Australia’s Lee Priest has a firm grasp on the fundamentals of bodybuilding following a long and successful career. In a recent IFBB AMA Podcast, Lee Priest argued against anabolic windows and said missing one meal post-workout won’t dramatically hinder gains.
In the bodybuilding community, the anabolic window has been described as a 30-minute period post-workout, where athletes or lifters refuel their muscles with nutrients after being starved of them throughout exercise. Some have suggested that the body uses more of the nutrients provided in food during this time, which results in more growth, faster recovery, and better results.
However, others, such as Lee Priest, aren’t convinced wholeheartedly by the concept. Priest, who led a bodybuilding tenure of over 30 years, maintains that the body will absorb nutrients hours after training sessions regardless of when the food is consumed.
Priest is a Men’s Open bodybuilding veteran carrying a wealth of experience from training, dieting, and years of competing at the highest level. Known for his outspoken nature, conditioned physique, and huge arms, Priest left the sport on top before retiring with three consecutive victories (2006 NOC New York, 2006 PDI Night of Champions, 2013 NABBA Mr. Universe).
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Lee Priest Discusses Nutrition, Dieting, and Dismantles ‘Anabolic Windows’
Priest started the video by discussing how his diet changed from the off-season to contest prep. He specified that his go-to meal in prep for competitions was white rice, steak, and two fried eggs.
“Lee, what should you eat after you train? There’s nowhere really open at the moment but after I train, I’ve never really been that worried about when to eat, what to eat, now look: if you’re getting ready for a contest, sure.After you train, you’ll probably want to have a protein drink which I normally used to have a protein drink and then after that by the time I got home, I’d have generally steak and rice with a fried egg or maybe two eggs on top of the rice. That was my meal. I know some people don’t like carbs, look, unless you’re carb-sensitive and you find it hard to lose weight. You should eat carbohydrates unless maybe you have to make a weight class maybe, then you have to watch them. I‘ve just found there’s too many fad diets.”
“What’s a perfect diet? There is no such thing but a perfect diet or a good diet should be a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Not one over more than the other, a nice balance. That’s what I found worked best for me when I was dieting for shows.”
“Whatever you’re doing, you got to do all the hard work, otherwise just taking stuff, it’s like, oh, you mean I can take growth hormone and not have to diet? No. Can I take T3 and still eat pizza, fucking no. If you’re going to do it, do it properly. I know you hate to hear it but you have to be patient. Dieting is a slow process.”
As for the infamous ‘anabolic window,’ the 51-year-old contends that it’s a myth and nothing more.
“This is where people have to get this out of their head. What is the anabolic window? It’s made-up fucking bullshit that I’d like to throw a lot of you cunts out of.
If you come up to me and tell me there’s an anabolic window, and there’s a window… I’m going to push you cunts right out of it. And I hope it’s a fucking high floor so you fucking smash your head on the sidewalk. And that’s the end of you. You’re a silly cunt, trust me,” said Lee Priest.
“The thing is, keep it basic. Keep it simple. And when you’re doing this sort of stuff, just work out what is best for you. Contest time… yes, eating is very important, every two hours, two and half or three hours, however, you got it worked out, you just work it out and get your meals in. But if you’re in the off-season like I said and you miss a meal, don’t panic. You’re not going to shrink up. You’re not going to get small. The muscle is not going to get eaten up. It’s all bullshit.”
“There were many times I didn’t even have rice. I’d have pasta with ketchup on, tomato sauce instead of rice. It’s still carbs. Yes, it’s different than rice I know, but guess what? I still got in great shape with that, shredded.”
“Chicken breast became boring to me after a while so what I did was buy chicken drumsticks. I’d peel the skin off, pull the skin right off them and put them in a sauce bin with garlic and boil them. Let me tell, they were tender as anything.”“There’s people who say they can’t eat fruit and stuff like that when they’re dieting are the same cunts that are driving electric cars. Because your dumb cunts, you think you’re helping the environment but you’re fucking not.”
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