Dorian Yates biography, training plan, diet + interview

The six-time Mr. Olympia certainly belongs on the list of successful bodybuilders and rightly has a huge number of fans worldwide. The British bodybuilder succeeded Lee Haney and followed in his footsteps as a mass monster. Before Lee Haney, the world had never seen that kind of muscle mass. Dorian, "the Shadow" Yates took it even further. The black-and-white photos of Dorian in his socks have since become legendary.

Biography Dorian Yates

Dorian was born in the English countryside, but moved with his parents to Birmingham during his teenage years. In the big city, the teenager soon got into trouble and was sentenced to six months in juvenile detention. There he built a reputation as the strongest of all detainees. This built his self-respect and the desire never to return there, but to do something positive with his life.

In 1983 he started training. After several victories in England - the 1985 Novice Championships and the 1988 British Championships - he visited New York in 1990 for the Night of Champions and came second. The following year he won.

In 1991, Yates came second at the Olympia behind Lee Haney, who recorded his eighth Olympia victory and retired from competition. From 1992 to 1997 he won the Mr. Olympia contest every year, even after a torn biceps in 1994 and a torn biceps and triceps in 1997! It was ultimately that last injury that forced him to stop competing after 15 victories and two second places.

Yates was known for his short but extremely intense training methods. He was a supporter of HIT (High Intensity Training), a method made famous by Mike Mentzer, although he did adapt it.

The Shadow appeals to the imagination as someone who came from a difficult background and, without genetic advantages, managed to reach the top. Today he still lives in Birmingham, where he is co-owner of the supplement company Dorian Yates Ultimate Formulas.

Interview Dorian Yates

During the Bodypower Expo in Birmingham we spoke with six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. Among other things, we talked about his start and breakthrough as a bodybuilder, the battle with the legendary Lee Haney, and his supplement line.

Interview Dorian Yates

About the Bodypower Expo

Kenneth: "When you look at days like this, a busy fitness expo here in Birmingham, your hometown..."

Dorian: Yes, the people from Bodypower approached me a few years ago. It is a company that organizes expos, and they actually did not know that much about this industry yet. They hired me for three years as an adviser to help them enter this market. And to be honest, it surprised me how quickly the show became a success. I thought it would take a few years, but the first year was already a great success.

It is hard to imagine, because when I started bodybuilding in the 1980s in Birmingham... To think back then that you would have a global expo here with all the stars coming to Birmingham. That is unbelievable and shows how much the industry has grown."

Kenneth: "I heard you say in an interview that there were maybe three or four small gyms (ed. in a city of 2.6 million inhabitants)."

Dorian: "Yes, exactly. When I started, it was not the big industry it is now. It was pure bodybuilding, and now bodybuilding is only one part of it. The scene is now more focused on fitness in general. But back then there really were only a few gyms. Not having to fly to visit an expo like this is great."

About Dorian's youth and start as a bodybuilder

(I once read that Dorian started training to become more resilient during his stay in juvenile detention, so I ask him about it:)

Kenneth: "When you look back at your start as a bodybuilder, did that begin after a run-in with the law as a teenager?"

Dorian: "Yes, I was a teenager, I questioned things and I was a rebel. In that respect, nothing has changed. I am older, but I am still just as critical.

Anyway, I no longer lived at home. I was living on the street as a teenager and got into trouble once. It was not much, and I actually think it made something click so that I became serious about my training and achieving something."

Kenneth: "Did the motivation also come from the need to be more resilient during that period?"

Dorian: "No, I was already a big, strong kid. It was not for something like that. I ended up in juvenile detention because of a small incident, and there you were required to train in the gym twice a week. So I trained twice a week, but I was better than everyone there. Much faster, stronger, everything. Then I realized I had found something I was really good at, and it was something positive. The guards in the gym saw it too. One of them told me I really had to do something with it when I got out. He was not exactly thinking of Mr. Olympia. We only did powerlifting there, so he probably meant something in that direction, but I was more interested in bodybuilding. So that was a defining moment in my life."

About the first major success

Kenneth: "And then suddenly you are a pro bodybuilder at your first professional contest in New York, where you come second against all expectations..."

