Hunni Glanville
A Next Generation Super-Pro

By Giles Thomas

Fifth place! That was what I read on the net on Monday, the October 13, 2008. Hunni had just come fifth in the post-Olympia IFBB Romanian Grand Prix, his all time highest placing since he turned pro at the end of 2004. Winning the show was newly crowned Mr Olympia Dexter Jackson. This was Dexter’s first show after finally taking the Olympia crown from two-time Olympia winner Jay Cutler, and was a perfect opportunity for a new and improved Hunni Glanville to try his luck at seeing how we would stack up against what was considered by the IFBB to be the best bodybuilders on the planet right now. With two comparisons against the new Mr O, Hunni showed more than a glimpse of what was to come from this amazing UK talent, as he closes in fast on an Olympia qualification.

I remember reading about Hunni when he was a Junior and then a Novice champion while living in Scotland doing his degree at University. He was winning everything and even being likened to a mini Vince Taylor, with the similar massive arms and the tiny waist and almost identical lines to top professional champion Vince. I soon met Hunni for the first time at a photo-shoot in Newmarket where he was spotting two-times NABBA Mr Universe Simon Cohen in the photographs. It didn’t take an expert to see that this kid had the genetics and drive to become a formidable pro and follow such top UK pro’s as Dorian Yates, Ernie Taylor, Charlie Clairmonte and JD Dowadu into that exclusive pro show winner’s circle. I’ve followed Hunni’s career both as a friend and as a fan for thirteen years now, and when I heard the news on Monday I just knew I had to get Hunni in for an exclusive interview for BodyFitness… the best magazine in the business!

