Lee Priest – What 40 Years of Bodybuilding Taught Me About Training and Steroids

What happens when you combine a legendary physique with total honesty? In this episode, I sit down with the one and only Lee Priest at the iconic Gold’s Gym in Venice California, to unpack the real foundations of bodybuilding: hard training, simple nutrition, and ruthless consistency. Lee shares what his actual contest prep looked like (including the cycles people still argue about), why modern bodybuilding often looks “softer,” and the intensity mindset most lifters have lost. We also go deeper on focus, distraction, and why phones are quietly destroying training quality, and even life quality. If you’re serious about building muscle, staying powerful as you age, and cutting through the noise, this one delivers.

5 Bullet Points:
Lee’s real contest-prep cycle, explained simply
Why “more gear” often makes you worse
Old school training principles that still win
The intensity mindset most lifters avoid
Phones, distraction, and lost training quality

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About Ben
Ben Pakulski is the Chief Performance Officer to elite executives, successful entrepreneurs, and top athletes.With over 25 years of experience, he coaches high achievers to build the physical, psychological, and metabolic resilience required to lead at the highest level. As the creator of the Muscle Intelligence framework, Ben specializes in aligning biology and behavior to drive sustained peak performance. His mission is to redefine what’s possible for people in their prime and push the boundaries of human potential.

Guest Bio
Lee Priest is a legendary Australian IFBB professional bodybuilder known for world-class proportions, freaky density, and a brutally honest voice in the sport. Rising through the ranks as a teenage standout, Lee earned his pro card in the early 1990s and became one of bodybuilding’s most iconic physiques through the late-90s and 2000s. He’s respected not just for how he looked on stage, but for how he trained: hard, simple, consistent, and focused on execution over ego. Today, Lee remains a fan-favorite for his unfiltered opinions on modern bodybuilding culture, drugs, training intensity, and what it actually takes to build an elite body.

Time Stamps:
00:00 - Meeting Lee Priest: A Bodybuilding Legend
01:45 - Lee Priest's Early Career and Challenges
03:28 - Training at Gold's Gym: Memories and Changes
07:53 - Competing and Training Philosophy
11:18 - Reflections on Bodybuilding and Life
32:58 - Commonwealth Connections and Prime Ministers
33:13 - First Exposure to Olympia
33:35 - Comparing Bodybuilders: Then and Now
34:18 - Training Techniques and Intensity
42:06 - The Role of Technology in Training
46:23 - The Importance of Family Values
47:06 - The Influence of Social Media
48:15 - Longevity and Health Concerns
53:37 - The Impact of Modern Lifestyle on Kids
56:02 - Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans
57:31 - Personal Reflections on Training and Health
01:00:16 - The Evolution of Training Methods