Bodybuilding veteran Lee Priest presented a symmetrically sound physique throughout his prime. On May 6, 2025, he discussed how to solve muscle imbalances and revealed if ice baths have merit for recovery.
Priest carved out a successful career in the IFBB Pro League for over two decades. He managed to hold his own and sometimes beat high-profile bodybuilders like former eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman. To this day, he’s revered by fellow athletes, with some, such as bodybuilding legend Jay Cutler, praising Priest for having the greatest physique of all time.
To present such a memorable look onstage, Priest took control of his diet despite gaining substantial weight in the off-season. He also focused on recovery and carefully trained around injuries to maintain his status as an elite Pro.
Lee Priest Explains How to Overcome Muscle Imbalances, Discusses Ice Baths: “It’s Just Become a Craze”
In a recent YouTube video, Priest spoke on how to correct muscle imbalances.
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“You’re never going to get rid of muscle imbalance. Even at my best, one arm was a quarter inch smaller, one leg was half an inch smaller. You’re always going to have it, but unless it’s like inches, nobody is going to notice.”
“I wouldn’t really worry about it that much unless it’s totally like I said, missing. You’re not going to notice. As for what to take [for torn muscles], people say deca for joints sometimes or growth hormone can heal shit quicker but I think you just got to rest,” shared Priest.
While he explains that you can never truly eliminate them, there are mitigation tactics to utilize, like focusing on rest, recovery, and clean eating.
“Just resting it and really getting good food in, there’s lots of foods out there that can help recovery. When it comes to joints, whether it be turmeric and all the other stuff, you can get natural anti-inflammatories rather than popping ibuprofen.”
He shared that he trained around a shoulder injury, and the blood circulation from working out helped him recover.
“When I had a torn shoulder, I still went and trained this side and trained my legs. I found still training kept the blood moving and I didn’t lose much size of it. You’ve got to be smart and don’t go crazy.”
As for ice baths, Priest likened them to a trend, but said people have been using similar methods for years.
“It just became a craze. It’s been around forever people doing ice baths.”
“Everyone knew that people sometimes put cold ice on their muscles for recovery. Some people were doing the ice baths or jumping in the ocean. Once a couple of people did it on Instagram, it became this ice bath, ice bath, that’s all you saw.”
He added that infrared saunas have also become popularized.
“Everyone, all the infrared saunas became the next big type of thing. Come on people, it’s been around since the dawn of time,” he said.
Priest continues to offer training advice since hanging up his posing trunks. He recently explained why hip thrusts were the only exercise he would avoid. He believes various squatting movements can help build the glutes and posterior chain more effectively.
The bodybuilding veteran is always up for insightful discussions. Although Priest contends that muscle imbalances are nearly impossible to eliminate, he does credit proper dieting and recovery for helping minimize them.
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