Dorian Yates’ Blood and Guts Workout for Naturals: Can They Handle the Intensity?

How many sets do you do per muscle group per week? If you follow the latest guidelines, you’ll probably be in the 20-30 sets-per-week range. Research suggests this is the “sweet spot” for maximizing hypertrophy (1).

It’s no coincidence, then, that most pro bodybuilders use a high-volume approach to achieve their incredible muscularity. Invariably, this means long workouts and training each muscle group at least twice a week. As a result, a lot of elite bodybuilders hit the gym six times a week, and some even opt for two-a-day workouts.

However, not all top bodybuilders have followed the high-volume route. Notable exceptions include Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates.

Mentzer, Yates, and others adopted something called High-Intensity Training, or HIT for short. HIT focuses on putting more effort into fewer sets and workouts, believing that this allows more time for rest, recovery, and muscle growth.

There are a few different interpretations of HIT. Mike Mentzer called his version “Heavy Duty,” while six-time Mr. Olympia winner Yates was famous for his “Blood and Guts” program.

Related: History of Mr. Olympia – Details & Results

However, despite their different names, both types of HIT are pretty similar. In fact, Mike Mentzer trained Dorian Yates for a short time, which probably influenced many of Yates’ training philosophies.

I’m a veteran personal trainer and, in this article, I share a version of Dorian Yates’ Blood and Guts training program and reveal what happened when I guided a natural lifter through a week of workouts.

An Overview of Dorian Yates Blood and Guts Program

Like all great bodybuilders, Dorian Yates was constantly refining his workouts and approach to training. For example, while briefly incarcerated, he trained using a high-volume freeweight powerbuilding style program. However, later in his career, he transitioned to HIT and adopted a much lower volume approach to training.

Long story short, there are several different versions of Yates’ Blood and Guts program, with variations according to whatever Yates wanted to emphasize at the time. That said, the following schedule and workout are an excellent example of Yates’ style of high-intensity bodybuilding training.

Workout Split

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Dorian Yates only trained four times a week. This low-frequency approach is ideal for time-pressed exercisers and those unable to recover from more frequent workouts.

A typical training split for the Blood and Guts program looks like this:

• Monday: Chest & Biceps
• Tuesday: Back
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Shoulders & Triceps
• Friday: Legs
• Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Workouts, Sets, and Reps

Where most bodybuilders do 3-5 sets per exercise and 4-6 exercises per muscle group, Dorian Yates put all his energy into far fewer sets and movements. After a couple of warm-up sets, Yates usually only did 1-2 sets per exercise.

However, he made up for the lack of volume by taking each set to failure and beyond. Most work sets ended with some form of advanced technique, such as forced reps, negative reps, or partials.

Here’s a sample week of Blood and Guts training:

Workout 1: Chest & Biceps

Exercise	Warm-up Sets	Working Sets	Reps
Incline Barbell Press	2	1	6-8
Flat Dumbbell Press	1-2	1	6-8
Incline Dumbbell Flyes	1	1	6-8
Pec Deck Machine	1	1	6-10
Barbell Curls	1	1	6-8
Dumbbell Concentration Curls	1	1	6-8

Workout 2: Back

Exercise	Warm-up Sets	Working Sets	Reps
Pull-ups or Assisted Pull-ups	1	1	6-8
Barbell Rows	2	1	6-8
Dumbbell Rows	1	1	6-8
Deadlifts	2	1	6-8
Seated Cable Rows	1	1	6-8

 Workout 3: Shoulders & Triceps

Exercise	Warm-up Sets	Working Sets	Reps
Seated Dumbbell Press	2	1	6-8
Lateral Raises	1	1	6-10
Rear Delt Flyes	1	1	6-10
Triceps Pushdowns	1	1	6-8
Overhead Dumbbell Extensions	1	1	6-8
Skull Crushers	1	1	6-8

 Workout 4: Legs

Exercise	Warm-up Sets	Working Sets	Reps
Leg Press or Squats	2	1	6-8
Hack Squats	1	1	6-8
Leg Curls	1	1	6-8
Standing Calf Raises	1	1	10-12

A Week of Blood and Guts Workouts – A Natural Lifter’s Experience

I’ve trained HIT style in the past, and always found it enjoyable and effective. So, when long-term client Markus mentioned that he was interested in trying Dorian Yates’ Blood and Guts program, I was only too happy to guide him through it.

In this section, I’ll provide details of his experience and share his thoughts and feedback on the program.

Initial Thoughts and Expectations

Like most HIT newbies, the first thing that Markus said when I showed him the Blood and Guts program was, “That looks easy!” That’s because, compared to most conventional workout routines, Blood and Gut workouts are very short and involve doing just 1-2 work sets per exercise. He also wondered if doing so few sets would produce any results.

The good news was that Markus had a very open mind and was prepared to put his concerns aside to give Blood and Guts an honest go. He was also excited to try a new style of training. So, we arranged to meet the following week for his first workout.

