Lee Priest is one of the smallest professional bodybuilders

The Australian bodybuilder is a representative of the “golden era” of bodybuilding, who became famous without having outstanding natural forms or prestigious awards. For 6 performances at Mr. Olympia, he never rose above 5th place and never fell below 10th. His tenacity, hard work and charm endeared him to the public and made his figure recognizable. Flex magazine ranked Lee Priest, 163 cm tall, in 6th place on the list of the best bodybuilders of the last century. The razor-sharp relief and fantastic arm volume of 55 cm allowed him, with a weight of 100 kg, to beat the giants of mass more than once in the competition. In the offseason, he manages to gain another 30 kg.

Lee Priest

Workout -

Biographies

How do people get started in bodybuilding? This question cannot be answered unambiguously - in different ways. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who grew up in the family of a policeman, a tyrant father who turned his home and family into a barracks, closed in on himself. He created his own religion out of athletics. Bodybuilding became his outlet, thanks to which he wanted to earn the respect of his own family and the worship of those around him. The famous bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno suffered from congenital deafness and could hardly speak. For him, bodybuilding opened up as a sport intended for individuals.

He was hiding in the basement of his own house from his neighbors. And in the basement there was nothing except the barbell. Out of forced idleness, he began to lift it. Subsequently, he remembered this barbell more than once. After all, thanks to her, he became famous and managed to earn millions from filming films and win many sports prizes. Each of the athletes came to bodybuilding in their own way. The path to the iron sport of Australian bodybuilder Lee Priest is also individual. Many will think that this is fiction, but believe me, it is all true.

Famous bodybuilder Lee Priest was born in Newcastle on July 6, 1972. The family into which Lee was born was unique in its own way. Three generations in this family have been involved in bodybuilding. Therefore, God himself ordered Priest to become an athlete - after all, he absorbed the love of “hardware” with his mother’s milk. But no. Little Li was not at all drawn to the hall. He was an ordinary boy and really loved cartoons. His favorite cartoon character was Superman. He became such a fan that his mother had to sew a Superman costume for three-year-old Lee, in which the baby appeared everywhere and “crushed the style.” And on every corner he said that when he grew up, he would become as strong as his favorite hero. Priest crossed the threshold of the gym for the first time at the age of 13. His grandfather, in those years the absolute champion of the Armed Forces in wrestling, showed his grandson several simple exercises with dumbbells and a barbell. After trying everything his grandfather recommended, Lee decided to stay in the gym and continue training.

The training benefited young Priest, who after just a few months of training decided to take part in the Sydney Bodybuilding Classic competition, held in 1986. To the surprise of Lee Priest himself and other bodybuilding connoisseurs in Australia, he won. After this victory, the inspired young bodybuilder began experimenting with training programs. At the age of 15, he took part in competitions, performing in tandem with his mother, who was 38 years old. Naturally, such a duet amazed both the audience and the judges, and again Lee Priest turned out to be the winner. Exploiting their lucky find, the Priests were able to win several more popular tournaments. The potential of “Superman,” as journalists began to call Lee Priest, began to be realized at an incredibly fast pace. At the age of 17, bodybuilder Lee Priest took first place at the Australian Championships and received his IFBB pro card. When Priest turned 26, he already had two participations in Mr. Olympia, and in 1997 he created a sensation at Olympia, taking 6th place, eventually beating such eminent champions as Ronnie Coleman and Chris Cormier!

Even with age, Priest has not changed his childhood hobby and still loves science fiction cartoons. You can often see photographs of Lee in the Superman costume in magazines. And on his shoulder he got an S tattoo. Despite all his unique natural abilities, exceptionally athletic genes and amazing hard work, bodybuilder Lee Priest has one drawback that he will never be able to correct. This is his height. No matter what the athlete did, he couldn’t grow higher than 163 centimeters. This is the only drawback that prevents Priest from rightfully taking his place in the top five champion bodybuilders. After all, everything else is in perfect order with him. Lee Priest's muscle volume is simply amazing. In the off-season his weight is 129 kilograms. Competition weight – 102 kg. Sorry, but this is with a height of 163 centimeters. Can you imagine this mountain of muscles? If you can’t imagine, then look at the photo!

