Being trans in the bodybuilding world: 'We're just trying to be ourselves' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Mason Caminiti is almost a foot shorter than his hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger, but his endurance and stamina would certainly make the famous bodybuilder proud.

“Peak competition mode builds up to two hours of cardio a day and then 45 minutes of weight training,” Caminiti, who is 5-foot-4, told “Nightline.” “I have to weigh my food. No butter, no oil, grilling or steaming.”

For Caminiti, a bodybuilder’s physique is that of the ideal man.

“Bodybuilding was something that helped me make my body more masculine,” he said. “It was always a physique that I always wanted.”

PHOTO: “It's really important that, you know, the life of someone who is trans be shown in an authentic way,” Caminiti said. (ABC) More

Caminiti's hard work often pays off. He placed first in the NPC West Virginia Grand Prix bodybuilding contest in 2018. But he’s also faced pushback from other competitions.

“There was one incident that I had... I was disqualified from a competition because I used testosterone, and that was hard,” he said. “But overall, people have been nothing but kind and supportive and embracing.”

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People rarely detect that Mason, who was assigned female at birth, is a transgender competitor.

“We just want to live normal lives just like anybody else, you know?” Caminiti said. “We're just trying to be ourselves and we're just like anybody else. We're your neighbors, your coworkers. We're family members. You know, I'm a dad, I'm a son, I'm a husband, I'm a brother. And we're just like everybody else… There's nothing to fear or be scared of.”

PHOTO: An undated photo shows Mason Caminiti speaking during an interview with ABC's 'Nightline.' (ABC News) More

In 2008, Caminiti met Anne Soinski, a cisgender pansexual woman.

“He was in a comedy group that my friend was in,” Soinski told “Nightline.” “I told my friends, ‘Who is this cute guy on stage?’ And they knew...my dating history of being similar to Goldilocks in the sense that I dated men, and it just wasn't quite right. And I dated women. It wasn't just quite right.”

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“When I mentioned that Mason was attractive, they're like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ A light bulb went off in their heads, and they were like, ‘This is perfect. A perfect mix,’” Soinski said.

The pair got married in 2015 and then had their daughter, Gianna, in November 2019.

PHOTO: An undated photo shows Mason Caminiti petting a cat. (ABC News) More

Although she’s only a few months old, Gianna's parents have already discussed how to broach the subject of Caminiti's gender.

“With my nephew…we kind of put it like, ‘Some boys grow up to be girls and some girls grow up to be boys and sometimes people don’t feel like the way they’re born’…and left it there,” Caminiti said. “He was fine. He was like, ‘Oh all right… That’s still my uncle, though, right? … That’s all he cared about.”

Caminiti has already talked about his journey — often in painful detail — in the film “Man Made.”

The documentary, centered around a trans male bodybuilding competition, follows the lives of four competitors in varying stages of their transitions.

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Filmmaker T Cooper spent two years chronicling some of the most intimate moments of the competitors' lives, including going through surgeries, navigating complex relationships and fighting for acceptance.

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