Giles: Great to see you again Hunni, I am so pleased for you getting fifth on the weekend, well done mate. I was actually commenting on a thread on an American forum where Romanian Grand Prix contestant Armin Scholz, who was being prepped by Dave Palumbo and looking damned good, about how I hoped and thought that UK pro Hunni Glanville could take this guy in the final contest placing. I even posted some pics of you on that same thread mate and you beat him (Armin was sixth), so first of all thanks for proving me right. Regarding the show, how did you feel about your placing? Fair or not do you think?
Hunni: Just to start, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to get my name out again in a top class magazine like BodyFitness. About my placing, I felt maybe fourth would have been a fair placing and think that would have gotten me my lifetime goal of qualifying for the Mr O. I really felt that Sergey (Shelestov) was off on this day, but the rest of the placings I think were very fair and overall I was just pleased to get called out with the current Mr O. The promoter was just excellent and I would advise any of the other English pro athletes to go next year if they get the chance, as it was very well run and I was really made to feel at home.
Giles: You turned pro at the end of 2004 Hunni. You finally won the heavyweights after three years of trying at the 2004 EFBB British, and got beaten in the overall and for the pro card by middleweight Paul George. You then took second to Ian Morgan at the 2004 CNP Amateur British Grand Prix, which I think we all expected you to win. But I was there and you were beaten by Ian’s superior conditioning, which I’m sure you will agree with, as Ian was shredded beyond belief and you were smaller and softer than you were at the British a few weeks previously. How did you get your pro card in the end? Did you apply for special consideration as you’d had two near misses at the British and the Grand Prix?
Hunni: After trying several times to turn pro, which at times I really thought I deserved to but missed out due to some great athletes, I decided to apply for special consideration through the IFBB committee, and I would like to thank Bill and Wanda Tierney for representing my application. I just felt that the years before, all class winners were awarded pro cards, then when it came to my year (2004), it all changed to just one pro card for the overall winner!
Giles: So, what was your first pro show and what did you weigh there? Also, how did you place?
Hunni: For my first show, the 2006 New York Pro, I weighed 14 stone 10lb (208lb) but was very small next to Phil Heath, who had just won his first pro competition at the 2006 Shawn Ray Colorado Pro.
Giles: I think personally that until the 2007 Santa Susanna Spain show, where you placed eighth (beating other UK pro’s Lee Powell and Harold Marillier), you never really nailed your condition perfectly before that contest did you? I did see how you looked at the New York shows, but to get the condition you sacrificed some size. In 2007 and certainly this year, you seem to have cracked it, you’re much bigger and harder. What, if anything, have you done so differently to what you might have been doing before?
Hunni: For the first time in many years, I decided to put ego behind and looked at a whole lot of videos and seminars that I had been to and found a seminar that Kerry did with Ian Harrison. I just remember Kerry saying to me once that I must stay leaner in the off-season and this would help me to grow and my skin to mould into shape when down. Doing cardio in the off-season helped me so much as well as I actually got fitter, so was now able to stay under the bar for that little longer… as that fave saying of Kerry’s goes, “Time under tension”. Well boys, try it and see for yourself how good your condition gets! Also, by doing cardio, you can actually eat more whilst dieting, which all equates to more lean muscle if the food you eat is clean. Overall, I think I have really found my body and what works well for me now and the belief I have is just unbelievable now. Hopefully, someone else sees the same potential as I do in me.
Giles: What was your on-stage weight in Romania?
Hunni: 16 stone (224lb) on the button and two weeks prior I was 15 stone 9lb. Not sure how this worked out but it did. I now really believe that with a little financial help I can easily put on another 8-10lb in eight months and stay lean year round, and hopefully steal all the guest spots next year! [laughs].
Giles: You’ve managed to retain those lines as you’ve gotten bigger, which is half the battle nowadays in the pro ranks. Do you think that now Coleman and Cutler are going or gone, i.e. the mass monster days are over? Do you think that now is your time to shine now that physiques such as you, Phil Heath, Victor Martinez, Dennis Wolf and, of course, Dexter are being rewarded for having both size and shape?
Hunni: Hey, don’t forget me… Hunni Glanville. Yes, I really do and this is why I believe my chance is here now and feel I must do a few shows next year to take full advantage of this valuable opportunity.
Giles: Do you think that you can keep putting on size and still keep your lines and that tiny waist of yours?
Hunni: Yes, but I will have to stay lean whilst doing so, and I must stay well away from things like insulin too. Look what happened two weeks prior to the Romanian?
Giles: How do you think you will achieve that?
Hunni: Keeping my food very clean and healthy and listening to my body during training. The rest is simple, a little cardio in the off-season and surrounding myself with all the positive people involved in this sport.
Giles: In all your pro shows over in Romania, Spain and New York you must have come across other pro’s. Have they given you any general feedback on your physique, and how much potential do they think you have?
Hunni: My fellow IFBB friend Harold [Marillier] has given me some great advice about improving my glute area, which I will be using over the next year. So please, people, look out next year, I will have the best glutes in the business!
Giles: Are you going to strike while the iron is hot and ride the wave of success and continue doing as many shows as possible or are you going to take time out to improve in this next year or two?
Hunni: Giles, this is my plan yes, but I really need some financial help to achieve this and reach my goal of placing in top ten in Mr O, which I really believe I can do, without a doubt.
Giles: Is the goal of an Olympia qualification what you are aiming for next, or is it something else?
Hunni: I not only want to qualify, but want to place in the top ten within two years.
Giles: If you had, or have, a five-year plan in place, what would it be?
Hunni: To be a well recognised IFBB pro touring the US and Europe and placing in the top ten at the Mr O.
Giles: Are you going to stay in the UK for now or do you have plans to emigrate, like Troy Brown and, I guess, Flex Lewis, who is more USA based than UK nowadays?
