The Dorian Yates Appreciation Thread

[Guardian]

There was a thread a few weeks ago asking why it seemed Dorian didnt get as much glory as other top pros, so this thread I hope to attribute some much needed glory to him.

Full Name- Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates
Born: April 19, 1962
Current Residence: Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, England
Nickname: The Shadow. The Beast Of Britain, and The British Bulldog
Height: 5'10" | Favorite Exercise: Bent-Over Rows

Biography

Dorian childhood years began in Hurley, in rural Staffordshire, just outside of Birmingham, England. He grew up on a small farm and his mother was a horse riding instructor. At only 13 his father of 42 died of a heart attack. At age 14 he moved to the city Birmingham with his mother and sister after his mother found another man who also died before wedlock. Dorian was never involved in any sports growing up. After the 2nd man died his mother moved back to the country but Dorian stayed in the city. With a shaven head and steel toed boots he was in a gang and was considered a "skin head." On the weekenda he enjoyed listening to music at clubs from bands such as Clash, the Sex Pistols, PIL, etc. He had several odd and interesting jobs to earn his way such as working ta a slaughter house. At age 19 during a riot Dorian was taken in by the police, since the youth is until 21 there he was sentanced to Whatton Youth Detention Center for 6 months.

It was in prison that Dorian began powerlifting and a guard noticed his great tendency for strength and gave him new direction. Once out of prison he started training in a small dark gym in the cellar and at age 21 entered his first contest. In 1987 he tore a muscle in his hip and had to have surgey. After this he took a year off of lifting, he pretty much had to. He purchased the Temple Gym, located in england now where many world famous athletes train and where Dorian himself can be seen working one on one with people. His first contest he won was the British Championships Heavyweight Division.
From there he took off an soon entered the Olympia to place 2nd behind Lee Haney on his very first try.

His nickname the Shadow came because he would come into shows, win then, then disapear back into his own world without a trace. The name originated from Peter McGough, an editor of Flex Magazine. Dorian loves wildlife and spending time with children. He joined a compaNy called Chemical Nutrition in 1999. In 1999 he started his own product line called 'Dorian Yates Approved,' which by the way is actually some high quality stuff.

Competitive History
1997 Mr. Olympia 1st
1996 Grand Prix England 1st
1996 Grand Prix Germany 1st
1996 Grand Prix Spain 1st
1996 Mr. Olympia 1st
1995 Mr. Olympia 1st
1994 Mr. Olympia 1st
1994 Grand Prix England 1st
1994 Grand Prix Spain 1st
1994 Grand Prix Germany 1st
1993 Mr. Olympia 1st
1992 Grand Prix England
1992 Mr. Olympia 1st
1991 English Grand Prix 1st
1991 Mr. Olympia 2nd
1991 Night of Championships 1st
1990 Night of Champions 2nd
1988 British Championships 1st
1986 EFBB British HW 1st (in London)
1985 World Games 7th (London)
1985 Novice West Coast (England) 1st
1984 Mr. Birmingham novice 1st

Dorian Yates did not retire bodybuilding because he was sick of competing, his body pretty much snapped. What I admire in Dorian especially after seeing his video is that he trained extremly intense, hardcore, and insane, his body could only go on for so long. In 1994 he damaged his left rotator cuff, later in the year tore his left quad, and 9 weeks before the Olympia his left biceps! But despite this, even with stiff competition, he still entered and won.

Lets talk about 1997. While performing pullover presses giving it 110% as usual and then some he snapped his left triceps 3/4 off of the attachment site, this was the kind of snap you could hear all around the gym. He knew he was pushing his body to the absolute limit, but he also knew this is what he had to do to reach his dream. But the shadow kep the injury to himself and faught on, some rumors say he had even more injuries before the show. By the time of the olympia all he could train was his legs. Some people who seen Dorian before his last show were shocked at the amount of braces he wore on his body just to hold it together. How a human could endure the pain the man put himself through is beyond belief. He was forced to have surgey on his arm. Such a surgey can take up to 16 months to fully heal. With 6 Olympias and a severe injury Dorian retired after his last Olympia. The time lapse between his actual surgury and announcement of retirement suggests Dorian hoped to battle through the injury like he did in 1994 to win again, however the injury was just to severe for even Dorian to battle through.


