeare. Like, they'll just do like protein shakes. They won't even eat like whole food. And that's another thing. Your body is very smart. It can tell the difference between real food and just a protein powder. I've been Bible for four years and I have never ever like, relied on protein powder. I think that's another big misconception that bodybuilders like just slam down a lot of protein powder, but we don't, we eat like real whole food, like real whole meals. Um, the only time I have a protein shake is right before I go to bed. Just because I don't want to eat something that's gonna like sit in my stomach like a rock. But I always have like, like at this point I'm kind of eating seven times a day. So like I have six whole meals of me like a day. Um, so. And you gotta, it's, it's also like an effort thing. It's just easy to put protein powder in a cup with some almond milk and drink it versus like actually cooking a piece of chicken. So.

But yeah, and it's also interesting too is there are carbs in those shakes. If people are like looking at that.

Yeah, I mean, it depends because if they get like a way isolate, it's like just pure processed whey and they usually take. Or like a hydrolyzed way, they even take the lactose of out of that. But it's just the issue with having so much protein is again, protein's the hardest on your body to digest. And if it's overworked, it'll cause inflammation and inflammation will raise cortisol, cortisol Will cause water retention, and then it's just like a domino effect. So a lot of people really overdo on the protein.

Interesting. And so funny because most people, a lot of the gen. Gen pop, don't eat enough protein.

Yes, I'm aware. Yeah, I know. It's just. I mean, more so kind of like along the lines of. Because that's the problem. It's either like, they eat. They don't eat enough or they eat way too much, you know, because live in extremes. Right, Exactly. Like, they think, okay, well, I want to be a bodybuilder. They Islam down, like, 10 ounces of steak five times a day. Like, no, please don't do that. You know, unless you're on. Some of them do. Don't get me wrong. But they're at the point where that's what they need. Like, you don't need that when you first start. And, like, that's how I keep my waist small year round, is I'm very moderate on my protein. I work with, like, I've worked with all my coaches. I've been very professional, work with professional athletes in the sport. And one of my strong suits is I have a very small waist. And one of the reasons why is because I've never slammed down a ridiculous amount of protein to, like, cause my. My gut to expand like that.

Hmm. So how much. What is your macro split?

So right now. So there's a macro split, and then also how I time it in the day. Um, so my macro split right now is pretty much 40, 40, 20. I'm very fat sensitive. Um, so everyone's different, but for me, I've always been very sensitive to fats. I'm a car baby. You can give me, like, an extra bowl of pasta, will do nothing to my weight, but if you give me, like, an extra avocado, my. I will get. I will spike up in weight like crazy. Um, so that's just something that's very individual. I would say I'm like a mixture of, like, a meso and ectomorph, because I naturally am very skinny, so I can handle more carbs. Um, so my protein and carbs are like, 40, 40. I would say protein a little lower, maybe like 35 and, like, carbs high. But the main thing that I do that actually is very specific is I separate my carbs and my fats. Um, so going back to what we were saying about spiking insulin, my coach and I theorized that because when you spike insulin, your body tells your every. Your body just says absorb, but the Problem is it absorbs everything too. Like you know, you have like bodybuilders that take insulin like diabetics would. And when they do that, you're not like, the protocol is you're really not supposed to eat a lot of fat in the meal following it because your body is going to absorb that fat too. And you don't want that. You just want the protein and the carbs. So we figured, we kind of took that same philosophy and just applied it to our normal, like my normal meals. So all my protein and carb meals are pretty much minimal fat. And then I have my protein and fat meals which are much higher in fat and higher protein and very minimal in carbs. And by splitting up and like just separating my carbs and my fats, I've been able to like double my caloric intake. And I'm in my off season and I look leaner than I've ever looked in my off season at a weight that like I look like I'm eight weeks out right now and at a weight that I would never look eight weeks out at. And I actually really do believe in that. So like for example, my daily day breakfast, I do. Now the only exception is breakfast because I have fasted cardio. You're in a fasted state, so your body's extremely depleted. So I will combine all three macros in my breakfast, but that is the only exception. Then my meal two, my and my pre workout meal which is three are carb and protein, no fat. So jasmine rice, chicken breast, um, and then just like whatever seasoning, salt. Then I'll work out, have my intracarbs post workout same thing. I have pretty much cream of rice, whey isolate, powdered almond butter. Powdered almond butter is like 2 grams of fat. Very, very low fat meals. And then as my day gets in during, like towards more night, that's when I have my protein and fat meals. So then I'll have a steak and brussels sprouts and I'll have an actual, I will have an actual fattier cut of steak. So in a way it's actually nice because I get to enjoy these like, like a rib eye steak or something because I like, I've kind of saved my fats or I'll have like salmon, you know, like something a little fattier. But I need that because I pretty much reserve my fast for later in the day and like kind of away from my working out and my carbs. So I'll do like a salmon piece of steak and then veggies and then do that again. And then I'll have a shake. Um, and by doing that and by separating my carbs and keeping my carbs strictly around training and then my fats later in the day before I go to sleep, what I've done is I have the. I have the energy for training, so I stay insulin sensitive. Insulin sensitivity means when you consume a carb, your body reacts to it. You're just continuously slamming down carbs. Your body will become insulin resistant, meaning it doesn't react the same way anymore. It doesn't have that same effect. Like, it's just not utilizing it to its full, like, like potential. And then I will have the fats and the protein later on before I go to sleep for hormone regulation and digestion. So by doing that, I've stayed way leaner in my off season and I've put on, like, more muscle than I ever have. And another reason why I separate carbs from later in the day is because carbs do suppress growth hormone release. When you go to sleep, your growth hormone levels will increase in your body. So if you sl, if you eat, if you have a little bit of carbs before bed, you're fine. Like, whatever, like, don't. You're not gonna freak out. But if you have like a hundred grams of carbs before you go to sleep, that will suppress your growth hormone levels. And we don't want that. So that's why, like, doing these higher fat, higher protein meals are so great, because it's just. It also works in conjunction with your growth hormone levels at night.

