Body fat 5 per cent at 51: Whanganui bodybuilder wins national title at final competition

Glen Lacy at the NABBA New Zealand Championships. Photo / MAD Media NZ

Whanganui bodybuilder Glen Lacy’s time in the sport ended on a high, winning a national title at his final competition.

Lacy, 51, won the title of Mr New Zealand Over 50 at the National Association Body Building Amateurs (NABBA) New Zealand National Championships.

He was the only person representing Whanganui at the competition and took part in the overall finals, going up against competitors half his age and coming second by only two points.

Lacy said the result felt great particularly because it was his final competition, announcing his retirement shortly after the show.

“This is my last one, and it’s good to go out on top,” Lacy said.

He had been competing in bodybuilding for more than 10 years across three regional competitions and three nationals.

To prepare for the nationals, he spent nine months training by lifting weights five times a week and doing a 30-minute to one-hour cardio session on a treadmill six times a week.

However, he said the training was the easy part compared to the diet he undertook.

To get as lean as possible, Lacy had to operate at a daily calorie deficit, meaning he had to burn more calories than he ate.

“Basically everything that I eat I have to write down to make sure I’m at a 10-20 per cent calorie deficit,” he said.

The extreme diet was the most punishing part of the preparation as the calorie deficit left him constantly fatigued.

“Towards the last two months, you can’t think straight because you’re not getting enough carbs.”

Despite the difficulties, the diet and training paid off, with Lacy at his physical peak at the time of the competition.

“I was 5 per cent body fat, weighed in at 100kg, and I’m 5 foot 8 inches, so that’s pretty good.”

Nine months of training went into Lacy's physique. Photo / MAD Media NZ

Lacy got into bodybuilding after a rugby scrum collapsed on his neck, landing him in hospital.

While rehabilitating to get his strength back, he saw the then Mr New Zealand at a gym and thought bodybuilding might suit him more than rugby.

“I thought, bugger this, I’m sick of waking up every Sunday morning with sprig marks and bruises.”

He said his age had not been a hurdle as getting through the training was a mental exercise.

“They say you’re in your prime in your 20s and 30s but I just hit my prime in this last comp, best condition ever, so it’s all in the mind really.”

Lacy has also had type 2 diabetes for the last 15 years or so, which made his dieting even more difficult.

“I can’t diet too much cause I’ll go into a hypo [hypoglycaemia] and I can’t have too little either, I’ve got to get in that spectrum,” he said.

However, he said his diabetes was the easiest to manage in the periods when he was training for competitions.

Now he was officially retiring because he felt he had reached his peak and there was nothing else he wanted to achieve in the sport.

“With bodybuilding, I’ve been there and done that and I can’t get any higher than that, so time to hang it up.”

In his retirement, he’ll still be training but focusing on his work as a personal trainer at City Fitness Whanganui.

“Now I just want to get into that and training up-and-coming bodybuilders; we’ve got a few now so I get to live my life through them.”

He also wanted to spend more time with his family.

He thanked his wife, and his sponsors Mayhem Supplements and Audrey McCosh Fitness.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.