Dorian Pictures

http://www.sfd.pl/1/images2005/20050709102331.jpg
http://dorianyates.net/graphics/yates%20oscars.jpg
http://digilander.libero.it/mikementzer/Yates05.jpg
http://digilander.libero.it/mikementzer/Yates20.jpg
http://www.culturismoweb.com/dorian.jpg
http://www.schwarzenegger.it/mro/yates/dy166.jpg
http://www.trulyhuge.com/dorianyates.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/gymcentertr...s2/yates25.jpg
http://www.giantpt.com/Training/Afbe...orianYates.jpg
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/south75p3big.jpg
http://www.bodybuildinguniverse.com/...es02_small.jpg
http://www.hirepgym.com/images/Dorian%20Yates.jpg
http://i.b5z.net/i/u/230085/i/Dorian...PT_APT_ezr.jpg
http://www.iform.no/images/artikkel/...ing/yates3.gif
http://massmonsters-premium.tripod.c...g.w300h444.jpg
http://www.bodybuilding-eosd.gr/images/o.jpg
http://www.fitsir.com/content/images/news/1111-2.jpg


Dorians Official Website
http://www.dorianyates.net/
Dorians Product Line
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/dya/dorian.htm
Books/ Movies
Blood And Guts
A Warriors Story

Special Info- Dorian is the only Olympia winner to win the title while residing outside the United States. Despite lighter skin compared to many past champions and his competitors Dorian had a "grainy" "sandpaper" conditioning that hardly anyone else in the sport has ever shown. He is known for his enourmous back and calves that to this day are very often viewed as the best in the sport. He is founder of the "Yates row" which unlike the traditional row uses a palms forward grip and a 70 degree back angle which targets the back more heavily and can allow more weight used.

Dorian has won every pro competition hes entered except for 3, and of those 3 two were 2nd place. The only other person in the last 30 years to have such a record was Arnold, which by the way had much less competition then Dorian did (and less injuries as well). He came to be hailed as the sport's ultimate competitor due to his unbelievable fighting spirit which allowed him to prevail over any obstacle placed in his path. On at least one occasion Dorian faced competitors heavier then himself (Nasser) and still managed to win. Current Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman lost to Dorian on 5 different occasions, all of them being outside the top 5! His first Olympia he placed 2nd, his next Olympia he won while Ronnie Coleman did'nt even make the top 15. Dorian is a true inspiration to me, a fighting champion. He believed that anyone could previal to be a champion. He believed that if someone else had better genes (such as Flex Wheeler as Dorian admits himself) you need to have twice as much determination, and you can still prevail over them. Perhaps more then any other bodybuilder, he endured more injuries, yet came in each Olympia looking better then the last, further demonstrating his determination for improvement.

[Vadim Beliaev]

Reps, bro. Always been a big fan of Dorian, always will be. No one motivates me so much as him.

[porcupinetree]

I'm not a fan. I have met Dorian. He was cool and I respect his work ethic. I have nothing against him personally, but I got sick of him winning the Mr Olympia every time he entered. I thought Shawn Ray should have beaten him in 94. I thought Nasser should have beaten him in 97.
But it was obvious that Dorian would always win. Other champs have had that same luxury and I don't like it.
I also believe that Dorian pushed the sport of bodybuilding in the wrong direction. I don't like this era of the mass monster.

[My England]

Very nice post Gaurdian. Its nice to see people appreciate this BB. my user name, its from Dorians tattoo that he has on his forearm. Dorian inspires me to train hard and heavy.

Its nice that he's British and that he came over to the U.S and gave everyone a run for their money, he may of torn half of his body up, but he has true "british bulldog" spirit.

Hate his phsique or love it....you can't deny his passion for the sport though.

..one more thing, his back and calves were unreal, but look at the seperation and dryness in his chest, most people overlook that.

[Just_being_me]

Ive seen Dorian at Bev Francis Golds Gym (back when it was still golds) on Long Island...big guy, little yellow dodge viper lol

One of the best ever.

