The name Lee Priest is well known to all world-class bodybuilders. Despite the fact that nature did not reward him with outstanding forms, and in his sports career he was not able to receive many prestigious awards, his name firmly occupied a certain niche in the golden era of bodybuilding.
He took part in the Mr. Olympia competition as many as 6 times . At the same time, he was not destined to rise above 5th place, but he also never fell below 10th. He was always somewhere in the middle.
Thanks to his perseverance and hard work, he earned the respect of the public, gaining a large number of fans. His figure became recognizable to many people. Flex magazine even ranked him 6th in the ranking of the best bodybuilders of the last century.
Lee Priest, with a height of 163 cm, has a body weight of 95 kg. In the period between competitions it can reach up to 125 kg. The volume of the biceps is 55 cm.
A passion that became destiny
Lee Priest's date of birth Along with the neighboring boys, he kicked the ball around, practiced rugby and karate at the amateur level, and showed an interest in carrying weights.
“My friends preferred to ride a bicycle, and I preferred to carry transport on my back,” the bodybuilder later recalled.
As a child, I was fond of watching adventure films and wanted to be like one of the superheroes.
At the age of 13, together with his grandfather, a former army wrestling champion, he ended up in the police gym. The grandfather introduced his grandson to the matter and showed him several exercises. The teenager looked with frozen breath at the powerful bodies of the athletes, and no matter what, decided to become the same. A family friend trained here and took him under his wing.
Lee was ready to spend the day and night in the hall. He arrived before everyone else and worked until exhaustion. Interest was also fueled by my mother, who at the age of 38 became interested in weights. From now on, Flex and Muscle & Fitness have become the main hobbies during rest periods. He was most inspired by photos of Schwarzenegger and Eddie Robinson. He always wanted to be like Tom Platz and, as he grew up, he became blond, like his idol.
Genes of sports success
It is believed that Lee Priest had phenomenal genetic data, thanks to which it was not difficult for him to build muscle mass, develop the makings of a champion and simply stand out among other promising athletes. The first competition ended on the highest step of the podium - 1st place among young athletes under 14 years old. With his undistinguished external data - height 163 cm, weight 97 kg - many remembered him as the shortest, but very successful bodybuilder. Many believed that he achieved this result thanks to his heredity: his mother also took an active part in bodybuilding competitions and once performed with Lee on the same stage. The athlete also has an older sister.
Lee doesn’t like to talk about his personal life; he married a wonderful girl, Katie LiFrancos, who was also involved in bodybuilding. They went together to success in the athletic field. Unfortunately, their common passion could not unite them for long: after five years, their marriage broke up (in 2005).
Piggy bank of achievements
After 8 months, the figure has changed. For his age, he had impressive parameters. At the age of 14, he already competed at the junior local Sydney Bodybuilding competition, where his competitors were guys 3-4 years older. However, adolescence did not become an obstacle to victory.
The young man continued to train. After 2 years, my mother suggested performing together, where the couple won several competitions. Lee Priest, at the age of 16, narrowly won the Australian championship, and later secured the result 2 more times .
“I have become strong. For example, I could squat 340 kg 6 times and bench press 240 kg.”
In 1990, he showed 4th result at an amateur competition in the up to 70 kg weight category in Malaysia.
Lee Priest on today's bodybuilding
Lee Priest, in his latest interviews and on his channel, says that modern bodybuilding is diving and sliding into the abyss. It also implies bad refereeing and undeserving athletes. He likes Dexter Jackson and a couple of other guys, but the rest are huge bellies and show crap shape.
There was a time when the lineup of athletes at the Arnold Classic was the same as at the Mr. Olympia. Previously, an athlete could compete in 11 tournaments a year, with at least 4-5 starts per season. What now? A few athletes go to several tournaments, the rest “sit their butts” until the Olympia.
According to Lee Priest, today's bodybuilders are heavily “filled with pharmacology” and they do not have enough strength for anything other than Mr. Olympia. The main problem is their stomachs and conditioning. They are huge, but they look bad, like they are all 80 years old. Like pumped up old men, not at all the athletes that young people could look up to now. Lee believes that today bodybuilding is not developing and is simply stuck in place.
Author: ForceMan from 05/26/2017, 02:05
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Young and green
A year later, he wanted to compete at the World Championships in Poland, but due to doping he was removed from the competition.
