Dorian Yates had won his first-ever Mr. Olympia title in 1992. He set the blueprint for a new kind of physique in the world of bodybuilding. The preferences for the ideal physique shifted from symmetric and defined to more beast-like – big and defined. However, Yates’ true transformation came courtesy of his mentor, Mike Mentzer.
After his first title, the bodybuilding champion approached Menzter for guidance. Having always resorted to volume training, Yates didn’t believe that any other training route could work for him. But the late legend proved him wrong with his signature workout technique: Heavy-duty training.
Inspired by Arthur Jones’ high-intensity training, Mentzer’s heavy-duty routine involved one set per exercise pushed beyond failure and a longer recovery period. Yates was initially skeptical of this. However, since he looked up to Mentzer, he gave it a go anyway. What followed was the beginning of a life-long friendship and partnership between the two bodybuilding icons.
In a resurfaced interview, the late legend once revealed how he met Yates for the first time at Gold’s Gym. At that time, he didn’t think the Mr. Olympia champion would visit again. Yet, he supervised his bicep training and introduced some twists to his routine.
“The bicep workout consisted of one set of Nautilus curls carried to a point of momentary muscular failure, whereupon I helped him in at a contracted position, and had him hold it there statically for roughly 15 seconds before lowering under strict control.”
This workout instantly seemed to change Yates’ views on Mentzer’s ways of training. Although he only performed one set, by the time he finished training, his arms felt the intense pump. The next day proved to be a surprise for both him and the late veteran when he returned to the gym.
“I was surprised to see Dorian the next morning at Gold, eagerly seeking me out. ‘Mike!’ he said, ‘I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now but I swear, I woke up this morning and my biceps were bigger from that one set yesterday’.”
What began as an experiment soon turned into a legacy. Mentzer took Yates under his wing, and the latter acquired Temple Gym specifically for his training. With the one set to failure and beyond method, he won six Mr. Olympia titles in total before finally hanging up his posing trunks for good.
For Dorian Yates and Mike Mentzer, the secret lay in the technique
Recalling his training days at the Temple Gym, Yates once revealed how the dedicated space helped his mental space during training. At that time, both Mentzer and he would follow Arthur Jones’ principles and focus on forming mind-muscle coordination.
After performing a few reps on the same machine for warm-up, Yates’ one set to failure would channel all the intensity and might he could muster up. He described it as “blood & guts, balls to the wall ferocious intensity”. Performing every rep with a full range of motion, the secret to Yates’ strength lay in Mentzer’s ideologies and innovation.
