Lee Priest discusses some of his favorite back exercises.
Lee Priest continues to work hard in the gym and share his knowledge with the next generation. During a recent video, Priest broke down his favorite back exercises and his tips for each.
Priest enjoyed a career on stage that spanned into three decades. He has had the chance to compete against legendary bodybuilders like Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray, and Chris Cormier. Before calling it a career in 2013, Priest won the NABBA Mr. Universe competition. Priest quickly became known for his incredible conditioning and massive biceps.
Priest hit a back day and made sure to share common mistakes that weightlifters should avoid.
Lee Priest Back Workout
Lee Priest broke down four of his favorite back exercises to hit:
Lat Pulldowns
Lee Priest began his session with lat pulldowns. He spoke on emphasizing form and squeezing the muscles in the back. Priest also advised that lifters focus on staying somewhat upright and now leaning all the way back.
“Squeezing the elbows and shoulder blades back, again, when you get a bit tired towards the end, you can use a little bit of lean back like that to give you a couple extra reps but don’t be one of these people.”
Seated Rows
Seated rows is another exercise where it is important to squeeze all muscles. Again, it is important to have good form and avoid moving too much to take away from the exercise.
“I like to sit on these a little bit, little stretch, some people might even want to stretch forward more but I find if you do that as you go heavier, the whole back gets really pumped. As I pull it in, chest up, squeezing your shoulder blades back. Again, don’t start doing this like you’re on a f*cking rocking chair.”
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Close-Grip Pulldowns
While performing close-grip pulldowns, Lee Priest preached the importance of keeping the chest up and not using too much momentum.
“I like to do it simply like this. I pull down, chest up. The common mistakes people make is body momentum.”
Bent-Over Barbell Rows
The final exercise of the video was bent-over barbell rows. The biggest aspect of this lift is to make sure you are not standing up straight. This would be considered more of a row rather than a bent-over lift.
“The main thing is to get your body at a good angle. I like to be like here, like a duck’s bum, push your bum out like a duck and row into the midsection. Now, I see a lot pf people do more like this. They use heavier weights and eve some go higher, which counts as a shrug. You want to be a little bit bent over.”
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