Legendary bodybuilder Dorian Yates carved out his own space in the sport with unconventional training methods and a massive physique. He reached the highest heights as a pro and keeps stellar level of fitness post-retirement. In a recent post made on Instagram, Yates shared his staple chest workout exercises that helped him win Mr. Olympia.
Dorian Yates stood out from the competition as a Men’s Open competitor with his impressive muscle mass, size, definition, and stellar back development. He emerged as a budding prospect from the UK who took silver in his maiden Mr. Olympia appearance in 1991.
After the exit of eight-time champion Lee Haney, Dorian came back with a vengeance and secured the coveted Sandow trophy at the 1992 Mr. Olympia. He proved to be a dominant champion who racked up six Mr. Olympia titles in a row, essentially going undefeated from 1992-1997, and stepped away after his final win in 1997.
Following his retirement, Yates continued to train regularly and promotes a healthy lifestyle. He often shares his decades of wisdom with fans so they too can level up their physiques. He revealed barbell rows with an underhand grip as his favorite exercise to craft a wide and thick back earlier this year. Then, he detailed tips on how to properly perform lat pulldowns to optimize back gains. He stressed the importance of pulling with your elbows to take the load off your biceps.
During his career, Dorian Yates went against the grain in training philosophy. While many bodybuilders utilized the traditional regimen of working out for a set number of reps and sets, he pushed himself to near failure in every training session. ‘The Shadow’ offered some valuable high-intensity training (HIT) strategies to maximize the gains two months ago. He recommended using HIT training to push through any points of stalled progress.
Yates advocated for performing hamstring curls to boost muscle growth in the lower-body weeks ago. He focused on the need to use a full range of motion while performing each rep in a controlled manner with a slow negative. He followed up by revealing his training, steroid cycles, and diet while in prep for competition and talked about using TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) after hanging up his posing trunks.
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Dorian Yates shares staple chest workout exercises
In a recent Instagram post, Dorian Yates shared some of his staple chest workout exercises that helped him win six Mr. Olympia titles.
He listed decline barbell bench presses, incline presses, and Smith machine presses along with the use of rest-pause reps
“Decline barbell bench press was a staple in my routine, roughly up until 1992 ,” he wrote. “After this, I switched to more incline presses and didn’t really go back to decline. I did do quite a lot of incline smith machine presses and felt a great connection with this exercise. It’s a fixed plane of motion and you can really put a lot of emphasis on your chest here. It’s safer to go to and beyond failure too, especially with rest pause reps where you’d rack the bar and take a few deep breaths, then aim for an extra one or two reps.”
Yates also shared that incline dumbbell flyes on a low incline, incline barbell press, and dumbbell shoulder press are a part of his go-to routine.
“ Incline dumbbell flyes was another tremendous exercise that I did consistently, working up to over 50kg dumbbells! But I always did this on a low incline, about 30 degrees as this puts the chest at the forefront and helps to minimise the delt involvement. I also later did a lot of incline barbell press, you can see the footage in Blood & Guts! I was pretty much forced to utilise the smith machine for shoulder pressing near the start of my Olympia reign.
“My training partners in the early 90s, usually Kenny and @paulbaxendale, often had a challenge to pass the giant 160lb dumbbells up to me and it was a struggle to get them into position. I scrapped dumbbell shoulder press in favour of the smith machine for shoulder press and this was a lot easier to not only set up, but to go to failure too. It’s about making adjustments to your training and trial & error… it’s all part of the process.”
Dorian Yates argued that squats are not necessary to build muscle while laying out his four-times-a-week training plan for Mr. Olympia contests last month. He underwent stem cell treatment for his injuries and reported positive updates. Then, he gave fans a look into his two-exercise ab workout routine two weeks ago.
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His latest offering provides insight into the high-quality training methods of a Mr. Olympia and will inspire fitness enthusiasts to incorporate them into their routines.
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