The Hardcore Dorian Yates Diet and Workout Routine

Dorian Yates is misunderstood as only ever doing one set per exercise. This could not be further from the truth. Dorian did many sets but! here is what sets him apart…

Dorian Yates only did one WORKING set to failure.

Dorian Yates would often do THREE or FOUR sets per exercise. The first 3 sets were warmup sets.

What’s the difference between a warmup set and a working set? INTENTION AND INTENSITY.

The intention of the warmup set was to prepare him for his one working set. The intention of his working set was to go past the point of failure and beyond.

It was Dorian’s one working set that blew up and grew his muscles. His warmup sets prepared his mind and body to get there.

With his one working set, Dorian went to absolute failure and then continued past failure using negative reps and forced reps (with the help of his crazy training partner).

After his one working set, Dorian was completely spent and any additional set after this one all-out set would be pointless.

In his one working set, Dorian Yates gave everything he had to give. Here’s how you can do the same thing…

DORIAN YATES WORKOUT ROUTINE

Dorian’s warmup sets would pyramid up in weight and down in reps until he got to his 3rd or 4th set which was his one and only working set.

2-3 warmup sets per exercise
1 minute rest between warmup sets
1 working set to failure per exercise
3-4 exercises per muscle group
Rep schemes vary between 6-12
30-45 minutes in length
Weight training 4x per week
Cardio 2-3x per week

Dorian Yates’ workout routine is often routine to as HIT. High Intensity Training. There is one thing that is absolutely required to work-out like Dorian and that one thing is INTENSITY.

You must be prepared to give all that you have to give during the one working set. If you aren’t prepared to give all you have to give, don’t try this routine.

To do the Dorian Yates HIT routine you need a training partner who is as crazy as you are because you have to go way beyond failure, way beyond pain, and way beyond comfortable.

“If you’re comfortable, you’re not gonna put yourself through that extreme pressure and pain required to change your life.” -Dorian Yates

REP SCHEMES – Dorian’s warmup sets would typically be between 8-15 reps. His one working set would typically be between 6-8 reps with another 2-4 forced reps concentrating on the negative portion of the movement.

The amount of warmup sets you need depend on how strong you are per exercise. The stronger you are, the more warmup sets you will need. The weaker you are, the less warmup sets you need.

Here is a typical weekly Dorian Yates Training Split:

Monday – Chest and Biceps
Tuesday – Cardio, Abs
Wednesday – Legs
Thursday – Cardio
Friday – Back and Rear Delts
Saturday – Shoulders and Triceps
Sunday – Off

MACHINES VS FREE WEIGHTS – It doesn’t matter which you use, it only matters that it works for you. Dorian Yates uses the same basic bodybuilding exercises that everybody else uses. Like Dorian once said, “Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman- we all use the same fuckin’ exercises all the time.”

Pay attention to the negatives! Positive strength gives out before negative strength does. You want to exhaust the muscle completely and that means exhausting the positive (up) and negative (down) portions of the movement.

CARDIO – You need a decent amount of cardio to recover in-between sets. 25-30 minutes of moderate cardio, 2-3 times per week is good. Do your cardio on days you are not weight training, don’t do weight training and cardio at the same time (unless it is a simple cardio warmup to get your blood pumping).

If you do a cardio workout right after a weight training workout it interferes with your muscle recovery. Recovery is the name of the game, you don’t get big from lifting weights only, you get big from allowing the muscles to recover from your workouts.

ABS – Dorian did a small amount of ab work, using body-weight exercises only, but he did not use additional weight. Dorian did this to not thicken the waist. When you work abs, always use very controlled, short movements – sit-ups, crunches and reverse crunches will do. Once per week is all that is needed.

6 WEEKS HARD TRAINING / 2 WEEKS RECOVERY TRAINING –After 6 weeks of hard training you’re going to hit a wall. After 5 or 6 weeks you do down in intensity. Shift from a growth phase to a maintenance and recovery phase.

