Six-time Olympia champ Dorian Yates used many chest workouts to help build his physique.
Dorian Yates is one of the greatest bodybuilders of all-time. He built an insanely massive physique that helped him reach the pinnacle of the sport on many occasions. While Yates became known for the size of his back, he also put together a symmetrical physique that impressed in many ways. Recently, Dorian Yates shared some of his favorite chest workouts over the course of his career.
In 1991, Yates completely burst onto the scene and finished as the runner-up in his first Olympia competition. The very next year, he reached the top and was able to win six-consecutive Sandow trophies. In 1997, Yates stopped competing and was able to go out on top.
Yates continues to train at a high level and shares his wisdom of bodybuilding. On Instagram, the bodybuilding legend shared some essential exercises he used to build his chest.
Dorian Yates’ Best Chest Workouts
Dorian Yates used many staple workouts to help build his insanely massive physique. This includes decline and incline bench presses, both free weight and on the Smith machine.
“Decline barbell bench press was a staple in my routine, roughly up until 1992.”
Following his first Olympia victory, Yates decided to switch it up a bit.
“After this, I switched to more incline presses and didn’t really go back to decline.
“I did do quite a lot of incline smith machine presses and felt a great connection with this exercise. It’s a fixed plane of motion and you can really put a lot of emphasis on your chest here. It’s safer to go to and beyond failure too, especially with rest pause reps where you’d rack the bar and take a few deep breaths, then aim for an extra one or two reps.”
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Another workout Dorian Yates used to train his chest was dumbbell flyes.
“Incline dumbbell flyes was another tremendous exercise that I did consistently, working up to over 50kg dumbbells! But I always did this on a low incline, about 30 degrees as this puts the chest at the forefront and helps to minimise the delt involvement. I also later did a lot of incline barbell press, you can see the footage in Blood & Guts!”
During the start of his winning streak at the Olympia, Yates explained why he began using the Smith machine in favor of dumbbells when performing shoulder presses.
“I was pretty much forced to utilise the smith machine for shoulder pressing near the start of my Olympia reign.
My training partners in the early 90s, usually Kenny and @paulbaxendale, often had a challenge to pass the giant 160lb dumbbells up to me and it was a struggle to get them into position. I scrapped dumbbell shoulder press in favor of the smith machine for shoulder press and this was a lot easier to not only set up, but to go to failure too.”
Dorian Yates: The Original Mass Monster
Dorian Yates’ epic and massive physique alongside his famous Blood & Guts training routine are etched into history. Yates is often referred to as the “original mass monster” – ushering in a new era of titanic size that was cemented further by Ronnie Coleman’s eight Mr. Olympia wins.
A deeper look into Dorian Yates’ training routine, past, and bodybuilding career were put to film in the documentary Dorian Yates: The Original Mass Monster. The film chronicles his entire life story while also showcasing how his life has changed post-retirement. You can check out a trailer for the film below:
WATCH: Stream or download Dorian Yates: The Original Mass Monster
Most recently, Yates shared his kettlebell rotational swing routine to develop strength and power for Generation Iron. For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
