Dorian Yates may be known for his rugged muscle density and conditioning, but he also knew how to command the stage. On February 10, 2025, he explained the art of posing which helped him achieve gold at the Mr. Olympia for six consecutive years.
In the 1990s, Dorian Yates proved himself as one of the fiercest talents in the IFBB Pro League. He brought in a new climate of mass monsters following the eight-year reign of bodybuilding legend Lee Haney. Despite incurring injuries during preparations, Yates never let anything stand in his way of a successful title defense.
He managed to achieve unbelievable success on stage, and even when he tore his bicep and tricep, found a way to disguise the discrepancies with masterful posing routines. Now, with time on his hands following a total right hip replacement procedure, he’s peeling back the curtain on how he approached posing throughout his decorated career.
Dorian Yates Explains His Approach to the Art of Posing
In a recent Instagram post, Yates spoke on how the art of posing influenced his career starting back in the 80s.
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“The art of posing.
So pretty much from the get go I knew the importance of posing and that it would be something I’d need to master. I actually feel that posing was much more important when I started back in the 80s, it felt like it was more of an importance anyway. Probably from the rise of ‘Pumping Iron’ and the way guys would make it into an art form and presentation” He explained.
Initially, he wasn’t comfortable with posing but slowly found a way to craft routines that were represented by his struggles and triumph.
“To be honest, I wasn’t really comfortable with posing and it certainly wasn’t my favourite part of bodybuilding; of course my favourite bit was the training in the gym, pushing myself to the brink!”
“I supposed it would’ve been strange going from hardcore balls to the walls training, to the aesthetically pleasing art when posing. So what did I do?
I found a way to reflect my physique and my lifestyle into my posing!”
He realized that any bodybuilder aiming to be great had to know how to pose, not just boast an impressive physique.
“Like I said it wasn’t my favourite aspect of the sport, but I realised early on that if you want to be a great bodybuilder, you’ve got to work on this part.
I’ve seen guys with good physiques step on stage, but they couldn’t display it to the max because they couldn’t pose correctly.”
To learn the art more effectively, he studied magazines and tapes of previous Olympia competitions.
“I began by studying the magazines and any tapes I could watch of the Olympias, seeing how the guys performed their poses and the way they were so fluid in their movements, and how they hit different variations to suit their physiques. I analysed for hours on end and eventually when I became Mr. Olympia, I rewatched my previous contests to see what I could do better.”
These efforts are what allowed him to perform his signature side triceps pose.
“It’s how I learnt to make certain poses my own such as the side triceps where I put my leg back to show the size of my calves and make it a powerful pose.
Look at slide 3 here that’s one of my favourite pics, it’s from 1985 and it’s so symmetrical and in line whereas everyone else that day had their shoulder rolled forward.”
He believes inserting ‘your own spin’ and personality are essential for anyone hoping to craft a groundbreaking posing routine.
“So how I combined hardcore training with artistic, classy posing was by putting my own spin and personality in. Especially with the compulsory poses where I added my karate/martial arts background with banging my foot down to quite literally stamp my authority and put an aggressive twist in.”
Dorian Yates looked at bodybuilding pragmatically and holistically. He understood the smaller nuances that would make a physique shine on stage. Unlike his era, he believes many of today’s athletes lack those qualities, underlining that some Pros at the highest level are missing body parts like calves, which are crucial to the balance and symmetry of a given physique.
Yates refuses to understate the importance of a proper posing routine, which can add excitement to a show while also allowing individuals to display their physiques in a different light. He believes this to be one of the cornerstones to bodybuilding success at the highest level.
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