I love that. Okay, so now as you've gone through that I, you know, caveat, because I feel like it's something you did say. So I am curious. Like, as a coach, you said specifically you were talking about you, and I feel like it's one of the misconceptions you were talking about. It's like, you know, we can't cookie cutter template every single thing. It's like, what works for you isn't going to necessarily work for someone else. Right. So how do you determine and figure out the different nuances for each person that you work with? How would someone go about figuring out what works best for them?

Well, I will definitely say in the beginning, it's definitely just for. I always tell my client, like, I really, like first week, I just need you to follow it. I want to make sure, like, what I gave you works, because at first it is like, I make a very, very educated guess. And then based off the way the body responds, I will adjust. That being said, the way I make my conclusions based off a person is multiple things. Body fat plays a big role in it. Uh, I always say you earn your carbs. The leaner, like the leaner you are, the more insulin sensitive you are. So I can hit you with more carbs and you'll benefit from it. Someone that has a higher body fat percentage are definitely more insulin resistant. And it doesn't really matter if I give them more carbs, their body's not going to react to it. So typically someone with a higher body fat percentage, I will have them on a higher fat, higher protein, macro split. Rather than like pushing the cards on them, I have to bring body fat down before I can start to increase their carbs like that. That being said, they're not car bliss, but I would definitely have them on higher fat and protein, especially protein, because protein has a thermogenic effect in the body because again, it is so hard to absorb it. You literally make your body work harder to digest it. So I'll have them on a higher protein diet. The lean. Sometimes I'll have very lean guys and I slam them with carbs. Like I don't, you know, I'll have them on like a, like a 30, 50, like protein to carb ratio. And they look amazing because they're still getting like about a gram of protein per body weight, like their weight. But they, you know, they're also like, they have so much energy in the gym that they can push themselves and they have crazy pumps and they look drier and harder. And that's another misconception. People think that eating carbs makes you look fat, but that's not how it works. If you do it properly, what happens? You have two types of water retention. You have interest intramuscular water retention and subcutaneous fat water retention. Interest muscular cellular water retention is great. That means the water is in within the muscle bellies. Ways you can do that is creatine. Actually, people don't realize creatine is a supplement that shuttles water into the muscle rather than under the skin. And when you consume carbs with salt, salt's really important too. Salt actually people think is salt's bad for you, but it's really not. It's an electrolyte. So when you consume a carb and you and you have creatine, the salt and potassium, it'll go right into the muscle and it will expand them and it will press against the skin and so you'll look actually tighter and drier and harder. That being said, when you see people, they'll cut salt and they'll cut water. And what all they're doing is increasing progesterone levels. And progesterone and cortisol will pretty much push water and carbs outside of the muscle and into the bloodstream. And that's when you have water in the subcutaneous skin layer and fat layer. And that's when you look watery and bloated. And the look that you don't want.

