Bodybuilding legend Dorian Yates stands out as a six-time Mr. Olympia champion with a distinct training philosophy. In a recent Rob Lipsett interview, Yates revealed his competition prep, training, and the steroid cycles he used as a competitor. He also opened up about his reasons for getting on TRT after stepping away from professional competition.
English bodybuilding veteran Dorian Yates exhibited stellar conditioning and an insanely wide back during his days of competing in the IFBB Pro League Men’s Open division. He found a passion for working out as a teenager and won several regional and national shows before earning an invite to the Mr. Olympia contest in 1991, where he missed out on the top prize to eight-time champion Lee Haney.
After scoring silver in his debut, Yates returned with a vengeance and scored his maiden Sandow trophy at the 1992 Mr. Olympia. In the off-seasons, he would stay away from the limelight and only make his presence known at competitions, which earned him the nickname ‘The Shadow.’
He also used high-intensity training techniques and pushed himself to near failure in every session instead of the traditional approach using a fixed number of reps and sets. His methods clearly worked wonders for him as he successfully defended the title five times. He hung up his posing trunks after his sixth win at the 1997 Mr. Olympia.
Yates recalled his rise to stardom in bodybuilding last November. He started channeling his energy into the sport while being behind bars in Birmingham at the age of 18. He set the golden standard for the Open class for many years and presented one of the greatest back muscle developments of all time. Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari used Yates’ back to fire shots at the reigning Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan for his conditioning levels.
’The Shadow’ continues to train daily and leads a healthy lifestyle in his 60s. Earlier this year, Yates got a health check and VO2 max test done. The results indicated Yates’ biological age was between 30 and 39 although he is 61 years old. He followed up by showing off his shredded abs while working out on a beach in Brazil.
Yates revealed barbell rows with an underhand grip as his favorite exercise to utilize for building a thicker and wider back. He laid out how he used the exercise to get the best results last month. He credited regular workouts and maintaining proper nutrition as his keys to staying healthy. Then, Yates offered his expertise on performing lat pulldowns in a way that takes the load off the biceps to zone in on the lats.
Th 61-year-old provided some high-intensity methods for his fans to incorporate into their training routine three weeks ago.
Dorian Yates reveals contest prep, diet & training
In a recent YouTube video, Dorian Yates shared his contest prep, diet, and training.
“The training didn’t change from the off-season. It was two days one, one day off, two days on, one or two days off. It was like shoulders and tricep, back, day off, chest and biceps, legs, day or two off in the off-season because I was concentrating on growth. For a contest, I would generally run, two on, one off. I was hitting every body part every six days. In the off-season I’d do a moderate amount of cardio like 30 mins on my days off. For contests, I’d step it up, twice a day but moderate so it’s not cutting into my recovery from weight lifting.
“I was doing stationary bike, treadmill, 45 minutes in the morning and evening. It would change throughout the years but I’d always be getting a gram to gram and a half of protein per pound of body weight so it was probably 400 to 450 grams, enough fats to be healthy, but if I had to do it again, I’d do more fats like put more yolk with the egg whites. Carbs were coming from oats, rice, sweet potatoes, vegetables, two pieces of fruit a day, and I’d be aiming to lose two pounds a week.“
Yates talked about his steroid cycles & using TRT after retirement
Dorian Yates detailed the steroids he’d used as a competitor for shows and in the off-season.
“As far as steroids go, I was a big believer of doing contest prep on using non-aromatizing compounds so I’d have a little bit of testosterone in there like propionate because it’s quick acting and doesn’t aromatize as the longer acting ones but just 300 mg a week. The rest would be primobolin, parabolic, which was the Trenbolone we had at that point.”
“Propionate as a base of testosterone which I’d drop out the last week. Primobolin, and anavar, that was the base and then growth hormone.”
Yates shared his experiences of leaving steroids altogether and why he decided to get on TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) after retirement.
“I went to see an endocrinologist and get his advice. He’s like you probably know more than me about this situation, it’s not my thing. I’m like nobody knows anything and you know what I’m just going to stop. I went cold turkey.”
“I went into a dark depression and it took me about a year. I’d promised myself that I’m only doing steroids because of my career, not ego so when I finish my career I’m going to stop steroids. I felt like by going on TRT that’s back on steroids and I broke the promise to myself. It was kind of a stupid mindset but that’s where I was at. Then in the end I was like I need to get on little something so that’s when I went on TRT. Within a month, my mental outlook was a lot better.”
Dorian Yates gave his take on effectively performing hamstring curls to enhance lower-body muscle development a week ago. He highlighted the benefits of using a full range of motion with slow negatives to optimize muscle growth.
Yates’ latest reveal will certainly give fitness fans and bodybuilders a look into the prep of a competitor from decades ago.
You can watch the full video below.
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