That’s 6 weeks of hard training, 2-3 weeks of easier training with an occasional week off with no weight training at, this is to let your nervous system recover – so you can come back refreshed.

OVERTRAINING – In order to give your body results, you go to the gym and give it stress that it is not used to. It reacts to stress by building bigger and stronger muscles. Bodybuilding is not an endurance sport, it’s about training hard, heavy, and intense enough to stimulate muscle growth.

You don’t need to be in the gym a long time! And if you do too much training your progress will eventually come to a halt. It isn’t possible to train too hard but it is possible to train too often and too long. You have to train for brief periods of time. 45 minutes per session is enough. Remember, very INTENSE, very concentrated training!

“All your focus, all your soul goes into that one point.” -Dorian Yates

DORIAN YATES DIET AND NUTRITION

1.5 grams of protein per lb of body-weight
3.3 grams of protein per kg of body-weight
1.5-2 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body-weight
3.3-4.4 grams of carbohydrates per kg of body-weight
Moderate fats

PROTEIN – A high protein diet is ESSENTIAL for gaining muscle! Dorian recommends 1.5 grams of protein per lb of body weight. Example: If you weight 200 lbs, you need 350 grams of protein per day.

Broken down into 5-6 small meals per day, that’s where protein supplements become very important. To get 300-400 grams per protein per day from food is difficult and unpleasant, Dorian recommends protein supplements to help you achieve your protein requirements.

CARBS – Dorian recommends 1.5-2 grams of carbohydrates per lb of body weight. Example: If you weight 200 lbs, you need 350-400 grams of carbohydrates per day.

Use carbohydrates that are broken down slowly and released slowly into your system so you don’t get spikes and drops of blood sugar. Oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potato, vegetables etc.

Here’s the rules for carbs: You should be losing fat and gaining muscle. If you’re gaining body fat you have to cut the carbs down, if you’re not gaining weight you have to up the carbs.

FATS – You need a moderate amount of fats in your bodybuilding diet. Eggs are a great source of fat for bodybuilders, always be sure to throw in a few egg yellows with your egg whites. Example: 10 egg whites and 3 yolks.

Chicken breast, turkey breast, lean beef, fish and protein supplements all contain moderate amounts of good fats. You can use 2 tablespoons per day of omega fats per day (fish oil, coconut oil etc).

Dorian would usually train after eating two meals. Breakfast would be oatmeal and eggs. A couple hours later he’d have his pre-workout meal: a protein shake and a banana (an hour and a half before he trained). After training he’d take a whey protein shake and some simple sugars to get a quick insulin reaction.

DORIAN YATES STEROIDS – Dorian spent 12 years cycling steroids, from 1985-1997 when he retired due to injury. He said he liked testosterone, deca, dianabol, and HGH. A typical bulking cycle would be 1,000mg testosterone weekly, 600mg deca weekly, 20mg dianabol daily, and a little HGH.

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS – Always track your progress and take weekly pictures when you are dieting. One easy way to tell if you are making progress is this… If you’re getting stronger, you’re getting bigger.

Something that really helped to keep me motivated over the years was keeping a journal, with nutrition and training. What I used to do is every month, write down where I’m at presently. ‘This is my body-weight, this is my nutrition, these are my max weights for 8 reps on 10 key exercises’. And then I always set myself a short-term goal which is like, ‘in one months time I wanna do this.’ And it’s gotta be an achievable goal, for instance if you could just add 5 lbs to your bench press in a month, if you could do that every month then that’s 60 lbs at the end of the year, that’s a huge gain. So it’s important to have goals, short term monthly goals and maybe a long term goal at the end of the year, and break it down into little steps … and writing them down makes them much more powerful … If you’ve got no clear goal, you’re very unlikely to get anywhere.” -Dorian Yates

Today, you should keep track of your progress in a blog (you may eventually be able to turn it into a business in which you make money from your bodybuilding).

DORIAN YATES TRAINING ROUTINE

To fully understand Dorian’s training style, it is important to watch all of the videos below. In these video’s, Dorian Yates explain his training style and philosophy. The best thing to do is watch one section per day, right before you go to the gym.

