Decades following his retirement Dorian Yates is still giving back to the bodybuilding community. In his latest venture, shared via Instagram on January 15, 2025, Yates broke down his 1990 Night of Champions heavy-duty high-intensity back workout, providing expert insights into his approach to training.
Dorian Yates won the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition six times consecutively. During his dominant reign, he denied elite contenders like Shawn Ray and Kevin Levrone a chance at gold, thanks to his overpowering back definition and hard conditioning.
Yates hasn’t been shy about how he achieved such a legendary physique. He utilized training principles from the Nautilus founder Arthur Jones and bodybuilding star Mike Mentzer. Now, with time to reflect on all he’s accomplished over the years, Yates provided fans with a rare look into one of his early workouts that ultimately shaped his career.
Try Dorian Yates’ 1990 Night of Champions Heavy-Duty High-Intensity Back Workout
In a recent Instagram post, Yates offered insight and the workout he used to build his back before competing at the 1990 Night of Champions, where he took a close second place behind Mohammed Benaziza.
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Here’s the breakdown of exercises in order:
- Close grip pulldowns
- Chin ups
- Reverse grip barbell rows
- T bar rows
- Bent over dumbbell raises
- Hyperextensions
- Dumbbell press
- Seated dumbbell lateral raises
- Cable lateral raises
- Machine shrugs”
Yates explained that this competition specifically was a make-or-break moment for his career and if he didn’t place within the top five he would have pursued other avenues.
“Saturday 28th April 1990”
“I came across these pics and actually traced them back to the exact workout from reading my log books, this was a workout from 1990 in the run up to the Night of Champions.
It could be said that this contest was the most important one in my career, if I didn’t make top 5 then I would’ve stepped away from competitive bodybuilding and focussed on other avenues.”
He revealed that his training during this time was different than his Blood & Guts routine but that doesn’t mean it was any less intense.
“At this point in time I was running Temple Gym, had a decent income and was preparing for my IFBB professional debut in New York. I didn’t compete in 1989 to solely focus on making my pro debut the best it could be. Now during this point in my training, I was of course training heavy duty, high-intensity as I did from day one, but my routine split was a little different to the one you see later in Blood & Guts.
My split evolved to training 4x per week but was always, throughout my career, short and intense. And my training partner was Kenny Brown (RIP) and we trained together from 1987 – 1995.”
This specific workout that he shared with fans targeted the back, shoulders, and traps.
“So this workout was back, shoulders and traps and you’ll notice some of the exercises here were slightly different to the ones you see on video later on, but the vast majority remained the same.
To begin any upper body workout, I began with some light dumbbell exercises such as curls, side raises, pullovers etc to get the blood flowing” Yates said.
At the guidance of Mike Mentzer, Dorian Yates adjusted his workout from two working sets to failure to just one.
“During this time too, I was performing two working sets to failure and would in two years time reduce it down to one as per Mike Mentzer’s feedback. I was essentially doing an extra set with roughly a 10% reduction in weight and hammering it to failure just to make sure the message was sent.
Then in ’92 Mike challenged me to cut it back to just one set after watching me train. My training back then was already brief, but Mike advised I make it even briefer and it worked.”
“After training was a little posing practice, preparing myself The Big Apple…”
Whether it’s imparting bulking advice or revealing how Pilates transformed his mobility, Dorian Yates is a massive source of wisdom for bodybuilders of all divisions. At 62 years old, he continues to prioritize giving back to a sport that helped build him into a star.
RELATED: Dorian Yates Share Physio Rehab Therapy Session: “4-5 Weeks & I’ll Be More or Less Back to Normal”
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