History of the Competition

Body-building

• 1989 IFBB Australian Championships, 1st place
• 1990 IFBB Australian Championships, 1st place
• 1990 IFBB World Amateur Championships, category - lightweight, 4th place
• 1993 IFBB Niagara Falls Pro Invitational, 9th place
• 1994 IFBB Arnold Classic, 7th place
• 1994 IFBB en:Ironman Pro Invitational, 4th place
• 1994 IFBB Night of Champions, 12th place
• 1994 IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational, 7th place
• 1995 IFBB Arnold Classic, 9th place
• 1995 IFBB Florida Pro Invitational, 4th place
• 1995 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 3rd place
• 1995 IFBB South Beach Pro Invitational, 3rd place
• 1996 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 4th place
• 1996 IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational, 6th place
• 1997 IFBB Arnold Classic, 7th place
• 1997 IFBB Grand Prix Czech Republic, 5th place
• 1997 IFBB Grand Prix England, 6th place
• 1997 IFBB Grand Prix Finland, 9th place
• 1997 IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 3rd place
• 1997 IFBB Grand Prix Hungary, 3rd place
• 1997 IFBB Grand Prix Russia, 9th place
• 1997 IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 3rd place
• 1997 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 2nd place
• 1997 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 6th place
• 1997 IFBB Iron Man Pro Invitational, 4th place
• 1998 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 7th place
• 1999 IFBB Iron Man Pro Invitational, 6th place
• 1999 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 9th place
• 2000 IFBB Night of Champions, 5th place
• 2000 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 6th place
• 2001 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 7th place
• 2002 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 6th place
• 2002 IFBB Arnold Classic, 4th place
• 2002 IFBB San Francisco Grand Prix, 9th place
• 2002 IFBB San Francisco Pro Invitational, 1st place
• 2002 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 6th place
• 2003 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 15th place
• 2004 IFBB Ironman Pro, 6th place
• 2004 IFBB San Francisco Pro Invitational, 2nd place
• 2005 IFBB Grand Prix Australia, 8th place
• 2005 IFBB Arnold Classic, 4th place
• 2005 IFBB Iron Man Pro Invitational, 10th place
• 2006 IFBB Ironman Pro, 5th place, Vince Gironda Posing Award
• 2006 IFBB Arnold Classic, 6th place
• 2006 IFBB Grand Prix Australia, 12th place
• 2006 PDI Night of Champions, Britain, 6th place
• 2013 NABBA Mr. Universe, 1st place

Auto racing

• 2005 Finished in the top 16 of 425 competitors in The Million Dollar Race in Memphis.
• 2005 Won 2 player races in Las Vegas
• 2005 Took 3rd place in the championship rank
• 2005 Rookie of the Year Award
• 2006 Winner of the circuit racing championship

Champion performances

The athlete achieved success gradually, was not discouraged by failures and was able to moderately enjoy small victories. The list of events in which Lee Priest managed to take part is posted below. It is worth noting that the main performances were in the open bodybuilding category, only some competitions were in the absolute bodybuilding category, they will be noted separately.

The first places were won in 2005 and 2006 in Melbourne and Pasadena. Speaking about his merits in the most popular Ironman Pro competition, it should be noted that there Lee rose to 2,3,4,6,7 lines in the standings, and at the Arnold Classic show he was given 4,6,7,9 places. At Mr. Olympia, Priest ranked 6, 8 and 15; the competition was held in the absolute bodybuilding category. Competitions are listed between 1994 and 2006. His winning arsenal also includes worthy places in the Grand Prix of Russia, Spain, Australia, Germany, Finland, England, the Czech Republic and other countries.