For example: If it’s back day, watch Dorian’s back training videos below right before you go to the gym. You do this so his philosophy and training methods are fresh in your mind.

When starting out, do his routine exactly as described. As you progress in your bodybuilding, you can start to change and substitute exercises and rep-schemes to suit your body.

DORIAN YATES SHOULDERS AND TRICEPS ROUTINE

DELTS

Dumbbell shoulder press
2 warmup sets – 12 reps 1st set, 8-10 reps 2nd set
1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure
Notes: Don’t lock out the elbows at the top of the movement
Dumbbell lateral raises
1 warmup set – 12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure
Low pulley delt raise
No warmup, 1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure
Bent over reverse dumbbell flyes
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps,
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure

Rest for five minutes before you start training your triceps.

TRICEPS

Triceps pushdowns
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 10-12 reps to failure
Training notes: Keep your elbows by your side
Stand with one leg forward, one leg back (this is to help your balance)
Lying barbell triceps extensions
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure
Dumbbell seated triceps press
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure

Dorian tip: Don’t worry about the burn, take a Jane Fonda class if you want to feel the burn. As long as your muscle is going to failure it doesn’t matter how much weight is on the bar.

DORIAN YATES CHEST AND BICEPS ROUTINE

Start with a 10-minute cardio warmup.

CHEST

Rotator cuff warmup
2 sets, 12 reps
Note: If you’re struggling too much, the weight is too heavy. This is a warmup exercise only, not a hard working set!
Decline bench press
2 warmup sets – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure
Note: Dorian believes the decline bench press is the most effective chest exercise you can do.
Incline dumbbell press
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure
Flat bench dumbbell flye
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure

Rest for 5 minutes before training your biceps.

BICEPS

Dumbbell concentration curl
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure
Straight bar curls
No warmup
1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure
Note: It isn’t terribly important to do warmup sets for the biceps because at this point in your training, they should already be warm.

DORIAN YATES BACK AND REAR DELTS ROUTINE

Machine pullovers (do dumbbell pullovers if you don’t have a pullover machine)
2 warmup sets – 10-12 reps each
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure
Close grip cable pulldowns
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure
Barbell rows (or dumbbell rows)
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure
or Dumbbell rows (or barbell rows)
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure
Wide grip cable rows
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure
Barbell deadlift
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 8-10 reps to failure

BACK TRAINING NOTES – Any lat exercise you do, your spine has to be arched for your lats to contract.

DORIAN YATES LEGS ROUTINE

Start with a 10-minute cardio warmup, followed by active stretching (explained in video).

QUADS

Leg extensions
2 warmup sets – 15 reps 1st set, 10-12 reps 2nd set
1 working set – 10-12 reps to failure
Leg press
2 warmup sets – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 10-12 reps to failure
Hack squat
2 warmup sets – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 10-12 reps to failure

Rest for 5 minutes before starting your hamstrings/calves routine.

HAMSTRINGS/CALVES

Seated hamstring curl
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 10-12 reps to failure
Stiff-legged barbell deadlift
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 10-12 reps to failure
Calf press
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 10-12 reps to failure, rest for 15 seconds and do reps to failure, rest for another 15 seconds and do 1 last set of reps to absolute failure
Seated calf raise
1 warmup set – 10-12 reps
1 working set – 6-8 reps to failure

This is the full Dorian Yates training and diet routine. Dorian’s routine is built around simplicity, intensity and focused concentration.

If you forget everything about the routine, just remember this: use the basic exercises, do 2-3 warmup sets, do one all-out set in which you give everything you ever had to give and leave it all in the gym. Then allow your body the time it needs to recover.

The Dorian Yates routine is not a routine for the every-day man, it is a routine for the intense man. Be prepared to go all the way.

TRUE FAILURE MEANS MENTAL FAILURE!

You can push your body long after it wants give up…

But only if you are mentally tough enough.

Are you?

Until next time.

Your man,

-Victor Pride