Dorian Yates made history when he became one of the few non-Americans to win the Mr. Olympia title. However, the Englishman didn’t just win the contest but began an era of dominance and laid the foundation of modern Men’s Open bodybuilding. Unlike other competitors, Yates followed a unique training method, pioneered by bodybuilding legend Mike Mentzer. Decades after retiring, Yates’s high-intensity approach to fitness has garnered incredible results.
Recently the retired bodybuilder took an extensive health and fitness test. Despite being 60, the former Mr. Olympia performed beyond expectations and got stellar results. The retired bodybuilder posted about it on Instagram.
The bodybuilding legend performs like someone half his age
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Earlier, the 60-year-old bodybuilding legend posted a picture on Instagram. In the image, Yates is sitting on an exercise bike. However, a lot of medical equipment is hooked up to his body. Yates is wearing at least three medical devices while he looks at a monitor in front of him. “Going all out on an extensive health check and V02 max test in Brasil,” Yates revealed in the caption.
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“Looks like my HIIT 8-minute 2 x weekly cardio sessions paid off,” added the former bodybuilding champion. He then revealed the results of the fitness test. “Comparison of the maximum VO2 achieved with the values of the American population places the patient between the 90-100 percentiles (excellent aerobic capacity),” the former Mr. Olympia wrote.
View this post on Instagram
The results indicate that his fitness levels are equivalent to someone almost half his age. “The VO2 max analysis is one of the indicators of biological age. Your chronological age is 60 years old, but your biological age is 30-39 years old,” wrote the six-time Mr. Olympia. While Yates stopped training like a bodybuilder, he continued his quest for fitness.
A lifelong follower of the high-intensity training philosophy
When Dorian Yates competed in bodybuilding, he followed the High-Intensity Training (HIT) philosophy. He also trained under Mentzer. During training sessions, Yates would do short but intense sets with heavy weights. While it reduced overall exercise time, it didn’t sacrifice muscle gain. Decades later, the former champion is following the same approach.
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HIT MEN: The Story of High-Intensity Training
Visionaries, zealots, sages, and cranks: From Arthur Jones to Mike Mentzer to Dorian Yates to the neo-HIT systems of recent years, we track the amazing evolution of high-intensity.https://t.co/5souuepMMO pic.twitter.com/ynoJpchrux
— THE BARBELL (@TheBarbell) September 7, 2021
In his Instagram post, the former Mr. Olympia talked about performing Hing-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) twice a week. HIIT is a style of cardio involving short bursts of intense exercise that burns fat and pumps up the heart rate. According to Yates, it helped him get incredible results.
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What do you think about Yates’s results? Are you also a fan of HIIT? Let us know in the comments.