Features of Lee Priest's training

Lee Priest pays a lot of attention to warm-up in his training, this applies to warm-up approaches, joint exercises, as well as cardio warm-ups. All this is not in vain, because

he almost never got injured, he never had serious problems with joints, muscles, or ligaments, partly due to a good warm-up. Priest typically does 3 warm-up sets before the first heavy work set. They are performed with light weight, the weight increases, but does not reach the worker. In each subsequent exercise (for the same muscle group), it is enough to do one warm-up set of 20 repetitions to get used to the movement and focus on it.

Rest between approaches can vary, it is determined solely by your well-being. If an exercise is performed on small muscle groups, then rest is determined only by the time it takes your training partner to complete his set. In heavy exercises for large muscle groups, you need to rest more, 45 seconds is not enough for you to rest from a 180 kg barbell on squats.

Cheating can be used, but it must be done correctly. The usual picture in the gym: a thin guy or simply an inexperienced athlete, for example, when doing a bench press, can lift his pelvis off the bench, or when lifting a barbell for biceps, bend his spine back - all this is complete nonsense and there will be no benefit from this. Proper cheating: rocking the body to help the muscles lift the working weight. Incorrect cheating: swinging and ordinary throwing of weights.

About the career and life of Lee Priest

Awards and titles for Lee Priest

Competitive bodybuilding appeared in Lee's life at a young age, when he took part in his first competition. From there he emerged victorious, which, according to him, was due to training under the guidance of an experienced athlete, as well as a natural feeling of himself on stage. Later, as a fifteen-year-old teenager, he was struck by the idea of ​​performing on stage as a couple.

He ended up performing with his mother and came out on top again. Of course, there were also a lot of defeats in his competitive career, which he explains by his short stature and the resulting imbalances in proportions.

But Lee was adamant and was ready to do anything for this. Therefore, one day he went to California, and in a local gym, as if “by chance,” he showed his uniform to the head of the local federation, to which he heard a very flattering opinion that he was simply ordered to become a professional. And a short period of time after that, taking ninth place at the Niagara Falls tournament, his dream came true.

Lee Priest is just as powerful in real life.

A few years later, Lee Priest managed to make it to the most significant tournament - of course, Mr. Olympia. There he was able to take fifth place, which is quite a serious result by those standards

After that, he found everything a professional athlete could dream of: a huge number of fans, a contract with an advanced brand of sports supplements, close attention from the press.

But Lee continued to diligently prepare for any performances and took relatively high places in them. There were also attempts to gain more muscle mass in order to show an even more serious form, but unfortunately, such an attempt was not crowned with success.

Lee Priest’s body, which was already rather awkward in its proportions, became completely disproportionate, reminiscent of a bun. Therefore, the best decision for him was to lose weight and compete at a weight not exceeding 95 kilograms. As a result, Lee earned the interest of people interested in bodybuilding, but remained practically unnoticed by the standards of professional bodybuilding by judges.

Lee Priest racing enthusiast

If you step back a little from serious sports and look at his life, you will discover several fascinating facts:

Lee Priest, despite the fact that he was a bodybuilder, was also an ardent fan of car racing, and moreover, he regularly participated in it. According to him, it was racing that helped him get rid of excessive attention to bodybuilding and thanks, no matter how paradoxical it may be, to improve his results in it.

In addition to having large muscle volumes, Lee also has a big heart. He always helped the homeless, investing in this with money received from places taken at tournaments.

He was married for some time to a woman who was also interested in bodybuilding. It would seem that this could be an ideal couple, but for unknown reasons the marriage did not work out and soon broke up.

Lee is a fan of American cartoons with a fantastic theme, and this despite his advanced age. Lately, people have been noticing a tattoo on his shoulder that represents the “Superman” symbol, as well as themed clothing that he likes to wear to show off his love for this genre of animation.

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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.

Lee Priest

14.06.2016

Lee Priest was born on July 6, 1972 in Newcastle, Australia. His full name is Andrew Lee Priest McCutcheon. Lee grew up in a middle class family. During his school days in Plattsberg, he was fond of team sports, including American football. He also attended karate classes. A little later, his grandfather, who was an army wrestler, sent his grandson to the gym, which was located in the police station. Lee liked the initiative of his beloved grandfather, and he began to regularly visit the gym and work with weights. At that time he was only 13 years old.