Don't you do a water cut right before your shows, though.

So the way we do it is we actually know we will. This is the thing. We'll actually double our water intake, people. We. We. So, like, up to the show, I usually am drinking about a gallon a day. The week before, like, a couple of days Prior, I'm on 2 gallons of water at least, because we're actually flushing. So what we'll do is we increase, like, we double our water intake. I actually screwed myself over really bad last time because I was so hungry all the time. I'd be naturally drinking two gallons of water. So the last week I had to drink three gallons of water. So I was drinking three gallons of water. That was like some dandelion root extract. There's a supplement called expel. It's a natural diuretic. It's not over the counter. It's just, like, some herbs that just literally help you pee more. I would be just flushing and flushing and flushing. And then what we do is we'll. There are some coaches that cut water. I was never trained that way ever, ever. I actually work under Jason. Like, I work for Jason's company now, Scooby Prep, and I was never, ever trained to cut water like that. If anything, we just cut water. Um, so the night before Friday night, we don't cut it out completely. We just say 8 ounces of water, sip it, like, you know, like, here and there. We just don't want you to chug the water. So then, like, you know, then, like, it's just kind of sitting in your tummy before it, like, you know, digest properly. But no, we actually, like, double our water intake, so we flush more salt. Never touch. Honestly, again, because people, when you're getting ready for bodybuilding show that last week people think is, like, a miracle worker. It's really not. You're supposed to be ready. Like, if you're not ready, there's nothing a week's gonna do for you. It's just really, like, nitpicking at that point. So, like, you really shouldn't have to play with, like, Salt. I never touched my salt. I was salting every. I was salting away. The day of my show, I was eating pretzels. I was eating rice cakes with, like, dumping salt on it. Salt is your friend. People think, like, it's not, but, you know, unless you have a very high cholesterol levels, then you definitely want to watch your salt levels. But if you have normal cholesterol levels and go for it, because especially if you're sweating in the gym, like, when I work out, I sweat. Like, I wear a hoodie. I'm drenched. You're losing electrolytes, and you're losing salt. So athletes definitely need way more salt than your average person. So I always put salt on, like, any client.

Okay. Oh, my gosh. I had, like, a million different questions to ask as you were talking, but I want to go back a little bit to talk a little bit more about your clients. So now who are the people that you work with? Oh, I remember. I do want to ask that. But before we go there, do you ever eat for enjoyment?

Yeah, absolutely. If I'm not in prep, yes. I, you know, like, I will go out with my family. I'll go out with my girlfriend. Like, I definitely find, like, I believe balance is, like, really important. So.

How do you navigate that? What does balance mean to you?

Balance means, to me being, I would say, 85% of the week on. And then, like, again, I. For me, I love breakfast. Like, breakfast is, like, my favorite, like, meal of the day. So, like, lately, like, I've been going out for breakfast, like, once a week. Like, for example, if I want to add, I keep it healthy, though. Like, for example, if I'm really, really hungry, I'll have, like, an extra bowl of yogurt or something. Like, so, like, I'm not to the point where I'm, like, beating myself down, but I'll just make smart decisions, you know, If I'm in prep, though, it's a totally different ball game. And prep, it doesn't matter how you feel. So. Yeah.

So how long is your prep?

My preps are long. I like to. I like to do 20 week preps. Most preps are, like, 16. Some people do eight week preps, but that, I think is way too short. Um, but I like longer preps just because I can take my time. It's less stressful, and you retain more muscle because if you cut too fast, you will lose a lot of muscle in the process. So 20 weeks, typically, you were not.