Hunni: This all depends if I manage to get a Weider contract next year or not, but to compete on a regular basis in the US… Yes, that is something I would consider for sure.
Giles: What are your thoughts on the current British pro’s… Who’s good, who’s got potential?
Hunni: Flex [Lewis] has just done so well for himself and I’m so pleased for him. I just wish the other British guys would stop backstabbing him and give the little man some praise and admiration for what he has done. Flex, you got balls mate… well done, you deserve all your success, big up to you!
Giles: Let’s talk about diet… Can you give us a typical Hunni Glanville off-season eating plan?
Hunni: Ok…
Meal 1: 150g oats with 4 scoops whey protein, 2 slices of toast with peanut butter
Meal 2: 10 egg whites, 3 whole eggs, 4 slices brown bread
Meal 3: Sachet meal replacement and 4 scoops of whey protein, banana
Meal 4: 250g chicken, 1 cup of rice, barbecue sauce
Meal 5: Sachet meal replacement, protein bar
Meal 6: Steak, potato and green veg
Meal 7: Egg Nation liquid egg whites, 1 tin tuna in water and 1 scoop of whey protein, fruit, yoghurt
Giles: And what about your pre-contest diet?
Hunni: Sure…
Meal 1: 150g oats, 3 scoops whey protein isolate
Meal 2: 10 egg whites, cup of rice and veg
Meal 3: 250g chicken breast, 1 cup rice
Meal 5: 200g chicken breast, 2 scoops whey protein, 6 rice cakes
Meal 6: 250g chicken, 1 cup rice
Meal 7: 200g salmon or 250g steak, 150g potato
Meal 8: 1 tin tuna in water, 2 scoops whey isolate
Giles: What basic principles do you adopt when you diet for a show?
Hunni: When cutting things out for contest do it very gradually and it is all so much easier and less stressful on the body. Stick to fresh food, not this pre-cooked processed stuff that is about. You will need good quality nutrients that the body uses so well when required to.
Giles: Do you include EFA’s in your diet?
Hunni: Udo’s oil with my oats, and I find it really makes you feel good within yourself.
Giles: Are you a big believer in supplementation? What do you use both off-season and pre-contest and what would you say were absolutely essential for both?
Hunni: That’s what they are, supplements… something to supplement your good nutrition. I believe a good whey protein concentrate and a good whey isolate and glutamine are my main ones that I use.
Giles: Can you tell us your current training split?
Hunni: As follows…
Monday – Quads & Abs
Tuesday – Shoulder & Calves
Wednesday – Arms
Friday – Back & Abs
Saturday – Chest & Hams
Giles: What style of training do you follow? HIT Dorian style? Cutler high volume? Do you train heavy and basic or is it a lot of machines and cables?
Hunni: I like to do mainly free weights, as I feel you can engage your core muscles more while training that way. I do HIT [High Intensity Training] stuff, but with more reps, say from 12-20.
Giles: Do you do a lot of cardio, and do you do it all year round or just before a show?
Hunni: Oh yes, in the off-season I do five sessions of 30 minutes a week, and pre-contest it goes up to 45 minutes, twice a day, five times per week.
Giles: Do you know what your waist measures come contest day? It looks under 30 inches!
Hunni: 28 inches.
Giles: Ok, so talking of stats, do you know the rest of yours?
Hunni: Well balanced, that’s all, with lovely symmetry!
Giles: You seem to have been getting a lot of guest spots in the UK this year, were they well received?
Hunni: The Leamington was, but the Birmingham was not so well received. There was a poor turn out for the show, but hopefully I will get some more next year from them [UKBFF].
Giles: What do you do for a living now, Hunni?
Hunni: I work in leisure as a manager.
Giles: Are you married? Any kids?
Hunni: No, can’t find a woman who wants any brown babies with me! [laughs]
Giles: Do you have any other interests aside from bodybuilding?
Hunni: Sport is my life, and I love to cook all foods.
Giles: If you were to reach your absolute fullest potential, where do you think you will end up on the pro contest scene? Top six Mr Olympia? Win it maybe?
Hunni: I see myself in two years a top six finisher with the right backing and support.
Giles: You’ve lived in a fair few places… Scotland, Luton… Where are you originally from?
Hunni: The beautiful land of Nelson Mandela, South Africa, from Cape Town.
Giles: Who are your biggest supporters in bodybuilding?
Hunni: Brendon Bradley [training partner], Charlie Clairmonte and Abs [coaches], and Garnell Nutrition.
Giles: Are you still training with Mark Etherton? He was hammering away for years at the EFBB British, always placing well, then he competed as a heavyweight and I’ve not seen him since. Whatever happened to him?
Hunni: I have moved gyms now and to St Albans where Ricky [Welling] and Eddie [Abbew] train, which has really helped me keep on my toes and improve. I still see Mark from to time and believe he will be competing this year at the UKBFF British in the Heavyweights (over 90kg).
Giles: I remember you used to go pretty hefty in the off-season, do you still do this and believe in that approach, or are you one of those who stays relatively lean and within striking distance?
Hunni: F##k that! I stay pretty lean now… 15lb out at the most and boy is it easy to get into shape now, and I actually enjoy getting ready for the shows with so much ease… thanks Kerry! Why get that fat when the weight needs to come off anyway at the end?
I just got sick of looking like Lenny Henry in drag in the off-season.
Giles: Would you say you were strong for how big you are, and if so what sort of poundage’s do you shift?
Hunni: No, I left my training ego behind me about two years ago and have changed all for the better since. I do more reps in the range of 12-20, which keeps me pumped all day and limits my injuries as well. But no, I am not very strong for my size, although I do love pain during training so that makes up for the little girly weights I lift.
Giles: With self-marketing really the name of the game lately, do you have a website or DVD or are you planning anything like that to get your name pushed over here and internationally?
Hunni: I am planning a website later this year, but getting the right people to help with this is so important.
Giles: Who are your all-time favourite bodybuilders and why?
Hunni: Charlie Clairmonte, the man has just taught me the art of the sport and how to keep a life balance whilst competing and has also taught me how to remain clam focused and totally dedicated to the sport.
Giles: Ok Hunni, I think we can leave it there. I think we’ve covered just about everything… Sorry for the randomness of the questions but you’ve answered them brilliantly. A big thank you from BodyFitness and all our readers, and good luck with everything in the future!
Hunni: Many thanks to you Giles, and I really hope I have inspired young UK bodybuilders to not only remain in this sport but also to support it to the max. With this sport you get so many opportunities, from friendship to great financial rewards if you can market yourself well like our Flex Lewis has done at such a young age as well.
To contact Hunni, email him at hunniglanville@msn.com. 

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