“The strangest thing is that I really didn’t take anything then. I was checked twice before this. If I had gotten hooked on steroids, I would have weighed 10 kilos more,” the athlete was indignant.
After the failure, he felt that he needed to change something in his life. For example, get a PRO card. The request for extradition received a categorical refusal with the wording that he was still too young. At his own risk, the guy began to prepare for Niagara Falls. When there were two days left before the competition, I “accidentally” came across Jim Manion. When he saw Lee’s figure, the American heavyweight decided that it was time for him to turn professional. The card was issued to the athlete on the day of the competition.
How does a bodybuilder rest?
Lee Priest has now changed a lot in his philosophy, before his main part of the body, what he didn’t like was the body itself, so he trained it, and today it’s the heart. That's the reason for buying a cool BMW850i that a bodybuilder rides.
He loves to get into the car, drive far out of town, where there is no fuss, no gym, and no tasteless food, and enjoy the beauty of nature and truly enjoy life. Wants to buy a Lamborghini in the future.
He doesn’t watch his diet very strictly, so he can treat himself to snacks at KFC and Chinese cuisine. As for music, he gives preference to love songs and ballads that he likes. Enjoys listening to Celine Dion tracks. He doesn’t really read books, maybe newspapers or magazines, and then only out of boredom. But he sincerely loves and respects black comedians and the same humor. He is a fan of Adam Sandler. In the evening he might turn on some interesting talk show.
"I won't get upset over nonsense"
Having gained another 6 kilos, in 1994 the athlete appeared before the public at Ironman and took 4th place, pushing aside the Australian king Sonny Schmidt. A week later, he was already listed as 7th in the Arnold Classic standings, although Kevin Levrone predicted him to be 4th. Then he showed 7th result in San Jose and failed at the “Night of Champions”.
1995 was a successful year. After 3rd and 4th places at South Beach and Ironman, Lee received admission to Olympus. Then problems with the IFBB began, which happened often in Lee's career. As a result, he refused 2 prestigious, but unnecessary competitions, paid a penalty, received a disqualification and began to fall in love. In 1996, he did not rise above 4th place in all competitions. But in 1997 everything went like clockwork.
Until 2000, there were victories, failures, and disqualifications in my career. In the spring, Priest was in better shape and was determined to win, but finished 5th.
“I’m not upset - I’m only 28 years old, everything is still ahead,” he said.
He said the same thing after the 6th result at Olympia. And, really, why be upset if there is a honeymoon ahead.
| Year | Competitions | Place |
| 1990 | World Amateur Championship | 4 in light weight category |
| 1993 | Niagara Falls Pro | 9 |
| 1994 | San Jose Pro | 7 |
| 1994 | San Francisco Pro | 7 |
| 1994 | Night of Champions | 12 |
| 1994 | Ironman Pro | 4 |
| 1994 | Arnold Classic | 7 |
| 1995 | Florida Pro | 4 |
| 1995 | South Beach Pro | 4 |
| 1995 | Ironman Pro | 3 |
| 1995 | Arnold Classic | 9 |
| 1996 | San Jose Pro | 6 |
| 1996 | Ironman Pro | 4 |
| 1996 | San Francisco Pro | 6 |
| 1997 | San Jose Pro | 4 |
| 1997 | Ironman Pro | 2 |
| 1997 | Arnold Classic | 7 |
| 1997 | San Francisco Pro | 4 |
| 1997 | Mr. Olympia | 6 |
| 1997 | Grand Prix Hungary | 3 |
| 1997 | Grand Prix Spain | 3 |
| 1997 | Grand Prix Germany | 3 |
| 1997 | Grand Prix England | 6 |
| 1997 | Grand Prix Czech Republic | 5 |
| 1997 | Grand Prix Finland | 9 |
| 1997 | Grand Prix Russia | 9 |
| 1998 | Mr. Olympia | 7 |
| 1999 | Ironman Pro | 6 |
| 1999 | Arnold Classic | — |
| 1999 | Mr. Olympia | 8 |
| 2000 | Night of Champions | 5 |
| 2000 | Mr. Olympia | 6 |
| 2001 | Ironman Pro | 7 |
| 2002 | Ironman Pro | 2 |
| 2002 | Arnold Classic | 4 |
| 2002 | San Francisco Pro | 1 |
| 2002 | Mr. Olympia | 6 |
| 2002 | Power Show Pro | 4 |
| 2003 | Mr. Olympia | 15 |
| 2004 | Ironman Pro | 2 |
| 2004 | San Francisco Pro | 2 |
| 2005 | Ironman Pro | 2 |
| 2005 | Arnold Classic | 4 |
| 2005 | Grand Prix Australia | 1 |
| 2006 | Ironman Pro | 1 |
| 2006 | Arnold Classic | 6 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix Australia | 2 |
Future plans
These are the interests of Lee Priest now; his philosophy of life and preferences have changed a little. In his youth, Priest did not particularly care about his health; today it is in 1st place. But Lee promises that he will never give up the gym and bodybuilding, because it was he who gave him a start in life and a successful future.
