Lee Priest has defended Joseph Baena against critics following his bodybuilding debut.
Joseph Baena has officially made his long-awaited bodybuilding debut. When there is this much anticipation and expectation around a debut, there is bound to be some criticism around his overall performance. Baena has received backlash about his physique and bodybuilding great Lee Priest came to his defense.
During Tuesday’s episode on IFBB AMA, Priest spoke on many of the current happenings in bodybuilding, including Baena’s debut. He told any critics out there to “shut the f*ck up.”
“Okay, he’s natural, but to say what? He’s not big enough like his dad. Shut up people. Half the ones that talk this shit have never done anything themselves so shut the f*ck up.”
Many have been waiting for Baena’s bodybuilding debut. He has been sharing different training videos and workouts for years now. He was able to get his physique to a point naturally where he felt like he was ready to compete, and it led to multiple gold medals. As the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, there was going to be comparisons and Priest believes that this is unnecessary as well.
“He’s always going to be compared to his father, which you know, you’re never going to be Arnold. There’s only one Arnold like there’s only one Ronnie or one Sergio. They’ll compare a younger Sergio to his father.
You know, he loves to train. When I see him at Gold’s Gym, we always have good talks. I think it’s just a goal for him. If you’re training sometimes, you want to have a goal. When you set a goal to compete, it’s always easier to stick to a diet and go through that sh*t you have to go through.”
Joseph Baena’s Journey To Bodybuilding Stage
Joseph Baena began training at a high level in college. In a 2022 appearance with Bradley Martyn, Baena admitted that he was the “chubby kid” among his friends and did not start lifting weights until a bit later in his life. He quickly transformed his physique and was able to set a goal of stepping on the bodybuilding stage.
Once Baena began lifting, he was able to transform his physique in a big way. Baena has found success in many lanes during his career. He has appeared on the big screen in multiple pictures while also being featured on the cover of magazines. Baena also took part in a season of Dancing With The Stars and this enhanced his physique as well, sharing his progress and weight loss while competing on the show.
On Saturday, he made his bodybuilding debut at the 2026 NPC Natural Colorado State Championships on Saturday in Denver. He was able to finish in the top two of each division he competed in while winning gold in three. Baena finished first in the Men’s Open Bodybuilding Heavyweight class, Men’s Classic Physique True Novice, and Men’s Classic Physique Novice. He finished as the runner-up in Men’s Classic Physique Open Class C.
Greg has covered the four major sports for six years and has been featured on sites such as Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, SB Nation, NJ.com, and FanSided. Now, he is transitioning into the world of bodybuilding and strength sports.
