When Dorian Yates peaked during his back-to-back Mr. Olympia wins, he had his genetics and Mike Mentzer to thank for his accolades. The English bodybuilder ended up birthing a whole new era of mass monsters and huge physiques because of the package he brought to the international stage.
Now, years after retirement and shifting his approach towards his physique, Yates still echoes what he learned from his mentor. From tips revolving around high-intensity training to how one set to failure is beneficial, he coaches his proteges in the same fashion.
Recently, in a short video compilation, Yates talked about how maintaining a single set and pushing that to failure worked way more effectively compared to other traditional techniques. He further explained that this technique uses our subconscious mind to increase its efficiency.
While doing a set of a certain exercise, Yates explained that the natural instinct would be to hold back from going all out. This was because individuals would want to reserve their energy for future sets.
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“The subconscious is in control…saying ‘f**k that, I got four sets to do. I’m going to hold a little in reserve for this set’ because I know I got more to do.”
However, if one goes to failure right away, there’s no reason for the coach or the individual to push any further. A single set, apart from the warm-up, would be sufficient to serve the purpose of triggering the growth mechanism.
“There is no point in doing anything more. All we’re gonna do is, then, basically shooting a dead horse. We’re gonna put more stress on top of your body, which it doesn’t require.”
Yates’ philosophies came from Mentzer’s teachings since the latter also went through the same training structure. Both the mentor and protege believed the workouts needed to be short and extremely intense in order to stimulate the champion mindset and get a good chance at muscle growth.
Dorian Yates once shared Mike Mentzer’s secret to succeeding in bodybuilding
Over the decades, Yates has achieved a lot of success in his chosen sport despite some hiccups in his earlier life. After an injury prevented him from competing any further, he didn’t seem to complain about leaving the profession at least partially.
However, he had asked his mentor, Mentzer, once about the real trick to finding success in the sport. Instead of recommending a particular group of exercises or diet, Mentzer sheepishly admitted that all one had to do was to have good genetics from their parents or elders. That always gave good bodybuilders an edge over the others despite the prevalence of various PEDs and supplements.