[dbcb314]

He has that look that I like in a white bodybuilder... that grainy badass look. Sort of like Branch has.

[EatProtein]

dorian yates heir apparant still reighns supreme

[kethnaab]

some of my favorite dorian pics:

[BuildUpNow]

the father of mass monster!

i like the way he trains, very intense hardcore.

[Guardian]

Very nice post Gaurdian. Its nice to see people appreciate this BB. my user name, its from Dorians tattoo that he has on his forearm. Dorian inspires me to train hard and heavy.

Its nice that he's British and that he came over to the U.S and gave everyone a run for their money, he may of torn half of his body up, but he has true "british bulldog" spirit.

Hate his phsique or love it....you can't deny his passion for the sport though.

..one more thing, his back and calves were unreal, but look at the seperation and dryness in his chest, most people overlook that.

Thanks for mentioning that I never quite noticed it in particular.

[HomieStaysBuilt]

Damn man. I think you hate Ronnie more than you like Dorian. I don't think I've seen a post made by you in which u didn't rank on Ronnie.

I don't get it. Dorian ushered in the mass monster era. If it weren't for him, i doubt Ronnie would be the size he is now. Who was winning when Ronnie was more aesthetic? Your mass monster Dorian. So Ronnie did what he had to do.

[Guardian]

Check my sig, thats one of the reasons I dont liek Ronnie at all. I wish there was someone on top I could look upt o and admire Like I do with Dorian, Zane, Arnold, etc.

I dont want this to become a Ronnie debate because the page is devoted for Yates appreciation. To sum up, Yates came 2nd his first Olympia against a 7 time reigning champion. Ronnie Coleman didnt even make the top 15 when the spot was open and it was Dorian who took it. Dorian came to each Olympia looking even better then the last, and that was despite injurires, you cant say taht about the current champion.

And while the current champion publicly states he takes 2-3 months off of trainign all together Dorian publicly stated on his website in response to a fan inquiry that when in his competitive days he prolyl ahd onyl 2 weeks off in the 10 years that he trained hard, now thats someone I look up to.

[HomieStaysBuilt]

And while the current champion publicly states he takes 2-3 months off of trainign all together Dorian publicly stated on his website in response to a fan inquiry that when in his competitive days he prolyl ahd onyl 2 weeks off in the 10 years that he trained hard, now thats someone I look up to.

That's one of the reasons why his career was cut short. But whatever man, I don't want to argue about it either, it just seems odd to me.

Master mass monster = o.k.
Those who follow his lead = suck

[kethnaab]

Dorian is my fave bb of all time, but I tell ya what, if you were to catch Dorian in a 'relaxed belly' pose, he had a tummy on him too.

it's all good. This is a good thread. Dorian deserves it.

[darklight79]

I've got his Blood and Guts video. Awesome physique and the way he trained was insane. Still my fav bodybuilder.

[30/7/66]

My favourite Dorian photo

[boring06]

Dorian Yates, one of my favorite bodybuilders and inspirations. He was huge, and had a tremendous work ethics.

Blood and Guts is one of my favorite books.

[PatrickDurden]

[schabowy90]

bump

[ThundaHorz]

In on 1/Spot For sale/inb4Dorian/etc...


All Hail!

[POTA]

I made these not too long ago. The back double bi of his here is up there as one of the most jaw-dropping mindfuks in bodybuilding history to me.

[ThundaHorz]

This-

This is the MotherFukin pic that says it all!!!!!!!

Will rep on RC!

[NeoSeminole]

1990 Temple Gym with Gary Shelmerdine

[jiveinhere]

Holy f*ck

[NeoSeminole]

1992 Pre-contest

[Iceman1981]

This-

This is the MotherFukin pic that says it all!!!!!!!

Will rep on RC!

[NeoSeminole]

1992 Pre-contest (cont.)

[Iceman1981]

[NeoSeminole]

^^^ damn, you found those pics too!!! I was going to post them when the time was right

[jiveinhere]

That front lat spread in Iceman's post is ****ing mindblowing. But no other pic of Dorian comes close to this one IMO: