DORIAN: TO HELL AND BACK
Dorian Yates shares the high-intensity secrets for back building
February 2, 2009
FLEXONLINE.COM
In our March 2008 issue we ranked Dorian Yates’ back as the second best of all-time behind Ronnie Coleman’s, but we hedged our bet with the assertion that a strong argument can be made for Yates as number one.
A six-time Mr. Olympia (1992-97), Britain’s “Dozer” was renown for his high-intensity training methods: low volume and maximum effort, pushing working sets to failure and beyond. He shares with us his ideas about back training and includes a typical routine from his Olympia reign. (Only working sets in that routine are noted; he typically did one or two warmups for each [COLOR=#666666! important][COLOR=#666666! important]exercise[/COLOR][/COLOR], as well.)
YATES ON BACK TRAINING
* “If I have a secret for width, it's Nautilus pullovers. I really feel these in my outer lats. I alternate doing these one workout and Hammer pulldowns the next.”
* “During barbell rows, I keep [COLOR=#666666! important][COLOR=#666666! important]my [COLOR=#666666! important]body[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] at 70 degrees to the floor. Staying more upright places less strain on the lower back and puts you in the strongest position to work lats. I try to keep my upper body as still as possible but some upward sway is necessary to use maximum weights.”
* “I find going underhand isolates my lats more, but others might find it works their biceps too much. Do what works best for your body.”
* “I ended my Olympia back [COLOR=#666666! important][COLOR=#666666! important]workouts[/COLOR][/COLOR] with deadlifts and usually stayed around 405. That’s less than I used for barbell rows, but I wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I was just trying to tie my back together, top to bottom, after all the punishment I put it through.”
<TABLE style="COLOR: #000000" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="50%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #b10b1c" align=middle colSpan=4>DORIAN YATES’ BACK WORKOUT
</TD></TR><TR style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #000000; COLOR: #ffffff"><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ffffff 1px solid">EXERCISE </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ffffff 1px solid" align=middle>SETS </TD><TD align=middle>REPS </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Hammer Strength pulldowns </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8-10 </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle colSpan=3>or </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Nautilus pullovers </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8-10 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Underhand barbell rows </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>12 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Hammer Strength one-arm rows </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8-10 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Underhand cable rows </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>12 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Back extensions </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Deadlifts </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Dorian Yates shares the high-intensity secrets for back building
February 2, 2009
FLEXONLINE.COM
In our March 2008 issue we ranked Dorian Yates’ back as the second best of all-time behind Ronnie Coleman’s, but we hedged our bet with the assertion that a strong argument can be made for Yates as number one.
A six-time Mr. Olympia (1992-97), Britain’s “Dozer” was renown for his high-intensity training methods: low volume and maximum effort, pushing working sets to failure and beyond. He shares with us his ideas about back training and includes a typical routine from his Olympia reign. (Only working sets in that routine are noted; he typically did one or two warmups for each [COLOR=#666666! important][COLOR=#666666! important]exercise[/COLOR][/COLOR], as well.)
YATES ON BACK TRAINING
* “If I have a secret for width, it's Nautilus pullovers. I really feel these in my outer lats. I alternate doing these one workout and Hammer pulldowns the next.”
* “During barbell rows, I keep [COLOR=#666666! important][COLOR=#666666! important]my [COLOR=#666666! important]body[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] at 70 degrees to the floor. Staying more upright places less strain on the lower back and puts you in the strongest position to work lats. I try to keep my upper body as still as possible but some upward sway is necessary to use maximum weights.”
* “I find going underhand isolates my lats more, but others might find it works their biceps too much. Do what works best for your body.”
* “I ended my Olympia back [COLOR=#666666! important][COLOR=#666666! important]workouts[/COLOR][/COLOR] with deadlifts and usually stayed around 405. That’s less than I used for barbell rows, but I wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I was just trying to tie my back together, top to bottom, after all the punishment I put it through.”
<TABLE style="COLOR: #000000" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="50%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #b10b1c" align=middle colSpan=4>DORIAN YATES’ BACK WORKOUT
</TD></TR><TR style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; BACKGROUND: #000000; COLOR: #ffffff"><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ffffff 1px solid">EXERCISE </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ffffff 1px solid" align=middle>SETS </TD><TD align=middle>REPS </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Hammer Strength pulldowns </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8-10 </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle colSpan=3>or </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Nautilus pullovers </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8-10 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Underhand barbell rows </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>12 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Hammer Strength one-arm rows </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8-10 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Underhand cable rows </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>12 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Back extensions </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8 </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid">Deadlifts </TD><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid" align=middle>1 </TD><TD align=middle>8 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