Lee Priest has now started his own YouTube channel, where he often answers questions from his subscribers and very often gives interviews. His fans and, in general, those who touch the world of bodybuilding and hang out in this crowd consider him the most open, honest and truthful bodybuilder of modern times. Now (since 2005) he is divorced from Kathy Lee Francos, whom he married in 2000.
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Lee Priest's workouts
Favorite muscles are the triceps. He preferred to work with heavy weights and perform up to 20 approaches for all groups. Adapted version of the weekly split:
- one day - pumping the torso, biceps;
- in the second - work with the back;
- on the third - triceps heads, deltas;
- in the fourth - legs.
Lee was always critical of himself, believing that he had many lagging groups.
“I like athletes with separately developed zones of monstrous size, like Sonbati and Dillet.”
Rather, it is low self-esteem or perfectionism.
No one in the history of bodybuilding had triceps like Lee’s.
When asked how to pump up such spherical shapes, he jokingly suggests doing squats more often. Seriously, my favorite exercise is the barbell press.
The strongman also does a lot of squats, presses his legs and takes in quantity.
How Lee Priest has changed in 15 years
He was born into a simple family, where his father and mother worked hard to earn money. From early childhood, he developed a love for team sports, where it was necessary to use brute male strength. So I signed up for a rugby club. In parallel with the games for physical development and strengthening, his grandfather bought a gym membership, where young Lee Priest met bodybuilding one-on-one.
Lee Priest in 2020
Now the athlete continues to train in the gym and keeps his body in shape, completely eliminating pharmaceuticals from the “Kachkovsky” diet. From now on, a healthy lifestyle is a priority. Judging by the photos on the Internet, he looks better than many colleagues of his age. Yes, I’ve aged, but it hasn’t affected my form at all. At 45, he has become a philosopher and enjoys spending time alone. Traditionally, it organizes lunches for the homeless twice a year.
One of my favorite pastimes is driving a car. Lee has been crazy about racing cars since childhood. In 2002, he trained as a circuit racing driver and took part in competitions. In 2005 he received the status of “Rookie of the Year”, the next year he won the race in Lancaster. Today I am in love with my BMW 850i, which I drive around the track.
In 2020, he starred in the movie “Both Sides.” From time to time, the bodybuilder pleases fans with new designs on his body. An article can be devoted to Lee's tattoos. Slowly but surely the area covered by the body is gradually expanding. Half of the face and one eye are already covered with prints. It's scary to think where else he knocked them out. However, this is his style. He is always ready to shock the audience. Fans can watch Priest's "White Myth" and get the latest news here: https://www.instagram.com/leeapriest/.
Interesting facts from Lee's life
- The athlete considers the triceps his favorite muscle.
- Works only with heavy weights (except for warm-ups).
- He spends up to 20 approaches on one exercise for a specific muscle group.
- Today, in order to stay in shape, an athlete never stops going to the gym. Any pharmaceutical drugs are excluded from his sports diet. The emphasis is on a healthy lifestyle.
- In adulthood, Lee delved into philosophy.
- Does not like noisy companies, preferring loneliness. It has already become a tradition to organize dinners for disadvantaged people twice a year.
- Priest simply loves cars and driving them. In 2002, he completed a course for pilots who take part in circuit racing. He participates in competitions and even often wins.
- Not long ago he starred in a movie. The film is called " Both Sides ".
- The bodybuilder is impressed by body art. His fans often see new designs on his body. Gradually, almost the entire body is covered with tattoos. It's his style. The athlete has always been a shocking person and loved to play for the public.
