Dorian Yates is an icon in the bodybuilding world for the high-intensity workout he advocates. The six-time Mr. Olympia winner never compromised on his training and always embraced the personalized trial-and-error method to understand what the best form of training was for him. Finding his passion for bodybuilding in a surprising place like the jail, the bodybuilder has always been very disciplined in his routines no matter how painful it is.

However, recently Dorian Yates decided to break the stereotype about high-intensity training and make people understand that it’s not all “blood and guts.”

Dorian Yates emphasizes on form during HIT  

Taking to Instagram, Yates uploaded a video of high-intensity and heavy-duty training which most people think is only about lifting heavy weights and going on until failure, even if it pains physically and mentally. However, the champion bodybuilder revealed that one could not compromise with their form while engaging in this technique.

He revealed that HIT is “About putting maximum stress on the working muscle safely, so you need to lift the weights with the correct form. With control, controlling the negative, no momentum, no bringing in outside forces swinging the weight. So always very controlled but to failure in a controlled and safe manner.”

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So ultimately, The Shadow described high-intensity training as a very controlled and safe exercise. As they say, one must not judge a book by its cover, it is clear that this intense training method is not what it looks like. As one goes about engaging in HIT, it is interesting to not that it was Mike Mentzer who helped Yates understand the volume of the training.

Mike Mentzer’s advice to Yates

Mentzer had once happened to observe Yates perform two sets till failure and advised him to reduce the set to one. The warmup started with a Nautilus bicep machine failure between 6-8 reps, tension, and time. “A 3-second positive, followed by 2 seconds in the static hold and finally, a 4-second negative,” Yates said.

Then, Mentzer had him perform two extra reps till failure on the negative phase with an added 25 lbs. Mentzer taught him the controlled and safe way of HIT. So, according to Yates, it is not just mindless lifting of 1500 LBS weight during an express or 160 lbs of dumbbells for shoulder press. Meticulous attention to detail and controlled motion throughout each set to have the maximum stress on the target muscle is what should be followed while engaging in the technique.

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The technique might have been brutal, but ensuring that it was done in a controlled and safe manner was what made both these bodybuilders win prestigious titles.