6 time Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates shares advice on training. Yates espoused a style of training known as HIT "High Intensity Training," which states that maximum muscle stimulation can be reached through short, high-intensity workout sessions rather than long duration workouts. The training style was originally popularized by Mike Mentzer. He won the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997 and holds the fourth-highest number of Mr. Olympia awards of all time, ranking behind Ronnie Coleman (8), Lee Haney (8) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (7). He is widely considered one of the top athletes in modern bodybuilding history.
T-Bar Rows
I know you were big on barbell rows but I have never seen you train or heard you talk about T-bar rows. Do you think the T-bar row is an important back exercise?
I never liked T-bar rows, as the plates hitting your chest cuts down on the range of motion compared to a barbell row. Some have suggested using smaller plates, 25s instead of 45s, to increase the range of motion. The problem you will run into there if you have decent pulling strength is that you will run out of room on the end of the bar before you have enough resistance to truly challenge yourself! The T-bar also tends to put more strain on the lower back. So I would stick with barbell rows, a good machine row like Hammer Strength or cable rows.
Proportions
Did you ever have any proportion issues with a body parts? I’m sure everyone has them. Over the past year, my back was experiencing great amounts of growth but it wasn’t very evenly spread. My left lat has gained a lot of thickness where if I were to do a front relaxed pose, it pushes my left arm very noticeably farther apart than my right arm. So when I’m posed, it seems as if my body was tipped over to one side, throwing my balance off. It would be great if you could offer some advice. I believe it has to do with one-arm rows and lack of careful form.
It’s probably unrelated to the exercises you do. The issue could be structural. If a nerve is impinged, it affects nerve flow/signals. One lat could be getting much more stimulation than the other. Ronnie Coleman has been dealing with this for a few years now. If a nerve is blocked, doing more sets for the weaker side is futile and wasted effort. You would need to get to the root of the problem. See a chiropractor, for starters. All bodybuilders should once a month, anyway. Also look into deep-tissue massage to break up scar tissue. As for asymmetry, Arnold had two differently shaped biceps. Most bodybuilders are asymmetrical to one degree or another, but few will ever notice unless the difference is significant— or you point it out to them!
Chest & Back Work
What types of movements would you recommend for training my shoulders and chest? Here is my problem: I am 44 years old and have recently been to an orthopedic surgeon for extreme shoulder pain. After testing, he said I have no cartilage left in my left shoulder and I need to have total joint replacement. I do not want to have the replacement surgery, so what types of movements will still allow me to hit my chest and shoulders in place of pressing movements?
I have had shoulder problems and surgery as well, although my problem was different (torn supraspinatus, AC joint repair). I would recommend taking a joint complex containing glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM to help with repair and inflammation. I am not recommending staying on any pharmaceutical product too long, or else you risk side effects. Work on range of motion stretches, light rotator cuff movements and possibly cable flyes if they are pain free. I haven’t done pressing movements for a few years now myself, but I have been able to maintain a good amount of shoulder and chest mass strictly with isolation movements like lateral raises and flyes.
Rock Hard
I am a big fan of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Being that they are all from Birmingham, I am curious if you have ever met any or all of them?
Never met them, mate— they were a bit before my time. I was into punk and reggae. I think the drummer was at Temple training a few times, but I wouldn’t know what he looked like.
Close-Grip Bench Presses
Dorian, I’m 16 years old and I’ve been training and dieting for one year. So far I’ve gained 21 kilograms [46 pounds], not all muscle. I’m slightly taller and gained a little fat as well. It’s all mainly gone to my chest, back, shoulders and legs. My arms, mostly my triceps, haven’t gained very much size and are lagging a bit. Everyone says I should do close-grip bench presses and dips. I was wondering if you had some different insight. Thanks and by the way, you’re my favorite Mr. O ever. Awesome job!
Twenty kilos is a massive gain in one year, so I would expect some of that to be fat. You shouldn’t be fanatical about eating clean at your age, but I am guessing you’re eating more than your body requires. At the same time, I don’t want you going off and starving yourself either. Unfortunately, people often go to one extreme or the other instead of making gradual changes. If you keep a food log for a couple of months, you should be able to find a good caloric amount that allows you to keep making gains whilst leaning out a bit as well. The first thing you should do is take out 500 calories from carbohydrates and give that about four weeks to see how it works. If you get leaner and are still making progress, stay with that. Otherwise you may need to take it down some more.
