Dorian Yates shocked the bodybuilding community in 1990 by coming second in the Night of Champions competition. He surpassed the expectations of many by defeating Robby Robinson and Danny Padilla. Although Yates retired from competitive bodybuilding in 1997 after winning his 6th Mr. Olympia title, he remained involved in the community.
Apart from running his gym franchise and supplement business, known as ‘The Shadow,’ Yates mentors aspiring bodybuilders to help them develop their physiques. As a part of his coaching routine, the 61-year-old shares his thoughts on the training regime with his social media family. His latest post unveils the importance of the last rep of any workout.
Dorian Yates reveals the importance of the final rep while working out
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Sharing a training video from his prime, Yates opened up about the importance of the last few repetitions. “I often say, the last few reps are the most important!” he captioned the post in which he was struggling in the final reps of his leg press workout.
“Aim to reach failure on the final set, within the 6-8 rep range,” he suggested while cautioning to maintain the form throughout the workout. According to the 6x Mr. Olympia champion, the last few reps are of utmost importance, and he called them “transcendent reps”.
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“It’s a mystical place you go to when your body is screaming, and begging for you to stop… but you keep going,” he added while describing the feeling of reaching failure in his post. However, he opined that most people do not push toward failure, or the final reps. Dorian Yates followed a High-Intensity Training method that involved heavy weights and fewer reps with periods of rest and recovery for maximum muscle growth.
The Shadow stresses the recovery phase in HIT training
Realizing that putting the body under tremendous pressure of heavy weights, Yates stressed the importance of rest or a recovery period while following a HIT routine. “I believe that it’s a good idea to cycle the intensity of your workouts,” he mentioned in one of his Instagram posts.
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He further revealed his strategy in the post and wrote, “What I personally did and what I’d recommend, is to take it ‘easy’ for a week after six weeks of brutal intense training.” According to the bodybuilding legend, muscles grow during the recovery phase, and hence he used to work out only four days a week while taking rest on the remaining days.
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Dorian Yates’ unique training technique fetched him immense glory as he is considered one of the earliest bodybuilders in the mass monster era. And he now shares his bodybuilding techniques with his online community.
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