In prep and you went out to breakfast. And let's Say you like crushed a pancake. Would that like wreak havoc on your system because your body's just not used to that?

Definitely not. I mean, last time I went, I crushed French toast in an omelet, so. And I was fine. But I think again it's, but it's not like I like, for example, there was like, what I could have, like, I could have gotten something with like a lot of cheese on it or like dairy and stuff like that. But instead, like, my omelet was just like basic egg whites, like veggies and like mushrooms and stuff. So like, like, I kind of know what wreaks havoc on my body and what doesn't. So like, I knew like, bread honestly sits fine in me. So like eating pancakes or like wheat, wheat in general is fine in me. So like pancakes or like French toast wouldn't bother me, but if I had too much of like cheese or something like that, that would definitely like, really mess me up. So that's why, like, I'll just for me personally, I'll like pick my battles and I'd usually avoid something super crazy cheesy if I was trying to avoid feeling a certain type of way.

So now kind of in that vein, and then we will switch to like, who you serve in terms of like, are you working with bodybuilders? Are you working with gen pop? You know, you're very in tune with your body just because you've spent so much work and time on that. Do you feel like most people don't really realize or understand or even know what reeks havoc on their body?

Yes, absolutely. I don't think that they're very like self, like self aware like that. And that's something that you just develop over time. There was a period of time that I had really bad gut issues and I couldn't figure it out why. So I literally took the time to do like a food log. I would eat something, I would sit there and I'd wait. Like, I'd wash myself for like an hour and see how I feel. And I started to realize, okay, this, this, this messes me up. This doesn't mess me up. And like now it's like all in my head. Like, I kind of know I'm very sensitive to very acidic foods and very, and foods very high in lactose. I'm very good with like, for example, cheese bothers me, but yogurt doesn't because yogurt's very high in probiotics, which feed the good bacteria in your gut. I only eat Greek Yogurt, but something like very. In, like, saturated fat, like cheese, does usually sit really rough in me. So I think most people aren't aware, and I don't think they, frankly, really care, because I don't. You know, again, the hard. The reason why bodybuilding is so hard is because it really is about what you look like. And what you look like is constantly changing, and it's very fluid. So having to be, like, you know, constantly watching your body and trying to, like, control it and keep it in a relatively similar state is very hard. So that's why I, like, Prep's very hard. Another reason why it's really hard is because, you know, it's partially a performance sport because you have to push yourself so hard in the gym, but you're not feeding your body properly to perform at your optimal levels. You're, you know, you're dieting hard, so you're expecting your body to perform optimally while you're eating practically nothing when you're, like, two weeks out, you know?

Mm. Yeah. I mean, what is. How do you keep your met. Like, speaking of balance, like, how do you keep your mental stamina that must be so hard to constantly be scrutinizing your body in that way and measuring performance while also, you know, depleting the body. How do you keep your mental stamina and, like, not hate yourself?

Honestly, I think, for I'm. This is definitely. That's, like. I think is very, like, a topic that isn't talked about a lot in the Bible community. And I definitely think a lot of, like, competitive girls suffer a lot from this. Honestly, a lot of, like, comparing each other and stuff like that. I think for me, personally, I just really. Like, this sounds so, like, the answer you don't want, but, like, I really, really love the sport. And again, for me, it was. It's like an outlet of control. Being trans. There was a period of my life where I felt like I didn't have any control over my body. And bodybuilding was kind of like that. Yeah, you do have control. If you don't like something, change it. So for me, I think I have a different perspective on it, and I have a different level of appreciation. And at the end of the day, like, no one's really holding a gun to my head, forcing me to do anything. I could stop. I could literally decide right now I'm over it. Like, you know, but, like, I'm not. So, like, it's not like being forced upon me. I just choose to always be grateful. I think being grateful is also really important because bodybuilding is a very luxury sport, it is a very expensive sport. So I'm just very grateful that I can afford to do it and that I'm being supported by my friends and family. And I really think perspective is really important in like everything because that you could always find a reason to be miserable about. Like there's. You can literally find a reason to be miserable all the time. You tried it hard enough.

So true.

But I choose not to.

So I love that. Okay. I definitely want to be mindful of your time, so I do want to.