Performance history

Lee Priest was small in stature, but had excellent genetics, which allowed him to gain muscle mass even at such an early age. Already at the age of 14, he stood on the podium of junior competitions and won them, despite the fact that among the competitors there were guys 3-4 years older than him.

Lee Priest's workouts

The young Lee read sports literature, especially Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines. He adored Arnold, he liked Tom Platz and Eddie Robinson. Lee himself has always been an extraordinary person, capable of surprising with his shocking actions. Evidence of this is that he dyed his hair white to look like Tom Platz. The athlete also loved comics about Superman, whom he imitated even as an adult.

His mother was also involved in bodybuilding, and when the guy was 15 years old, she invited him to perform on stage together. They succeeded and became the first. They have performed in such a pair more than once.

The first serious bodybuilding competition was the Sydney Bodybuilding Classic, which took place in 1986. He won this tournament and earned his professional IFBB card. The victories that brought him popularity were “Mr. Australia” from 1989 to 1991 (3 years in a row).

Lee Priest has had many ups and downs on the professional stage. He repeatedly competes at the main bodybuilding tournament "Mr. Olympia", but the result does not rise above 6th. The athlete himself believes that his short stature is to blame. Quite early, Lee left bodybuilding, not so much because he was disappointed in it, but simply because he realized that this was not his way of life. At this time, he was already actively interested in motor sports and set several speed records. Lee was gradually lured away by racing. The last tournament in Lee's career was the Australian Grand Prix competition in 2006, where the champion took second place.

For some time, Lee Preece was married to professional bodybuilder Katie LiFrancos. It seemed they were made for each other. They felt comfortable and trained together all the time. But for unknown reasons, the couple broke up.

There were scandals and quarrels with the IFBB federation in the athlete’s career. He tried to compete in another federation, but it did not lead to anything good. Not long ago, the champion surprised everyone by getting a huge tattoo all over his body, including his face. But we have already talked about the extraordinary nature of this athlete. However, in ordinary life he is an excellent, kind-hearted person who actively participates in charity and twice a year sends large sums to distribute lunches for homeless people.

Whatever it was, Lee will be remembered forever in the history of bodybuilding. He is a very colorful athlete, a physique that no other athlete has to this day. At 160 centimeters tall, he tipped the scales at 130 kilograms and was incredibly physically strong.

Lee stands out for his huge arms, he is also called the triceps monster. To understand how he achieved such results, let's look at his arm training:

The article was taken from the site bodymaster.ru.

Bodybuilders

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.

Lee Priest's idea of ​​training

Lee Priest's training process was similar to unloading train cars

Lee is a proponent of very voluminous training, sometimes reaching 15-20 approaches per muscle group. The best training program, in his opinion, is this variation of a four-day split:

• Pectoral muscles and biceps.
• Back muscles.
• Deltoids and triceps.
• Legs.

The most ideal symmetrical abs

Although Lee does not adhere to any specific set of exercises for training, he definitely has something to tell about the training process:

If an athlete wants to increase the mass of his arms, then the best choice for him would be a close-grip bench press and triceps-style dips with serious weights. But you should pay a lot of attention to technique and dosing the volume in them, since the triceps ligaments are usually a very vulnerable place and are easily injured.

Don't go too low when performing barbell extensions. Lee recommends lowering the bar to your forehead, not behind your head.

This athlete believes that when training biceps, a total of up to twenty approaches in three or four exercises should be obtained. At the same time, the specified volume must be performed without any cheating and huge weights. Weight is a priority in “muscle feeling”.

Training should begin with minimal weights, which will help avoid injury. If you feel “trouble” in the tendons or ligaments, you should give this area a rest, or greatly reduce the weight.

According to Lee, to maximize chest development and bench press performance, you should always train your chest before training your triceps, not after.

The best exercises for the back, in his opinion, are pull-ups, close-grip lat pull-downs, as well as T-bar rows and lat pull-downs. The exercises are performed exactly in the order listed here.

User comments

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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