The debate over who’s the greatest bodybuilder of all time will never have a definitive answer, but one thing is for sure: You can never go wrong suggesting it’s Dorian Yates. The six-time Mr. Olympia winner took home the top prize in the game every year from 1992 to 1997, besting elite competitors like Shawn Ray, Kevin Levrone, Lee Labrada, Nasser El Sonbaty, and a host of others.
And in the years since Yates stepped away from the stage in 1997, he’s shared his seemingly neverending knowledge about bodybuilding with anyone looking to step up their game. In addition to actively coaching athletes today, he’s also written books about his training philosophies and regularly posts tips to social media about how he built his world-class physique. If you’re looking to sit underneath Yates’ learning tree, we’ve compiled 10 of his best bodybuilding tips below.
10 of Dorian Yates’ Best Bodybuilding Tips
- Use Music for Motivation
- Prioritize Your Warm-Up Sets
- Utilize One Intense Working Set To True Failure
- Use Incremental Weight Increases
- Do Cardio on Your Off Days
- Learn How To Pull
- Incline Press for a Big Chest
- Squat With a Smith Machine
- Get Your Post-Workout Carbs
- Nap Often, Nap Hard
Use Music for Motivation
The right music can get most people up for big workouts, and Yates was no exception. But it wasn’t just any music — “The Shadow” was specific with what tunes he blasted, as they would help him through some of his toughest training sessions.
“Energetic, hardcore, aggressive music… this reflected my training style,” Yates wrote on his Instagram. “Some of my favourite artists for the gym were Nirvana (particularly ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ which I used for my entrances), Guns n Roses, Pearl Jam, and [AC/DC]. Every single leg workout began with ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’ a rather fitting song that embodied the spirit of Temple Gym and was the perfect song to literally welcome my training partners for a truly brutal leg workout!”
This advice isn’t as anecdotal as you might think. There’s research that shows people who listened to music they enjoyed while they exercised could work out for longer periods of time and could potentially even lift heavier. (1)(2)
Prioritize Your Warm-Up Sets
The right playlist obviously played a role in Yates’ mental prep, but he didn’t start his real work until his body was primed for the lifts ahead. And that all started with a proper warm-up for every single exercise he performed.
“When training with high intensity, I recommend you do one or two [warm-up] sets per exercise. These should be nothing more than just that, [warm-ups],” Yates once wrote. “The goal here is to get both the muscles and the mind-muscle connection firing up, ready for that [all-out] set.”
As you’ll see in the next tip, Yates’ style was unique, and it was key that he didn’t wear himself out with too much junk volume before his working sets. That said, he still made sure to thoroughly warm up — around one or two sets at 10 reps with moderate weight — before each exercise on the docket.
Utilize One Intense Working Set To True Failure
Yates’ training methods differed from most of the top bodybuilders in the world at the time. Whereas many champions of the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ’90s believed in the old-school approach of higher volume (like Arnold Schwarzenegger and his legendary 32-set workouts), Yates opted for the opposite approach.
[Related: Push/Pull Workouts Can Take Your Training Up a Notch]
Even though those aforementioned warm-up sets helped prepare his muscles, he only did one true working set (or two at most) with heavy weights after that until he hit failure. This plate-rattling approach borrowed elements from high-intensity training, but was known by a different nickname: “Blood and Guts.” He spoke about his philosophy in an interview with Bodybuilding.com.
“Yes, if you complete that one set to failure and push it to the absolute limit, that is going to be sufficient stimulus and intensity,” Yates said. “So doing it again is not really going to give you anything additional and might possibly be more stress for your body to recover from, so it may be harder to recover, and without recovery, you are not going to grow.”
Remember, Yates’ training style isn’t for everyone, and this tip is not applicable to the vast majority of gymgoers. Still, if you understand his training methodology and are prepared to embark upon your own Blood and Guts-style routine, this advice is crucial.
Use Incremental Weight Increases
In an Instagram post from September 2023, Yates wrote that “[one] of the biggest mistakes I often see in the gym is people trying to lift too much weight and as a result, sacrificing their form and not maximising their potential gains.”
To combat this, he wrote that he never made sudden jumps when increasing his weight on moves like the bench press. Instead, he wrote that he’d simply add 1.25-kilogram (2.7-pound) or 2.5-kilogram (5.5-pound) plates to make the lifts a little harder while ensuring his technique stayed intact.
“This way I’m still increasing the weight, but getting solid reps that are putting maximum stress on the targeted muscle,” Yates wrote. “If you keep adding an additional 1.25kg every time you increase the load, then over the course of the year that could be huge… and you’d still be keeping perfect form!”
Do Cardio on Your Off Days
Yates was one of the biggest men of his era, but elite-level bodybuilders also need superb conditioning if they want to bring home an Olympia title. To get there, Yates utilized a simple cardio routine year-round — not just during prep — to help him stay conditioned without potentially affecting his muscle gains.
In a Q&A video on his YouTube channel, he shared why he thinks cardio can be beneficial while building size as long as it’s not too time-consuming.
[Related: The Best Bodybuilding Programs for All Experience Levels]
“A small amount of cardio exercise is good for general health and is good for recovery in between sessions because you push a little blood around the system, oxygen, and getting rid of waste products,” Yates said. “So definitely [15 to 30 minutes] of cardio on your off days are a good idea when you are off from your weights.”