Oh, it's okay. No, I'm, I'm all good.

I'm all good, you know, for. So when you are. And that's, that's so powerful and so awesome. And I feel like because you're operating at that level and most people don't. How do you navigate your coaching experience in terms of who you're working with? Are you working with people that are already, you know, kind of at the same level as you in terms of the mindset, essentially? Are you working with gen pop people who just want to look and feel better?

Honestly, I work both. I would, I really work with both. I will just approach the person differently. Um, for someone that is at a level that, you know, I, I think I can clearly see that they're in it and like, they're willing to get. It's. Again, it's a very dual edged blade, like this thing. So, like, you're gonna have your good moments and have your bad, but if they're ready for it, like, I push them harder for sure, because I know that I can. And they're not gonna, like, you know, it's not gonna phase them like that. For someone that is a little bit more hesitant or they have a lot of internal struggles, the last thing I want to do is overwhelm them with like, extra things I like deem unnecessary. I really just focus strictly on what their goal is. And I pretty much, I don't, I don't know how to say this other than I'm like, I don't want you to do any of the thinking. I will do the thinking for you. Like, if you have any questions of why I'm doing it, please feel free to ask. But, you know, a lot of people, their biggest issue is they overthink things and overanalyze things. And what they'll do is instead of striving for progress, they strive for perfection. And if they don't do it perfectly, then they'll just stop. And, you know, I Always. That's something I always tell my clients. Like, stop striving for, like, perfection. I don't even do everything perfectly. Just strive for progress, you know, just get, like, a little bit better every single day. And that will compound. Like, I promise. I don't. You know, I always tell them, like, I don't expect you to, especially if you're not a competitor. I don't expect you to be at the level of precision of the IFBB Pro, you know, so. And I always tell them, try and, like, you have to find the excitement of it. Like, there is, like, it should be exciting. Like, you know, you took the step to do this for yourself. Because at the end of the day, this is for you. This isn't for me. You know, you don't have to prove anything to me. I'm just trying to help you out. This is for you. So I always remind them that, like, this is for you, this isn't for me, you know, because some of them, like, it's very flattering, but they want to kind of, like, make me proud or, like, you know, impress me and stuff like that. And I'm like, you know, I am. But, like, I want. I want you to feel that way about yourself, you know, you should be your biggest supporter always.

I love that. That is so good and such a good note to end on. But last question. I know I said that before, but I swear, this is the last question.

No, no, no. It's okay.

How often do you eat and not want to?

So in my off season, I will definitely say, like, for example, today I was very nauseous at breakfast. I was like, oh, man. Like, I. Like, it really depends. Like, pre contest, I'm always ready to eat. Like, if I'm getting ready for a show, I'm, like, looking at the time, like, oh, man, like, another hour. Okay. But I would say my off season, it really depends how deep in my off season I am. And some days are just better than others. There are some days, again, just goes to show, like, the body is always. The body's very fluid. Some days I have a huge appetite. Really, Like, I'm ready for all my meals. And I have other days that I'm, like, dragging per meal. I will literally, I've done some very gross things to get meals down in the past because I was in a rush. Like, once I was late for college and I had to eat chicken and rice. So I just blended it up and I drink it.

That is.

Because I didn't want to drive and eat. That's dangerous. So I just blended it up and I drank it while I drove. Like a drove.

That is. That's. Wow. Ben, you also woke up at 2am in the morning. I cannot imagine you wanted to eat then.

No, absolutely not. And I was eating like. I was eating like a piece of steak. I wasn't eating like, because I like my meals. My meal two is always a piece of steak. I'm sorry, my meal, not my meal. To my meal 5 is always piece of steak. So I had to wake up for my meal 5 and you'd be steak. Gross. I would never do that.

Sorry. Die not for me. Okay, so for those of you who want to, you know, hang out with and learn a little bit more about what you do, work with you. Where can I send them?

So you can send them to my Instagram. It's Alextelinka. A L E X T I L I N C A I also have a YouTube which is exact same thing. Alexa. Those are my two main platforms.

Cool. I love it. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And catch you next time.

Yeah. Thank you so much for your time. It was a pleasure.

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