"You will get results" - 6-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates recommends how 'normal' people can improve their physique

Dorian Yates is one of the best bodybuilders to ever get on the Olympia stage. The Englishman's success at the Olympia stands only behind Ronnie Coleman (8), Lee Haney (8), Arnold Schwarzenegger (7) and Phil Heath (7) as he won a total of six titles from 1992 to 1997.

Long since his retirement, Yates has remained a significant part of the fitness world, often offering help to his followers through his social media platforms. In a recent appearance on the High Intensity Business YouTube channel, Yates made it quite clear that proper rest and nutrition are key to building a good physique.

He said:

"The average person doesn’t need to do that [work on all muscle groups] because they don’t need to work on the side delts, the rear delts, the long head of the triceps, whatever, they just need to work the main muscle massess intensively. Correct nutrition, correct hormone balance, enough rest, and it’s a formula. You will get results."

He compared this to what a professional in the sport is required to do. However, Yates added that he opted to work smart instead of just working hard during his career.

He said:

"My first Mr. Olympia, I’d be training 12 hours a day or 14 hours a day if that was necessary I would have been doing it. But it wasn’t, I was doing 45 minutes to an hour four times a week and beating the best in the world who were training much more than this because I was training more efficiently and I felt I got more out of my genetic potential than they did."

Research in sports science has shown that proper nutrition and rest are vital to maintaining hormonal-balance. It is safe to say that Yates' advice is quite accurate in this regard.

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"Working on myself" - Yates on staying fit and healthy at the age of 60

Fitness does not leave one's lifestyle after decades of being a professional athlete. Yates, at 60, is still working on improving himself and staying healthy.

On this, he said:

"I’m also being my own project, working on myself. How do I optimize my health and my fitness as I’m going into my 60s – and my quality of life. So, I’m doing all this myself."

Yates appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast a few years ago where he spoke extensively about fitness stratergies. Recalling his conversation with Rogan, he added:

"I was telling Joe Rogan I think you can get optimal fitness – I’m not talking about being a marathon runner or a martial artist, just optimal cardiovascular fitness for the average person, in or around eight minutes twice a week."

Earlier this year, Dorian had a health check which revealed his VO2 max to be close to that of a person in their 30s. He added that his goal now is to maintain what he has achieved over the years:

"I’m still like 235 and very lean and muscular. So, my goal with the weight training is just to maintain what I got. Just not to lose muscle mass, so that’s quite easy for me. Someone that needs to build it, that’s a different story."

Being this healthy at 60 is no easy feat. The six-time Mr. Olympia was an inspirational figure to athletes back in his professional days and continues to be so to the masses today.