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Dorian Yates was born on April 19, 1962, in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. He is a professional English bodybuilder who secured the Mr. Olympia title six years in a row from 1992 to 1997. Recognized as one of the greatest athletes in modern bodybuilding, Yates grew up in Hurley, a rural area of Staffordshire, before his family moved to Birmingham during his teenage years. He began training in 1983. Over his professional career, Yates achieved 15 major contest victories and finished second twice.
His career was largely cut short due to chronic acute injuries, including torn biceps and triceps—the latter occurring just three weeks before his final competition, the 1997 Mr. Olympia, which he won despite the injury.
Yates promoted a training method called High Intensity Training (HIT), which emphasizes achieving maximum muscle stimulation through brief, intense workouts rather than lengthy sessions. This approach was initially popularized by Mike Mentzer.
Known as "The Shadow," Yates earned this nickname for his habit of unexpectedly appearing at major bodybuilding events and winning, despite long absences from the public spotlight. He reportedly declined numerous lucrative supplement endorsement deals and avoided interviews and television appearances to maintain his privacy.
In 1987, Yates acquired Temple Gym on Temple Street in Birmingham. By 2006, he had franchised four additional Temple Gym locations, three of which are in the UK.
In 1994, Yates co-founded Heavy Duty Incorporated in California alongside Mike Mentzer and Ray Mentzer. The company specialized in athletic apparel and bodybuilding literature.
In 1998, Yates partnered with Kerry Kayes to establish CNP Professional, a bodybuilding supplement company that marketed a Dorian Yates Approved product line in the U.S. He departed from CNP in 2006 to launch Dorian Yates Ultimate Formulas, offering protein and weight-gain supplements. In 2010, he started EU Peptides, focusing on peptide hormones and pro-hormone supplements, but left the company in 2012. The following year, he founded DY Nutrition, which produces preworkout formulas and several training DVDs. In recent years, Yates has toured internationally giving seminars on nutrition and bodybuilding, providing training videos and written insights on his official website. In 2015, he produced the documentary All I Know is Pain.