Dorian: "Yes, I had won the British Championships twice to qualify for the pros. The Night of Champions was my first pro show, and I think it was good for the sport. Because when I was going there, everyone told me I would not do well. 'You are from England (ed. in a sport that had always been dominated by Americans), nobody knows you, the judges do not know you. You do not get publicity in magazines and all of that works against you.' I thought: 'That may have an influence, but if you are really fucking good, they cannot hide you. They cannot pull a plastic bag over your head or something and keep you out of public view.' I just thought: 'If I am good, then I am good. Period.'

If you allow that kind of negativity, you only work against yourself."

Kenneth: "That you were fucking good was something the audience certainly made clear."

Dorian: "Yes, that was fantastic! I did have confidence in myself as a bodybuilder, but it was still my first trip to the United States, to the big New York you knew from the movies. And my first experience with the New York audience, which was known for being quite loud and not always in a positive way. Apparently my name had been whispered around during the first rounds, because at some point more and more people started shouting my name: 'Dorian! Dorian!...' That was a fantastic experience.

So I finished second that year. A year later I came first in New York and second at the Mr. Olympia, which I won the year after that. As a pro I only came second twice."

About Lee Haney

Kenneth: "What was it like to grow from an unknown guy from Birmingham into Mr. Olympia?"

Dorian: "When I started training, Lee Haney was Mr. Olympia and I was a big fan. 'Now I am competing against him on stage', that is a matter of a different mindset. At that moment I was no longer a fan. I had confidence in my own ability. I just saw a man standing opposite me with two arms and two legs who trains with weights, just like me. 'And you know, you do not train harder than I do. I know that because that is impossible.' Every time I stood opposite someone on stage, I knew I had worked harder for it, and that strengthened my self-confidence."

Kenneth: "If you do not have that mindset, you probably also cannot 'project on stage', as they call it."

Dorian Yates and Lee Haney Mr. Olympia 1991

Dorian: "Exactly. Even though Lee Haney was my idol. At that moment he was simply the man with the title I wanted, and I had come to take it from him."

Kenneth: "You saw the effect Arnold used to have on less confident challengers."

Dorian: "Yes. Arnold Schwarzenegger was of course making a film (ed. the famous documentary "Pumping Iron") intended to make bodybuilding more popular among a wider audience. So certain things were exaggerated (ed. see "The Making of Pumping Iron"). Like the intimidation. But if you are much better, nobody can deny your body. It can have a small effect though. I stayed away all year because I trained here in England, so they had not seen me for a whole year. They did not know what to expect. Most guys trained in California and saw each other regularly in the gym. They already knew from each other whether someone had made big progress or not. So there was always a lot of anticipation about what I would look like. That is why I always made sure I was the last one to take off my tracksuit top. That way I kept them waiting in suspense and anticipation instead of letting them concentrate on themselves."

Dorian therefore came second at his first Mr. Olympia, which he lost to Lee Haney, at that time the most successful bodybuilder ever with a record of eight Mr. Olympia titles (now equaled by Ronnie Coleman). Lee Haney retired from the sport afterward. During a seminar in 2012 with bodybuilding greats including Dorian and Lee, both men talked about this period. Dorian asked Lee to compete one more time, because he wanted to win the title from the current owner. Lee answered: "Leave me alone, Dorian. I am going fishing", with that characteristic, charming Haney laugh.

Kenneth: "You could say that you forced Lee to retire from the stage."

Dorian: "You could indeed say that, but put yourself in Lee's position: 'I have eight Mr. Olympia titles, a record. Here comes a young guy at his first Mr. Olympia and he almost beats me. He is young and he is getting better.' He knew someone was coming who could compete with him when it came to mass."

The famous black-and-white photos and Blood, Guts & Glory

Kenneth: "When were the famous black-and-white photos taken? I, and many others with me, first think of black-and-white photos when we hear the name Dorian Yates, one in particular, of you in your socks in an environment that looks like a basement. For one reason or another, those photos are so raw that they have become iconic."

Dorian: "You know what is so funny about those photos? They were not intended for publication in a magazine at all. I simply asked someone after training to take some photos for myself so I could see what I looked like. I never expected them to become so famous. Even here at the expo, they are the most requested photos, just as Blood, Guts and Glory is the favorite DVD."

Kenneth: "To name something else iconic!"

Dorian: "I think those DVDs are so popular because you simply see exactly how I train. No nonsense, no bullshit. Every set, every rep."

Kenneth: "Speaking of your workouts, reps and sets, you wrote them all down. All your workouts over a period of 14 years?"

