Dorian Yates Shares High-Intensity Training Strategies: ‘Make it Harder for Your Body to Recover

Bodybuilding legend Dorian Yates was renowned for the intense training methods he used to win six Mr. Olympia titles. In a recent interview with Jay Vincent, Yates talked about his career, free weights versus machines, and reflected on high-intensity training. 

Dorian Yates boasted an insane blend of muscle mass and conditioning as a Men’s Open competitor in the IFBB Pro League. He’s widely regarded for having ushered in an era of mass monsters. He also presented one of the best backs of all time. After placing second to eight-time winner Lee Haney at the 1991 Mr. Olympia, Yates secured his first Sandow trophy by defeating Kevin Levrone and Lee Labada in 1992. He proved to be a dominant champion as he extended his reign for another five years in a row till 1997. 

Besides his impressive package, Yates stood out from the competition because he kept his nose down and focused solely on making improvements. Having returned to the stage stronger and stronger, Yates ultimately earned the nickname ‘The Shadow.’

Yates opened up about the steroid cycles he used early in his career and backed Dianabol as his preferred substance of choice. While he no longer competes, Yates micro-doses 20 milograms of testosterone daily for health benefits.

In stark contrast to the traditional bodybuilding approach, Yates opted to push himself to near failure in every single training session. He didn’t follow a set number of reps or sets and would only train for an hour in his prime. He admitted his intense training routine might have worked against him in some instances, resulting in injuries.

Yates left an indelible mark on the sport. Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari summoned Yates’ Olympia-Winning physique to criticize the conditioning levels of reigning Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan last December. Gaspari took issue with the decline of conditioning over time and urged Choopan to bring a drier look back to the biggest stages in the sport. 

Dorian Yates left fans in awe of his incredibly jacked physique in an update earlier this year. The 60-year-old maintains a high level of fitness and a healthy lifestyle post-retirement. He received a health check and VO2 max test in Brazil and reported positive findings about his biological age, which was displayed at 30 to 39.

Yates delivered another shredded physique update while training on a beach in Brazil. He boasted a ripped core with abs and huge arms. Last month, Yates identified barbell rows with an underhand grip as his favorite exercise for back day workouts.

Dorian Yates on High-Intensity Training: ‘You Have to Focus & Concentrate to Push The Last Sets to Failure’

In a recent YouTube video, Dorian Yates talked about the fine balance between high-intensity and high-volume training.

“We know we need to send a stimulus but then we also need to recover from this stimulus before any kind of over-compensation or growth can take place so there needs to be sufficient stimulus but then we need to recover before we come back. Try and do the whole thing over again. The key to the stimulus is that stress, that overload, that’s intensity. It doesn’t require that message to be repeated over and over again. Once you go into failure you could do more sets and go do more sets to failure but I don’t believe that you’d be getting any benefit from it. I believe we get a negative because now it’s just making it harder for your body to recover. It’s the right amount like medicine, for recovery.

“People say all the top bodybuilders don’t do that because they actually over train but they’re able to recover from it because they’re taking high levels of hormones. I also took high levels of hormones but why not have the most productive training as well?”

Yates shared his thoughts on when to incorporate high-intensity training in workouts.

“If you’re currently training, whatever you’re doing, let’s say you’re training four or five times a week and you’re currently doing that, and you’ve had no progress for the last two months, no measurable progress, no increase in muscle mass, strength, let’s get this straight. It’s not mysterious, this process. People try to make it complex because they’re trying to sell products but it’s not complex. You won’t get bigger muscles unless you get stronger muscles and more power by certain type of training without building the muscle mass. So, if you haven’t progressed in two months, you won’t progress in the next two months because you’re doing the same thing. If that’s the case, what have you got to lose why cutting your volume down? Let’s try training two or three times a week short workouts but when you go in there you put absolutely everything into it. You concentrate, focus, push those last sets to failure, control the negative, focus on everything you do for a maximum one hour, two or three times a week. You’ll probably find you’re going to start growing again.”

Dorian Yates gave fans a look into his brutal lower-body training session in a recent Instagram post. He offered tips on effectively executing leg extensions, calling on his fans to focus their energy fully during each rep.

Yates opens up on what he would’ve done differently

While Yates is at peace with his career, he revealed what he could’ve done differently during his days of competition.

“From a technical point of view, I would train all out for about six to eight weeks because I learned through experience, or I would start to get symptoms of overtraining so then I would’ve to back off for a couple weeks a bit lighter and go again. I don’t believe that I really did the down cycle properly and gave my body enough rest that it required over the years and most injuries didn’t occur in that moment but they’re an accumulation of scar tissue and little things that are going on for a long time inflammation and so on that maybe wasn’t rested enough. I would have given myself a bit more rest. Try to enjoy the process a little bit more. I was so tunnel-visioned about what I was doing that I could’ve had a little bit more fun along the way.”

Yates shares take on using free weights vs machines

‘The Shadow’ gave his take on the benefits of using free weights and machines.

“I’ll use both because I see pros and cons in both. Machines are great because they’re controlled. They have a controlled pathway which lends it to do forced reps and negatives more easily. They can possibly isolate the muscle more than a free weight. But a machine is a machine. It moves in a pathway in which the machine has been built where a free weight moves in the way that my body’s built. When you move a free weight, it moves more naturally. There’s more skill involved in a free weight and there’s more stability so they possibly could apply better to explosive sports or stuff. But as far as building muscle, really the whole idea with the machines is they were an improvement on free weights in that they distribute the load evenly throughout the movement.”

Dorian Yates stressed the importance of balancing hormones and cautioned against the risks of bodybuilding last month. He identified proper nutrition and rest as the most crucial factors for improving quality of life.

RELATED: 6x Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates Guides Junior Mr. Universe Kaya Yusuf Through Brutal Back Workout

Last week, Yates offered tips on performing lat pulldowns effectively to maximize muscle building. Given the high stature Yates holds in the community, his tips will surely help rising bodybuilders and fitness fans with their training.

You can watch the full video below.

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