As far as triceps, I’ve never been a big fan of the close-grip press, or even dips for that matter. They come too close to duplicating standard types of presses for the chest. You’re better off with more isolated movements like the French press (lying barbell extensions) and cable pushdowns. But don’t worry about things lagging when you’ve only just started out as you have. If you work hard on the compound movements and throw in a couple of isolation exercises here and there on top, you should develop pretty evenly.
T-Bar Rows
I know you were big on barbell rows but I have never seen you train or heard you talk about T-bar rows. Do you think the T-bar row is an important back exercise?
I never liked T-bar rows, as the plates hitting your chest cuts down on the range of motion compared to a barbell row. Some have suggested using smaller plates, 25s instead of 45s, to increase the range of motion. The problem you will run into there if you have decent pulling strength is that you will run out of room on the end of the bar before you have enough resistance to truly challenge yourself! The T-bar also tends to put more strain on the lower back. So I would stick with barbell rows, a good machine row like Hammer Strength or cable rows.
Proportions
Did you ever have any proportion issues with a body parts? I’m sure everyone has them. Over the past year, my back was experiencing great amounts of growth but it wasn’t very evenly spread. My left lat has gained a lot of thickness where if I were to do a front relaxed pose, it pushes my left arm very noticeably farther apart than my right arm. So when I’m posed, it seems as if my body was tipped over to one side, throwing my balance off. It would be great if you could offer some advice. I believe it has to do with one-arm rows and lack of careful form.
It’s probably unrelated to the exercises you do. The issue could be structural. If a nerve is impinged, it affects nerve flow/signals. One lat could be getting much more stimulation than the other. Ronnie Coleman has been dealing with this for a few years now. If a nerve is blocked, doing more sets for the weaker side is futile and wasted effort. You would need to get to the root of the problem. See a chiropractor, for starters. All bodybuilders should once a month, anyway. Also look into deep-tissue massage to break up scar tissue. As for asymmetry, Arnold had two differently shaped biceps. Most bodybuilders are asymmetrical to one degree or another, but few will ever notice unless the difference is significant— or you point it out to them!
Chest & Back Work
What types of movements would you recommend for training my shoulders and chest? Here is my problem: I am 44 years old and have recently been to an orthopedic surgeon for extreme shoulder pain. After testing, he said I have no cartilage left in my left shoulder and I need to have total joint replacement. I do not want to have the replacement surgery, so what types of movements will still allow me to hit my chest and shoulders in place of pressing movements?
I have had shoulder problems and surgery as well, although my problem was different (torn supraspinatus, AC joint repair). I would recommend taking a joint complex containing glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM to help with repair and inflammation. I am not recommending staying on any pharmaceutical product too long, or else you risk side effects. Work on range of motion stretches, light rotator cuff movements and possibly cable flyes if they are pain free. I haven’t done pressing movements for a few years now myself, but I have been able to maintain a good amount of shoulder and chest mass strictly with isolation movements like lateral raises and flyes.
Rock Hard
I am a big fan of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Being that they are all from Birmingham, I am curious if you have ever met any or all of them?
Never met them, mate— they were a bit before my time. I was into punk and reggae. I think the drummer was at Temple training a few times, but I wouldn’t know what he looked like.
Close-Grip Bench Presses
Dorian, I’m 16 years old and I’ve been training and dieting for one year. So far I’ve gained 21 kilograms [46 pounds], not all muscle. I’m slightly taller and gained a little fat as well. It’s all mainly gone to my chest, back, shoulders and legs. My arms, mostly my triceps, haven’t gained very much size and are lagging a bit. Everyone says I should do close-grip bench presses and dips. I was wondering if you had some different insight. Thanks and by the way, you’re my favorite Mr. O ever. Awesome job!
Twenty kilos is a massive gain in one year, so I would expect some of that to be fat. You shouldn’t be fanatical about eating clean at your age, but I am guessing you’re eating more than your body requires. At the same time, I don’t want you going off and starving yourself either. Unfortunately, people often go to one extreme or the other instead of making gradual changes. If you keep a food log for a couple of months, you should be able to find a good caloric amount that allows you to keep making gains whilst leaning out a bit as well. The first thing you should do is take out 500 calories from carbohydrates and give that about four weeks to see how it works. If you get leaner and are still making progress, stay with that. Otherwise you may need to take it down some more.
As far as triceps, I’ve never been a big fan of the close-grip press, or even dips for that matter. They come too close to duplicating standard types of presses for the chest. You’re better off with more isolated movements like the French press (lying barbell extensions) and cable pushdowns. But don’t worry about things lagging when you’ve only just started out as you have. If you work hard on the compound movements and throw in a couple of isolation exercises here and there on top, you should develop pretty evenly.
