Dorian Yates

• By vishwa on Inspiration, Training

• April 20, 2017

Dorian Yates is one of my favorite bodybuilders.  He won the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997.  He holds the fourth-highest number of Mr. Olympia awards of all time, ranking behind Ronnie Coleman (8), Lee Haney (8), and Arnold Schwarzenegger (7).  I recently stumble upon a video of his and here are my thoughts.

                                              Dorian and Mentzer

Although I adore Dorian, I am not a fan of steroid using bodybuilders.  You should know that Mr. Olympia is infested with steroid abusing bodybuilders. So, I have stopped following the much talked about Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition from a longtime.  However,   I liked Dorian because of his high intense workouts and no-nonsense demeanor. He is also an ardent follower of high intense training advocated by Mike Mentzer. Mentzer was a bodybuilder and a philosopher who belonged to the Arnold era.  He insisted that philosophy and bodybuilding are one and the same.   In his book High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer way, he detailed the principles of high intensity weight training.  Weight training, he stated, had to be brief, infrequent, and intense, to attain the best results in the shortest amount of time.

                                                   My views on Mentzer

In the initial days of my bodybuilding career even my training in the gym revolved around the high intense method.  I also have to say that the gains I encountered were tremendous.  However, I don’t advocate that training philosophy anymore, as it heavily taxes the central nervous system (CNS) and is injury prone.  Moreover, I believe that moderate volume is essential for muscular growth.  Dorian too deviated from Mentzer by stating that moderate volume is a precursor for muscle growth.

Dorian’s autobiography titled Blood and Guts speaks volumes about his training (balls to the wall) philosophy and his similar approach to life.  You have to read that inspiring book to believe me.  He still advocates the high intense method.  Watch him saying “freedom is not giving a fuck.” True that!

https://youtu.be/sbjmkN52wLo