Dorian Yates had shone brightly in the bodybuilding field for being one of the torchbearers of a new era and physique. Until then, he tried finding his niche and a workout routine that suited him until he met Mentzer, and the dream team went on to win six Mr. Olympia titles. Sports physiology professor Dr. Mike Israetel recently took a step back in time to explore the intense workout and routine of the icon.
Calling Yates one of the game changers of his time, Dr. Israetel immediately put the facts on the table. An icon for a reason, the British bodybuilder had skin so grainy that it looked like sandpaper on his body. The level of conditioning he brought on stage in the 90s was unmatched.
While Dr. Israetel admitted that he felt Yates’ proportions compared to the IFBB elites like Flex Wheeler, Kevin Levrone, Phil Heath, et cetera, were off, it was still a sight to see. Nevertheless, his asynchronous training split, which didn’t line up with the week, piqued his interest.
Yates’ workout in the video Dr. Israetel picked, focused on his chest and included workouts like incline bench press, flat bench press, and decline flys. He pushed beyond failure in all of these which in itself was impressive, but what caught the exercise scientist’s eye was his impeccable form till the final rep.
“He’s using a really big full range of motion, big stretch at the top which is really awesome.”
He also observed how Yates performed sets beyond failure with some assistance and urged fans to try and inculcate going to super failure if gains were a concern. Other than that, Dr. Israetel had some takeaways from the ‘Blood and Guts’ workout, which included following the bodybuilding icon’s technique.
“You might need more sets to failure or close than Dorian did, because once he got really really big and strong, each set was so stimulative, he didn’t need that many of them, nor could he recover from that.”
But in the end, the sports scientist was stunned by Yates’ power and strength at the time of training. The icon had gone through arduous training sessions by himself and with Mentzer, which gave him the edge over other bodybuilders of his generation.
Dorian Yates’ ‘Blood and Guts’ technique that impressed Dr. Mike Israetel
Training with Mentzer at the Temple Gym has been one of the most memorable experiences for Yates, who always looked back at his training days with nostalgia. In an old interview, he recalled how an average day at the gym started with some warm-up followed by the intended exercises on the same machine.
Performing a set of the same exercises as a warm-up would open up the target muscles, paving the path for an optimal workout. The final set would always be extremely intense, heavy-duty, and ferocious. Each rep would exude beastly strength that eventually triggered Yates’ physique growth. That, combined with his full range of motion executed in each rep, gave him all the benefits of the exercise.