Workout 1 – Chest and Biceps: A Shock to the System

As per Dorian Yates’ instructions, every workout began with a thorough warm-up consisting of 10 minutes of easy cardio followed by a few upper-body dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises. We then did a few ramped warm-up sets of the first exercise – incline barbell bench presses.

Like most bodybuilders, Markus is used to pacing himself and leaving a few reps in the tank at the end of each set. However, with Blood and Guts, it’s “one and done,” and each set must go to failure and beyond.

Consequently, we didn’t end the set just because we reached a predetermined number of reps. Instead, we kept going until more reps were impossible. This turned out to be nine.

However, the set didn’t end there. When Markus was unable to push the bar off his chest, I helped him lift it and then he lowered slowly under his own power. This is called the forced reps method. We did three forced reps and ended the set with an isometric hold with the bar a few inches above Markus’ chest.

Related: Three Ways to Use Isometrics to Supercharge Your Workouts

We repeated this sequence of warm-up sets and single work sets for the remaining exercises, ending with dumbbell concentration curls. Despite only being in the gym for 40 minutes, Markus said, “That was a different type of hard training to what I’m used to – I’m going to be sore tomorrow!” 

Day 2 – Back: New Levels of Intensity

The Blood and Guts back workout involves several classic mass builders, including pull-ups, rows, and deadlifts. Each exercise is tiring when done in a conventional training style, but done to failure with forced reps, they’re brutal.

Dorian Yates usually did weighted pull-ups, but we stuck with the bodyweight version so Markus could clock up a decent number of reps. In the end, he managed 13 reps before failing.

Then, to go beyond failure, he climbed up using his legs for assistance and lowered himself down for a slow count of five. We did four negative-only reps, ending the set only when Markus was unable to control his descent.

We took things a little easier on bent-over rows because the unsupported position puts a lot of stress on the lower back. So, while Markus used a heavy barbell, he stopped the set when his form started to deteriorate to avoid injury. We made up for this by doing several rest/pause reps to ensure we hit his back with sufficient muscle-building intensity.

Again, Markus’ feedback was, “How can doing so few sets be so hard?” The answer is that not many lifters ever train to true failure, and going beyond failure with forced reps, rest/pause reps and negatives always comes as a big shock to the system.

Workout 3 – Shoulders and Triceps: Learning to Tough it Out

Markus was starting to dread each exercise in our Dorian Yates workout. He knew that he was going to have to push himself to the limit and beyond – no pain, no gain! But, on the plus side, it’d all be over and done in less than 40 minutes, so he just gritted his teeth and got on with it – after a bit of friendly cajoling, that is!

The Blood and Guts shoulder and triceps workout kicks off with seated dumbbell presses. As per usual, we took the set to absolute failure and finished it with 3-4 forced reps. After that, things got a little easier as we moved to various isolation exercises. We used drop sets to extend those exercises beyond failure, giving Markus a deep deltoid burn and pump.

The workout ended with three triceps exercises, which ended with forced reps and negatives to achieve maximal intensity.

Markus reported severe muscle soreness in all the body parts we’d trained so far. That soreness made today’s workout especially challenging. Needless to say, he was truly dreading tomorrow’s workout, when we’d be training legs.

Workout 4 – Legs: This is Gonna Hurt! 

Today’s workout is the shortest, but also the most demanding. After all, leg training is hard enough without pushing your muscles up to and beyond failure.

For safety, we did Smith machine squats to save Markus from being pinned under a heavy barbell. However, despite this small adjustment, this was still an incredibly intense set. We ended the exercise with a triple drop set to make sure Markus’ legs were well and truly fried. He promptly collapsed in a heap after reracking the barbell, so job done!

Hack squats, leg curls, and calf raises followed Smith machine squats, but it was clear that the squats had hit Markus hard, and he needed lots of rest between exercises to catch his breath. However, he soldiered on and finally got to the end of his week of Blood and Guts training.

Closing Thoughts and Takeaways

Dorian Yates’ Blood and Guts program is the absolute opposite of most conventional bodybuilding programs, but that’s why it works. Doing just one set per exercise forces you to train with maximal intensity, pushing your muscles harder than ever before. This creates an incredible stimulus for growth.

And, as the saying goes, “You can train hard, or you can train long, but you can’t do both.”

However, that intensity comes at a cost, and you’ll have to commit 100% to each set. There is no such thing as an easy Blood and Guts workout, and some lifters will find this all-or-nothing approach off-putting, as Markus did.

At the end of our Blood and Guts training week, Markus told me while he was glad to have followed in Dorian Yates’ footsteps, he preferred his usual volume-based workouts.

He said that taking each set was too physically painful and mentally stressful to do it week after week. Plus, there was no way he could train that hard without a coach pushing him to keep going when his mind and muscles wanted to quit.  

So, while training Blood and Guts style will save you time and could unlock new muscle growth, this approach is not for everyone. And how will you know if the Dorian Yates program will work for you? You’ll just have to try it and see! Make sure you share your experience in the comment section below.

References:

1. Krzysztofik M, Wilk M, Wojdała G, Gołaś A. Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Dec 4;16(24):4897. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16244897. PMID: 31817252; PMCID: PMC6950543.

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