Dorian Yates

Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates was born on 19 April 1962. His father died of a heart attack when Yates was 13. He and his mother then moved to Birmingham.

Yates started working out in 1983. His professional record consists of 15 major contest wins and two second-place finishes; from 1992 to his retirement in 1997 he won every single contest he entered. His career ended in large part due to chronic acute injuries, including torn biceps and triceps, the latter just three weeks prior to his final contest, the 1997 Mr. Olympia, which he won in spite of the injury; his win generated controversy among fellow athletes, critics, and amateurs, who thought the runner-up Nasser El Sonbaty deserved to win.

In 1987, Yates purchased Temple Gym, located on Temple Street in Birmingham. In 2006, he franchised four additional Temple Gym locations, three of which are in the UK. As of 2020, only the original Birmingham gym is still in operation.

Yates and a partner took over the gym in 1987 and eventually became the sole owner of the gym. It has franchises in California, Las Vegas, and the UK. It's spread across 3000 square feet and Blue is a new workout to 220 lbs.

In 1993, Yates published an autobiography titled Blood and Guts ( ISBN 978-0-9636163-0-2).

Yates formed the California-based company Heavy Duty Inc. in 1994 with Mike Mentzer and Ray Mentzer. The company marketed athletic apparel and bodybuilding-related books.

In 1996, Yates released a workout video (VHS) of the same title, which features his weekly weight training routines.

In 1998, Yates partnered with Kerry Kayes to form the bodybuilding supplement company CNP Professional, which marketed a Dorian Yates Approved product line in the U.S. He left the company in 2006 to form his own company, Dorian Yates Ultimate Formulas, which offers a line of protein and weight-gain supplements. He started a second company in 2010, EU Peptides, which sells peptide hormones and other pro-hormone supplements. He left EU Peptides in 2012. In 2011, Yates founded a third company, DY Nutrition, which specializes in pre-workout formulas and has released several training DVDs.

In 1998, Yates coauthored A Warrior's Story ( ISBN 978-0-9534764-0-4), in which he chronicles his path to success in bodybuilding.

In 2012, Yates released a mass gain video trainer in collaboration with bodybuilding.com called Blood and Guts, based on the HIT theory.

In 2017, Yates attended the worldwide premiere of the London Real feature film, Dorian Yates: Inside The Shadow, held at BAFTA in London.