Donning arguably the greatest back of all time, Dorian Yates‘ reputation in bodybuilding is among the best. In a recent offering on his Shadow Talk Podcast, he reflected on training Chris Cormier and opened up coaching others with his ‘most efficient way to build muscle.’
In the early 1990s, Dorian Yates pushed the best Men’s Open competitors on the planet with showstopping size and definition. He gave former eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney all he could handle during his long-standing reign. Yates secured his first Mr. Olympia title in 1992 and held the honor for years, before sailing off into retirement with six Sandow trophies.
Known for pushing his body to failure during ‘blood and guts’ training sessions, Yates remains one of the sport’s most beloved figures. In retirement, he boasts a jacked physique and gives back to the community. As a coach, Yates is now opening up on some of the challenges that have come with helping people add muscle to their frames.
Dorian Yates Discusses Training Chris Cormier and Opens Up On His Coaching Experiences
According to Dorian Yates, additional breaks in between contests would have pushed Chris Cormier closer to a Mr. Olympia title.
Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
“In order for you to make changes, you needed a good period of time where you’re in the gym, you got sufficient calories, you’re not traveling, you can just concentrate and grow for most of the year, like eight or nine months, then you’re going to come down slowly for the show, that way maybe you can improve but like, you know, let’s say you go to the Olympia, right?
You go to Olympia, and you’re in shape, but in order to do that, you probably lost a bit of muscle, right? Even under perfect circumstances, even taking whatever you want to take performance-enhancing-wise, you’re going to lose a little bit.”
Yates underlined that ‘The Real Deal’ needed substantial time in between shows to make meaningful improvements to his physique.
“Then, you need to rest a few weeks, now we need to get back into the gym. And to get back to where I was in the first place, for me, you’re talking about it’s already December or January, how are you going to get ready for the Arnold or something? You just got back to point A so you’re not really having time to make the improvements.”
In retirement, Dorian Yates continues to train non-competitors, emphasizing that commitment is the cornerstone of his most efficient muscle-building method
“When people commit to it, it’s not just — I think it’s the most efficient way to build muscle, of course, there’s different ways. But when I do the camp with people, so we do like a week of real training and talking as well.
I spend time with them. I see, you know I’m pretty good at judging peoples’ psychologies, what they need to hear, what will help them, what won’t help them, and all that stuff.”
Once Yates pushes someone inside the gym, he can ‘pick up things about people,’ making it easier to produce the desired results.
“If you put somebody in the gym and you put them under stress in the gym, you start to see things. You pick up things about people. Maybe this guy needs some – you know he doesn’t really believe in himself enough, I never bullshit people so if I say something to you that’s positive, then it’s really because I mean it. Otherwise, I won’t say anything. I’d rather say nothing, yeah? But end of the week, the point is, I just see happier, stronger people mentally,” shares Dorian Yates.
While he has spent time training bodybuilders, Yates prefers not to coach competitors because they typically have an ego when it comes to the gym.
“They have surprised themselves of even what they can do because I open the door by saying whatever, blah blah,” said Yates. “No, no, mainly the people I coach are not competitors because a lot of time when people get to be competitors they got a bit of an ego about the thing and they think they already know stuff so. They aren’t so open and willing to learn where people that’s not gotten to that level, it seems like they want to learn and they are there to learn.”
At 62 years old, Dorian Yates doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Between his popular podcast and training, he’s a busy man. He recently showed off his unbelievable quad, hamstring, and calve definition, offering insight into his latest leg training routine.
While training others might be a change of pace for the former six-time Mr. Olympia, he takes pride in helping people become happier and stronger—proving that champions don’t retire, they just find new ways to inspire.
RELATED: Dorian Yates Shares A Proven Method For Faster Development of Weaker Body Parts
Watch the full video from the Dorian Yates Nutrition YouTube channel:
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
