Lee Priest is an Australian-born professional bodybuilder who has performed at the highest competitive level for over 15 years. The peak of an athlete’s career came in the first decade of the 21st century. His highest achievements, according to fans and experts, are victories at the San Francisco Pro Invitational (IFBB, 2002), Grand Prix Australia (IFBB, 2005) and Ironman Pro (IFBB, 2006) tournaments.
Lee Priest Biography
Lee Andrew McCutcheon was born on July 6, 1972 in Newcastle (not in England, but in Australia). After Sydney, it is the second largest and most populous city in New South Wales: 261 square kilometers and 289 thousand inhabitants, respectively. Located on the southeast coast of the country (continent).
Future star bodybuilder Lee Priest was brought up in an ordinary working-class family, with love, but strictness. The guy studied at the Plattsburgh school, where he already showed interest in sports: he went in for karate and played rugby. His grandfather was an army fighter (a real man, Priest says). It was he who saw in his grandson a passion for iron.
In his youth, Lee’s idols were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eddie Robinson and Tom Platz. Later, he even dyed his hair white to look like the latter. The current and popular bodybuilding magazines at the time, like “Flex” and “Muscle & Fitness”, read them to their holes.
Lee Priest began training at home at the age of 12, and later his grandfather enrolled him in the local police department’s gym. There, the young bodybuilder continued to carve his own body, dreaming of one day becoming a professional.
Priest did not train on his own, but under the guidance of a personal trainer. He was trained by a professional weightlifter who was a close friend of the Lee family (the weightlifter’s name, unfortunately, is not specified). Thanks to the competent instructions of an experienced specialist, the guy progressed rapidly: in terms of muscle volume (and physical fitness in general) he overtook not only peers, but also adolescents several years older than himself.
The first participation and victory of Lee Priest in the competition happened in 1986 (at that time he was only 13 years old!). He competed in the School Boys Classic Sydney competition, literally defeating the competition.
Lee Priest’s career in adult bodybuilding also kicked off with a resounding win: he took 1st place in the IFBB’s Mr Australia in 1989 and 1990. Priest, just 18 years old, should, in theory, receive a Pro card for high performance. But that did not happen. His status as a professional was not approved due to his too young age.
This did not break the novice bodybuilder. He continued to participate in various amateur competitions, proving to himself and those around him that he is the most promising athlete at home. The path to pro-bodybuilding opened for him in 1993: competing at the “Niagara Falls Pro Invitational”, Lee was highly appreciated by the judges and awarded the coveted professional card. He became a pro bodybuilder at the age of 20, which remains one of the record results (to this day).
Lee Priest’s life has definitely not been easy. Despite his innate talent, hard work and high motivation, he never rose above 6th place at “Mr Olympia”: in 1997 he took 6th place, in 1998 – 7th, in 1999 – 8th, in 2000 – again 6th, in 2002 – again 6, in 2003 – 15. Often he was knocked out of action by injuries, in other cases more genetically gifted competitors, such as Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman, were not allowed to reach the podium.
The athlete himself never complained, and he called all the arguments about the lack of genetic potential nothing more than excuses. He constantly worked on himself and was not going to give up. That proves his triumph at the “Ironman Pro” in 2006, to which the athlete walked for more than 10 years: from 1994 to 2005 he consistently took 2-4 places.
Lee Priest officially retired only in 2014. In 2007, he already retired from the sport, but only to return in 2013 and win the “Mr Universe” competition (according to WABBA). After that, he finally retired from competitive bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding Titles
Lee Priest, which is confirmed by a detailed biography, may not be the most titled bodybuilder in history, but in more than 20 years of his career as a bodybuilder, he has achieved considerable heights. Thanks to his past accomplishments, he has a loyal fan base that he keeps in touch with on social media, be it Facebook or Instagram.
According to experts, his most important achievements as an athlete are:
- 1st – Australian Championships (1989, IFBB);
- 1st – Australian Championships (1990, IFBB);
- 1st – San Francisco Pro Invitational (2002, IFBB);
- 1st – Grand Prix Australia (2005, IFBB);
- 1st – BBC Classic (2005, IFBB);
- 1st – Ironman Pro (2006, IFBB);
- 1st – NOC New York (2006);
- 1st – PDI Night of Champions (2006);
- 1st – NABBA Mr. Universe (2013).
The exact anthropometric data of Lee Priest has not been established, but it is known that his height is 163 centimeters, his weight during the competition dropped to 97 kg, and during the off-season he could rise to 118 kg (according to other sources, it varied from 110 to 130 kg).
Fun fact: Lee Priest is not only a successful bodybuilder, but a renowned race car driver. He began his career in motor sports in 2002 with competitions on road and circular tracks. Then he moved on to drag racing, in which he achieved maximum success: in 2005 he earned the title of “Rookie of the Year”. Returning to circuit racing in 2006, he won the “SCEDA Racing Championship” held in Lancaster, California.