Learn How to Pull
Arnold Schwarzenegger was renowned for his big chest and massive arms, while Ronnie Coleman was known for his showstopping legs. For his part, Yates can lay claim to the biggest back of his era. So, it should be no surprise that he took his pulling exercises seriously.
Yates didn’t simply just grip and rip, though. He shared his philosophy for building a wide back in his old column for Muscle & Fitness, which included tips on bridging the gap between mind and body to really connect with your back muscles. Going through the motions just wasn’t an option.
“A great back is a rarity, because it’s the hardest part of the body to reach with a resistance exercise,” Yates wrote. “Simple pulling doesn’t do the job, because the force has to first pass through the arms, shoulders, and lower back.”
According to Yates, you have to concentrate on squeezing the correct back muscles on every rep to really maximize the work.
“During [chin-ups], feel the burn in your lats, rhomboid, and upper back,” he wrote. “When performing barbell rows, feel it in your lats and middle back. For deadlifts, feel it in your spinal erectors, lats, and traps. Most of all, love that feeling.”
Incline Press for a Big Chest
One of the other ways Yates bucked tradition was the fact that he rarely utilized the flat bench press to build his chest. He preferred pressing from different angles, with his favorite being an incline press to target the upper pecs. Even then, he didn’t always use free weights and instead often opted for the Smith machine with a partner pushing him.
“I did quite a lot of Incline Smith [machine presses] and felt a great connection with this exercise,” he wrote on Instagram. “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….”
[Related: 5 Bench Press Programs To Build a Bigger, Stronger Chest]
Yates also utilized the incline setup for chest flyes, writing, “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.”
Squat With a Smith Machine
His love for the Smith machine didn’t stop with the incline press — he used it for squats as well. Not only did he feel it helped him target the quadriceps better than a barbell version, but it was better suited for him following a hip injury he suffered earlier in his career.
[Related: Change Up Your Leg Day With These 10 Unique Squat Variations]
“I found that with the Smith machine, I could position my feet closer together and slightly forward to minimize any back involvement,” Yates wrote. “Over the years I worked my way up to 6 plates per side!”
In addition to its convenience, the Smith machine provides a better level of isolation work on the target muscles when compared to traditional barbells. While that may be a drawback for some, it’s an important tool for a bodybuilder.
Get Your Post-Workout Carbs
While Yates is far better known for his training knowledge than his nutrition advice, he was one of a handful of bodybuilders in his era to handle his own diet protocols during his Olympia prep. He clearly knew enough about food to earn six Sandows, and he wrote about one of his most important post-workout diet tips for Muscle & Fitness.
[Related: These 10 Bodybuilders Had the Most Impressive Olympia Debuts in History]
“Immediately after training, I slam down a simple-carb drink to raise insulin levels, force the carbs and amino acids back into the muscle, and to restore glycogen levels,” Yates wrote. “This recovery-drink supplement should be 75% simple sugars and 25% quick-to-digest proteins, an ideal post-workout carb-to-protein ratio to spur recovery.”
An hour after this post-workout shake, Yates then says he ate a proper meal of “protein (beef, chicken or fish) and carbs (potatoes or rice and a fibrous green vegetable).”
Nap Often, Nap Hard
Besides spending his nights thinking about future workouts, Yates made sleep a top priority as he realized it helped him recover from those training sessions and optimized his health. And in addition to his standard eight hours of sleep per night, he also made it a priority to nap in the middle of the day for up to two hours right after his post-workout meal.
“I wanted to do everything possible to maximise my growth & recovery and sleep was critical,” Yates explained.
There is evidence that suggests not getting enough sleep can decrease a person’s levels of testosterone, growth hormone, and protein synthesis. (3) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends adults ages 18-60 get seven or more hours of sleep per night.
“The Shadow” Speaketh
Dorian Yates remains one of the most successful and influential bodybuilders of all time. He not only ranks near the top in terms of Olympia wins, but this training style also revolutionized the sport, ushering in the era of the “Mass Monster.”
His style isn’t for everyone, especially if you don’t truly understand the methodology behind “Blood and Guts.” Still, most gymgoers can learn from his more universal tips on nutrition, sleep, and, yes, the benefits of blasting a little Guns N’ Roses.
References
- Silva NRDS, Rizardi FG, Fujita RA, Villalba MM, Gomes MM. Preferred Music Genre Benefits During Strength Tests: Increased Maximal Strength and Strength-Endurance and Reduced Perceived Exertion. Percept Mot Skills. 2021 Feb;128(1):324-337.
- Thakare, A. E., Mehrotra, R., & Singh, A. (2017). Effect of music tempo on exercise performance and heart rate among young adults. International journal of physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology, 9(2), 35–39
- Dattilo M, Antunes HK, Medeiros A, Mônico Neto M, Souza HS, Tufik S, de Mello MT. Sleep and muscle recovery: endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Med Hypotheses. 2011 Aug;77(2):220-2. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.04.017. Epub 2011 May 7. PMID: 21550729.
Featured Images: @thedorianyates on Instagram