Dorian: "Yes. I always knew exactly what I had done and what effect it had. Because of that I could immediately see if something was not working and throw it out of the program."

About Dorian Yates Nutrition

Kenneth: "These days you have your own supplement line, Dorian Yates Nutrition. How is it going?"

Dorian: "Good! Of course I had already worked with other labels before, but here I have full control. I am also involved in the production process, so I know exactly that the product is what I want it to be. That makes it much easier to stand fully behind your product.

That is why we also limit the line to six products we really believe in instead of offering a whole range."

Kenneth: "Funny you say that, because not long ago I wrote an article about the huge range of supplements, where you can no longer see the powder for the tubs. I tried to reduce it to a small number of supplements I recommend. If you were allowed to choose two supplements, which would they be?"

Dorian: "Number one is easy: protein. With the high need for protein, protein powder is truly a supplement in the sense that it supplements daily intake from normal food. I always warn, though, that it should not become a replacement for normal food, because then you will not get results.

The second is harder for me, but then I would probably go for a pre-workout. When I started, those did not exist. We made them ourselves with stimulants such as caffeine. A pre-workout because it enables you to train harder and give your body a greater stimulus. The note here is that this only works if you also mentally push yourself to train harder. If you just do your normal routine in terms of volume and intensity, it will have no effect.

If I may mention a third after all, it would be creatine."

As usual during an interview with a popular bodybuilder at an expo, I can see the line of fans waiting for an autograph from and a photo with Dorian. We have apparently been talking for almost fifteen minutes while I had only asked for five, taking the waiting fans into account (and Dorian had already been kind enough to speak to me straight away despite the line).

Kenneth: "I think I've kept your fans waiting long enough. Thank you very much for taking the time for the readers of FITsociety. I hope you enjoy the rest of the expo."

Dorian: "Thank you" (in Dutch)

Stats Dorian Yates

Name: Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates
Date of birth: April 19, 1962
Height: 1.78m
Competition weight: 122kg!
Off-season weight: 140kg
Residence: Birmingham, Great Britain

• Chest: 144.78 cm
• Arms: 55.88 cm
• Waist: 88.9 cm
• Legs: 73.66 cm
• Calves: 53.34 cm

Bodybuilding career Dorian Yates

Training schedule Dorian Yates

Day 1 - Shoulders, triceps and abs
Day 2 - Back
Day 3 - Rest
Day 4 - Chest, biceps and abs
Day 5 - Rest
Day 6 - Legs, hamstrings and calves
Day 7 - Rest

Biceps

Incline dumbbell curls

• 1x10 warm-up set
• 1x6-8

EZ-curl barbell curls

• 1x10 warm-up set
• 1x6-8

Nautilus curls

• 1x10 warm-up set
• 1x6-8

Triceps

Triceps pushdown

• 1x15 warm-up set
• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x8-10

Lying EZ-curl barbell extensions

• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x8-10

Back & Rear Delt

Hammer Strength pulldowns

• 1x15 warm-up set
• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x8-10

Barbell rows

• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x8-10

Hammer Strength one-arm rows

• 1x8-10

Cable rows (overhand grip)

• 1x8-10

Hammer Strength rear-delt machine

• 1x8-10

Bent-over dumbbell raises

• 1x8-10

Hyperextensions

• 1x10-12

Deadlifts

• 1x8 warm-up
• 1x8

Chest

Incline barbell press

• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x8 warm-up set
• 1x8

Hammer Strength seated bench presses

• 1x10 warm-up set
• 1x6-8

Incline dumbbell flyes

• 1x10 warm-up set
• 1x8

Cable crossovers

• 1x10-12

Shoulders

Smith machine presses

• 1x15 warm-up set
• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x8-10

Seated laterals

• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x8-10

One-arm cable laterals

• 1x20 warm-up set
• 1x8-10

Dumbbell shrugs

• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x10-12

Legs

Leg extensions

• 1x15 warm-up set
• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x10-12

Leg presses

• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x10-12

Hack squats

• 1x12 warm-up set
• 1x10-12

Lying leg curls

• 1x10-12 warm-up set
• 1x10-12

Stiff-legged deadlifts

• 1x8-10

Single-leg curls

• 1x8-10

Standing calf raises

• 1x10-12 warm-up set
• 1x10-12

Seated calf raises

• 1x8-10