Legendary bodybuilder Dorian Yates carved out his own space in the sport with his intense workout philosophy. He dominated the Men’s Open division with unreal back development during his days of competition. In a recent Instagram post, Yates shared the optimal time for performing a high-intensity workout for muscle growth.
Dorian Yates made a name for himself with insane muscle mass, size, and stellar conditioning in the 90s. Starting his career on the national circuit, he earned a qualification to the Mr. Olympia competition in 1991. He turned in a strong performance and took silver behind eight-time champion Lee Haney in his Olympia debut.
Yates returned with a vengeance the next year and secured the coveted Sandow trophy. He went on to defend the title successfully five times in a row and moved on from professional competition after his sixth win at the 1997 Mr. Olympia. Besides his package, he was also renowned for his intense training techniques and tendency to stay away from the spotlight.
Yates laid out his favorite bodybuilding cycles he used in competition last October. He revealed Dianabol as his steroid of choice and detailed his use of TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) by micro-dosing daily. He opened up on the strong mindset which never allowed him to compromise on training, diet, or recovery. Although he doesn’t have any regrets, he admitted he could’ve taken things a bit easier.
The 61-year-old Brit set a high bar for the Men’s Open division. His impact can be felt to this day. In Dec. 2022, bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari invoked Yates’ back to bash Hadi Choopan’s back conditioning after the 2022 Mr. Olympia.
Dorian Yates offered fans his favorite exercise for building muscle in the back earlier this year. He encouraged using barbell rows with an underhand grip while giving some intensity tips to pack on the pounds. Then, he gave tips on properly performing lat pulldowns by pulling with the elbows.
Yates gave fans a look into some of his staple high-intensity training techniques to optimize workouts last month. He differentiated high-intensity from high-volume training and laid out the difference in using free weights versus machines.
‘The Shadow’ promoted incorporating lying hamstring curls with a full range of motion and a slow negative weeks ago. He believes in controlling the weight at each point to activate muscle growth.
Dorian Yates shares the optimal time for high-intensity training
In a recent Instagram post, Dorian Yates shared the optimal time for performing high-intensity training. Since the sessions are more exhausting, he suggested limiting workout times to 45 minutes.
“Overtraining and under recovering!” wrote Yates. “You need to give your body a stress that it’s not used to in order to get a response. Bodybuilding is not an endurance sport, the aim is to train hard, heavy and intense to stimulate muscle growth. If you train too much then your progress will come to a halt.
“It’s not possible to train with high intensity for too long, 45 minutes is enough. Go to the gym, train… and get out. Each minute of my training was incredibly intense but with purpose and focus.”
Dorian Yates revealed his diet and training routine in the off-season and contest prep along with the steroid cycles he used last month. He revealed he quit steroids altogether and credited TRT for helping improve his mental health after retirement.
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Yates opened up on his experience taking ayahuasca in Brazil as well. He argued against focusing solely on success and highlighted the need to practice self-love to achieve happiness. Considering the success Yates achieved, many will look to follow in his footsteps to level up their fitness game.
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