Extrastrong – Strength training, Fitness and bodybuilding, Increasing muscle mass
13.11.2012
Bodybuilder Lee Priest and some pills
In any sport, proper nutrition plays a huge role. But in just a few species, the role of nutrition is truly difficult to overestimate. This time we are talking about bodybuilding, not sumo.
Our stomach works well when we combine foods correctly. The food balance for a bodybuilder is similar to the nutritional balance of an ordinary person. The following figures should be taken as the norm: your diet should contain 15% proteins and 60% carbohydrates, the rest being fats. Nevertheless, there is an opinion among bodybuilders that more protein is needed, much more: up to 2/3 of the total intake. The problem is that this amount of protein most likely will not be absorbed by the body. In addition, such a diet negatively affects your kidneys and liver.
Lee Priest in the off-season, gorging on the refrigerator
Among bodybuilders there are those who can go months without changing their diet. On the one hand, this approach allows, once you have calculated the ideal diet, to no longer bother with this topic. On the other hand, there is no “ideal” diet: something important is always missed. By depriving yourself of variety, you are likely to deprive yourself of some of the minerals, vitamins and other nutrients you need.
There is an opinion that you should not eat heavily before training. The fact is that for effective muscle pumping, abundant blood flow is required. If you eat a heavy meal, the blood flow will primarily be to your stomach, but the muscles will get much less of it than necessary. As you understand, the effect of training on a full stomach will be much less than you would like. On the other hand, if you eat 5-6 times a day, then wait until the food is digested, then you will simply have no time to train! Therefore, you should eat small portions so that you can eat immediately before training.
Lee Priest 2012 protein shake
It's wise to break your daily diet into five, six or even seven meals. Don't believe people who say you shouldn't eat too often because it deprives your stomach of rest. Our body absorbs food much better when it comes in as often as possible, but in small portions. This has been ingrained in us since ancient times: cave people rarely ate their fill, but they consumed small portions of animal and plant food throughout the day. Three meals a day is an unhealthy product of the New Age, when a person busy at work has lost the opportunity to eat when he wants it. You may think that you don’t have time for this either, but that will just be an excuse. Take a plastic container with boiled eggs, chicken breasts, rice, a thermos with tea or a protein shake to work, and you can add 2 more meals to the standard “breakfast-lunch-dinner”.
Lee Priest, bodybuilder diet
One more rule. It is better to load the body with carbohydrates in the morning. During the day, a person spends a lot of energy. If you take carbohydrates in the morning, they are more likely to be burned and used as energy during the hustle and bustle of a long work day, rather than turning into fat deposits. Ideally, the morning meal should be the most calorie-dense. In the morning, the digestive system is fresh, a person is able to digest food better because... digestive enzymes have not yet been wasted and their quantity is completely restored overnight. Regardless of the amount of carbohydrates, each meal should contain 40-60 g of animal protein. Why at least 40? Because the human body is not able to absorb more than 30-40 grams of protein in one meal due to the fact that the number of enzymes that break down proteins is limited. In addition, not all the protein eaten is absorbed. Even animal protein is absorbed by 70-80%. Of animal proteins, milk and egg proteins are well absorbed. Milk protein is best consumed in the form of whey protein, lactose-free milk protein, or simply as low-fat cottage cheese. From vegetable proteins, soy protein is well absorbed, because... it is closest in amino acid composition to animal proteins. In the evening, take a minimal amount of carbohydrates. The evening meal should be less calorie and contain protein foods. It’s a good idea to have dinner in the evening with a plate of fresh vegetable salad, seasoned with vegetable oil and chicken breast or a piece of other lean meat. This will provide your body with the necessary “building material” for muscles while you sleep.
Lee Priest and sports supplements again
Some athletes use 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2-3 additional meals throughout the day. A protein shake, sports dietary supplements, or amino acids can be used as an additional meal. The less a person consumes so-called “fast” carbohydrates and animal fats, the easier it is for him to get rid of his own fat. A no-carb or low-carb diet is detrimental to health, so taking vitamins, amino acids and protein shakes is almost mandatory in order to not only maintain muscle mass, but also health.
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Post tags: Amino acids, Sports dietary supplements
In categories: Proper nutrition, Fat burning |
Phil Heath
But Phil Heath is an excellent example of a bodybuilder who maintains good shape in the off-season, practically without gaining fat and water. This is all thanks to the fact that the athlete does not eat up, like many, but eats wisely, calculating the amount of nutrients consumed for growth and maintenance of weight.
