Can you ever imagine Dorian Yates having a bad day at the gym? You can't, because it never happened.

Dorian Yates is one of the most celebrated bodybuilders of all time. The guy literally pioneered an entire era by introducing the mass monster phase in bodybuilding during the 90s. So, is it possible for someone who started an entire movement in bodybuilding to have a bad day while training? Dorian Yates answers.

In a recent Instagram post, the six-time Mr. Olympia shared old footage from his prime, where he was seen flaunting his signature monstrous size with extremely lean conditioning. He was performing the barbell deadlift, but more than the clip itself, it was the caption that got everyone's attention.

It began with, "People have asked me whether I ever had a bad or unproductive workout, and I’ve told everyone the same: it just didn’t happen, I wouldn’t allow it to."

He went on to explain that the reason for that was that he never lost his motivation to train. He was so focused that his entire day would revolve around that one hour that he would spend in the gym. He would make sure that the workout aligned with his plans to achieve peak conditioning, and once it was over, he would jump into the best form of recovery.

Dorian Yates' training philosophy and approach to fitness have been widely recognized by the bodybuilding community. His idea has been simple: train less but train hard. Although his beast-like physique could easily give the impression that the man eats, drinks, and sleeps in the gym, in reality, he has a very balanced approach.

And during his appearance on Andrew Huberman's podcast, he finally spilled his secrets. “I tell people to train really hard for like five or six weeks and then come down for two weeks, maybe sub-maximal. So you’ll sort of sawtooth it like that, hard for five, six weeks, then back off.”

According to the Shadow, this method is called the “sawtooth” approach, where a person pushes hard on training sessions for a certain period of time and then relaxes for two weeks. And by relaxing, he means working out with lighter, submaximal sessions.

Instead of quitting the gym entirely, the goal is to continue training with lighter sessions to maintain blood flow through movement, but making sure not to reach muscular failure. And it is because of this approach and a solid training routine that he was able to clinch six Olympia titles.

Dorian Yates’ Blood and Guts Routine

According to Fitness Volt, Yates trained four times a week and followed the Blood and Guts routine. It was a low-frequency routine, with time-pressed workouts.

This high-intensity workout routine was captured as a training video titled Blood and Guts in 1996. Later, it was released in 2003, and it immediately redefined bodybuilding. Yates even shared a snippet of it on Instagram with a caption,

"This high-intensity workout routine was captured as a training video titled Blood and Guts in 1996. Later, it was released in 2003, and it immediately redefined bodybuilding."

So what was this routine:

This was the training split Dorian Yates used at that time:

• Monday (Biceps and Chest)
• Tuesday (Back)
• Wednesday (Rest)
• Thursday (Shoulders and Triceps)
• Friday (Legs)
• Saturday and Sunday (Rest)

Yates' sawtooth method and his blood and gut routine remain the most studied topics in bodybuilding that helped him win six Olympia titles.

Follow Bodybuilding Bros for more.

Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil