What happens when you are catapulted from being an underdog to a contender? Dorian Yates discusses his struggles from being in the shadows to being in the spotlight of a sport dominated by Americans.

On Andrew Huberman's YouTube channel on January 20, Dorian Yates reflected on his career and professional mindset.

When Lee Haney announced his retirement from bodybuilding, Dorian Yates was pushed into becoming his successor and the new favorite, something that he wasn't ready for.

"Before I was a winner, very difficult because I had this underdog thing. I'm from the streets, and nobody thinks that I can do this, and I'm from England, that are all American. That's against me."

In fact, during his first shoot with Gold's Gym, Yates mentioned he was glad to have a British photographer, Chris Lund, with him. The bigger shock for Yates was suddenly becoming the favorite.

"So I got second to Lee Haney, but then he retired. So now the title's open, and logically I'm the favorite. And actually, I struggled with that for a while."

Before Lee Haney retired in 1992, he had won eight straight Mr. Olympia titles. And right after he retired, Dorian Yates won six titles straight!

He eventually adopted a champion's mindset to overcome his apprehensions.

Dorian Yates' shadow mentality

Talking about his career, Yates mentioned that he had always thrived in isolation.

He had discipline and people around him in Birmingham who helped him stay grounded and focused on his training. He further revealed that he disliked socializing.

He remembered that when he would come to the USA for Mr Olympia, he would do one week of press and photoshoots for the entire year.

Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar