Back in 1993, Dorian Yates didn't know it yet, but he was on the cusp of writing history. His second Mr. Olympia win sparked a dream run of six titles.

And as the bodybuilder remembered, it was an incredible victory. "I do believe that my win at the 1993 Mr. Olympia was the most dominant in Olympia history. Only one call out was needed for the judges to make up their minds I believe…"

Three decades later, Yates has revealed the secrets of his workout in a post captioned, "This is an exact workout from Tuesday 21st July 1993, seven weeks out from the Olympia and actually just one week before those iconic black & white photos - which were taken then following chest & biceps workout!"

Notably, it was a time when Yates' gains actually scared the competition. Let's see what he did with weeks left for the competition.

Dorian Yates' Chest Workout at the Time

1. Decline Barbell (Chest):

The Decline Barbell was Yates’ go-to exercise every time he began warming up. That is, until he switched to the incline barbell in 1994. It had three sets in total. 12 reps of 135lbs, 10 reps of 220lbs, and 8 reps of 335 lbs.

This completes the warm-up. Yatest then went for the working set, which consisted of 5 + 1 forced reps of 458lbs (208kg).

2. Incline Smith Machine Press (Chest):

After a short rest, it was time to lock in again and grow his upper pecs. The warm-up set consisted of 6 reps of 264lbs. The working set started 2 minutes later with 5 reps of 352lbs (160kg) and 1 forced rep. A few deep breaths later, he would push himself for 1 more rep.

3. Incline Dumbbell Flys (Chest):

This exercise also included one warm-up set of 10 reps of 70lbs (32kg) and one working set of 5 reps of 100lbs (45kg), and one forced rep. 

4. Cable Crossovers (Chest):

This one didn’t need any warm-up set, Yates dived directly into one working set of 13 reps of 80lbs (36kg) on each side and two forced reps. 

5. Pec Deck Flys (Chest):

Just like the Cable Crossovers, it didn’t require a warm-up set. Instead, he performed a working set of 6 reps of 330lbs (150kg) and two forced reps.

Bicep Workout

1. Seated Incline Dumbbell Curls (Biceps):

This was the first exercise of his biceps routine. It included one warm-up set of 8 reps of 50lbs (23kg) and one working set of 6 reps of 70lbs (32kg). His arms would be giving out at this point, but he would manage to get one forced up out of them. 

2. EZ Barbell Curls (Biceps):

The EZ Barbell Curls would be the final exercise of his routine and would consist of 6 reps of 155lbs (70kgs). 

Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar