Dorian Yates Explains What the “Final, All-Out Working Set” of Any Exercise Should Feel Like

The final set of any exercise plays an important role in your workout because it is an indicator of the quality of your workout. If you also struggle to nail the last set of your workout. Then who else is better than the six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates to take advice from? The Shadow recently posted a short video on his Instagram addressing this issue.

The Shadow captioned the video, “That final, all-out working set.” In the video, Yates did quite a few reps of a heavy leg press. Yates is frequently questioned about how to nail the final set. The six-time Mr. Olympia highlighted that “I’ve often heard over the years that it’s not possible to produce maximum results from just one set and that you need to do more volume.”

He then asked his audience, if volume is the key factor, then what is the right number of sets? The Shadow answered the question and said, “In my opinion, just one all-out set to and often beyond failure is what’s needed.” Continuing further, the bodybuilder touched upon the mind-muscle connection.

The “main point is, what does your working set actually look like?” According to Yates, if your reps are too light and you’re rushing through them, then you’re not applying a mind-muscle connection and not pushing till failure. “That’s probably not gonna produce results,” he explained.

Yates advised keeping your working set as simple as possible and recommended using weights that help you reach failure after “6-8 reps for upper and 10-12 for lower body.” “I usually use a 2 count for the positive, a brief hold at the static and a 3-4 count for the negative,” he said, revealing the method he usually follows. The six-time Mr. Olympia’s advice didn’t just end there. He further explained a short workout that he recommended.

The reason behind the Shadow’s 45-minute workout of the Shadow

Yates emphasized controlling the weight with a strict hand and a full range of motion. Taking an example of the shoulder press, the Shadow said, “If you get more than 8 reps for example on shoulder press, let’s say you got 10 reps for failure, then next time increase the weight.”

The six-time Mr. Olympia shared that the right time to give your 100% is when you’re approaching your failure reps. He added, “You can’t give true 100% effort for very long.” That is the reason the Shadow’s workout lasted for 45 minutes to an hour. This is the approach that he followed to train like a menace and nail his last sets.

In the end, the six-time Mr. Olympia concluded and said, “The set you’re not battered, that’s not true high-intensity effort.” The main goal is to follow a good range of motion with high-intensity reps to nail the final set of your workout. What do you think of this approach? Let us know in the comments.