According to Priest’s own words, being a humble person in life, he feels completely at ease, being either driving as a racer or on stage as a bodybuilder.
Where Priest is struggling is on the personal front. On July 1, 2000, he married the fintessist Cathy LeFrancois. However, the couple soon parted ways: the former lovers filed for divorce in 2005, without specifying the reasons. But he has a beautiful daughter (name – Alexandra Lee). Following the example of her father, she leads a sports lifestyle.
Interesting to know: Lee Andrew McCutcheon is a tattoo enthusiast who scored under 50% of his body, including part of his face; Priest’s mother was also fond of bodybuilding, sometimes they even posed together; Lee received the nickname “The Blonde Myth”, which primarily hints at his extravagance, in particular his hair color.
Lee Priest Workout
Lee Priest, despite the fact that he retired several years ago, remains one of the most successful short bodybuilders to this day. With a growth rate of no more than 163 centimeters, it reached a mass of about 97-118 kilograms (and more), depending on the period: off-season or season.
Lee Priest’s training plan was quite conservative, which we will discuss below in the text. The athlete worked every muscle in the body at least once a week, but especially concentrated on pumping the arms. This is noticeable in his then and present photos.
To succeed, Lee Priest even did, no, not a separate workout, but a specially selected set of exercises for arms. There was nothing unique about it, but it was he who helped the athlete, with a low stature, to achieve arms volume of about 55 centimeters.
Bicep Workout
- Barbell Bicep Curl – 5 sets x 6-8 reps;
- Dumbbell Bicep Curl (standing or seated) – 5 sets x 6-8 reps;
- Concentration Curl – 5 sets x 6-8 reps;
- Scott Bicep Curl – 5 sets x 6-8 reps;
- Rope Cable Curl – 5 sets x to failure.
Tricep Workout
- Dumbbell Tricep Extension – 5 sets x 6-8 reps;
- Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press – 5 sets x 6-8 reps;
- Weighted Push-Ups – 5 sets x 6-8 reps;
- Tricep Rope Pushdown – 5 sets x to failure.
It is noteworthy that both V-shaped and curved or rope handles are suitable for pushdows.
Principles
Lee Priest training had individual principles, in particular:
- The bodybuilder considers knowledge of anatomy a must;
- Recommends not to overdo it with experiments, but they are not afraid of novelty either;
- Advises to monitor the level of training, adjusting it according to feelings;
- Prefers to gain weight on a pyramid basis;
- Adheres to basic free weights exercises;
- It does not recommend sacrificing technique for the sake of large weights;
- Advises to pump biceps and triceps at least once a week;
- Prefers to combine arm loads into supersets;
- Favorite exercise for biceps is called curling the arms with a barbell;
- The optimal exercise for triceps is called push-ups;
- I practiced not only forced, but also negative repetitions;
- Considers exercises for shaping muscles useless;
- Recommends pushdowns to warm up muscles.
Regarding the last point: block loads, according to the bodybuilder, help in building muscles, but free weights are more effective for this. Therefore, he resorted to pushdown mainly as a warm-up (for stimulation).
Did Lee Priest Take Steroids?
Lee Priest today freely and honestly says that in the past he took steroids in order to compete with the giants of bodybuilding, who were all on doping. The athlete admits that he began experimenting with anabolic steroids at the age of 19-20 after receiving the Pro-card. Before that, while remaining an amateur, he showed excellent results even without them.
Subsequently, Lee Priest spent steroid cycles virtually throughout his entire professional career. The last cycle, according to its own statement, ended before October 2013, when Mr Universe (according to WABBA) takes place. After that, the athlete did not resort to anabolic steroids, since he left competitive bodybuilding.
Lee Priest is not shy about doping. In his opinion, in bodybuilding it is unrealistic to achieve high results only at the expense of pharmacology. In the first place are always genetics, nutrition and training, which determine the capabilities of the athlete. And chemistry stimulates progress, but does not provide it. It’s hard to disagree with this, because eating fast food while lying on the couch, how much and what you don’t take, you can’t build muscle.
Which Steroids Did Lee Priest Take?
Another question is what kind of steroids Lee Priest used. It is believed that his key off-season drugs were: Testosterone Esters (Sustanon), Oxymetholone, Nandrolone Decanoate, Methandienone. Also, the athlete from time to time added Somatotropin (HGH) for cutting, strengthening the skeletal system, joints and ligaments.
All these substances, Testosterone, Methandienone, Nandrolone Decanoate, Oxymetholone, HGH, were in high demand in the nineties and two thousand years, but they are no less in demand today. Note that in addition to the relatively safe anabolic steroids listed above, Lee Priest also took Synthol, which he regrets. He confessed to this in 2015. Like an athlete, we do not recommend anyone experimenting with this substance. The fact that there is more harm from it than benefit has long been known to everyone. To be sure, just look at the pictures of “synthol bodybuilders” on the Internet.