Exercise scientist and physiologist Dr. Mike Israetel is taking a closer look at one of the most prolific Australian bodybuilders of all time. In a recent YouTube video shared on August 30, 2024, Dr. Israetel critiqued the arm, chest, and leg training of bodybuilding veteran Lee Priest.
Before former two-time 212 Olympia Shaun Clarida came about, the original ‘Giant Killer’ was Lee Priest. His massive arms, bursting calves, and granite conditioning levels kept even the most successful bodybuilders on their toes during the 1990s and 2000s. Priest holds victories over names like former eight-time Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman and four-time titleholder Jay Cutler.
Although his height was a limiting factor on stage, Priest never let the genetic discrepancy prevent him from finding success in the IFBB Pro League. Having taken training lessons from Tom Platz and Arnold Schwarzenegger in their prime, Priest knew how to apply what he learned on the bodybuilding stage. He left the sport on top as well. Before retiring, Priest claimed victories at the 2006 NOC New York, PDI Night of Champions, and the
2013 NABBA Mr. Universe.
“This time we’re grappling with Lee Priest videos. Lee Priest through the entire decade of the 90s and much of the 2000s was a supremely dominant bodybuilder.
And I believe Lee Priest is something like five-foot-four if memory serves. He’s a short king but maybe the kingliest of all short kings. He also had an obscene monstrous physique and psychotic enormous arms. Let’s take a look at his training,” Dr. Israetel shared.
Exercise Scientist Critiques Training of Bodybuilding Veteran Lee Priest
To begin, Dr. Mike Israetel examines how Lee Priest approached arm training.
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“Six to eight barbells for mass… not wrong but not exactly descriptive and sort of outdated. It turns out you don’t have to use barbells, you can use cables, you can use machines, you can use dumbbells, and anywhere between sets of five and sets of 30 work but I think for Lee, barbells and six to eight work best because I believe his arms just have to be more proportionate fast-twitch fibers than the average person arms. Only fast twitch-fibers get that big.”
“For him, I think that kind of style worked really well,” he adds.
Concerning barbell curls, Dr. Israetel reveals if Priest’s techniques were optimal for growth.
“Basically what Lee is saying here is when you can’t complete the rep you can change the angle under control, get the leverage better, and complete the rep. That’s actually pretty good advice.”
Dr. Israetel criticized Priest’s use of the rope attachment when performing cable triceps extensions.
“Good range of motion here. Again, he’s focusing more on the squeeze and less on the stretch. I don’t love that and I also hate the rope because it incentivizes you to focus on the squeeze and not the stretch. Just my two cents there.”
Next, he examined Priest performing incline dumbbell curls.
“Some incline curl action. Nice. This is done very well. I would love to see that bench go really really far back even down to a 30-degree angle, even down flat.”
Dr. Israetel discussed Priest regularly training forearms in his prime and whether or not it’s needed in a routine.
“With skinny forearms… there’s something missing however, if you have big ass arms and your forearms are big, it just takes your arms to a totally different level. It’s the ultimate match.”
“You don’t have to train your forarms. It’s a phenomenal waste of time for most people. But if you’re looking to make your arms look as Lee Priest-ly as possible man, some forarm training, wrist curls of various kinds, consistently two to three times a week, a really really sharp idea.”
Then, he also took a closer look at Priest’s chest training.
“Lee Priest training to me is like fundamentally quite good. There’s almost nothing he does where I’m like good god what is that? Usually, I’m like oh that’s really good or that’s okay or that’s not great, but if it works for you, dope. I like the training.”
To finish off his analysis, Dr. Israetel gave his two cents on Priest’s leg training, including his monstrous calves.
“Thems real calves. Holy shit. His calves and forearms are like from another person who was like six-eight 480 I swear to god. Good exercise too. This exercise really isolates the fuck out of your quads. It’s basically a free weight version of leg extension. I would prefer he went much lower. But to be honest, because he’s a short king, I don’t think he can.”
Biggest Takeaways
- We can train closer to failure
- Focus on exercises that really emphasize a deep stretch
Although Priest carved out a successful career over 20 years ago, there is much we can learn from his training tendencies. Dr. Israetel believes there was very little he did wrong inside the gym, which explains why Priest led such a dominant career as a Pro bodybuilder.
Watch the full video from the Renaissance Periodization YouTube channel below:
RELATED: Exercise Scientist Critiques 8x Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman’s Training Techniques and PED Use
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