The early success that made Dorian realises he had a natural potential to build the physique. Recommended to go a powerlifting gym and getting results quickly. Sent to a detention centre at 1981 and the impact it had on Dorian. How did your father’s death make you feel? At 16, Dorian was either a skinhead, a punk or a mod. Now who am I? What do I do? Dorian on his childhood – growing up in Solihull, the smallholding, a chicken farm and with a mum who loves horse riding and dad who had a heart attack when he was 13. Learning that as an athlete you can go into the zone. The charity run that made Dorian realise he was an athlete. Did you always feel very connected? The spiritual aspect to training. One consciousness with billions of different experiences at the same time. Dorian on DMT, Ayahuasca, Meditation – I see it as changing your vibration. Going into a different range of subjects. Who knew the impact? Tweet by Dorian – I’m going to pull no punches. He is ruthlessly himself, regardless of the situation, and it is this authenticity that makes him such a pleasure to interview.
It’s Dorian’s consistency that makes him such an impressive guest, and probably what makes him such an appealing character to his fans. He applies the same level-headedness, humility and quiet confidence to every topic we cover in this episode. The move from physical athlete to spiritual athlete seems like it has been a very logical one for Dorian. But his message is very simple - change your mind and you change your reality. He wants to make the world a better place. Dorian is a very spiritual guy, and at times talks like an old sage. The same focus and determination that built the world’s most impressive bodybuilding physique, is now being used to ‘raise his vibrations’. However, bodybuilding’s workout is such a disciplined and psychologically demanding craft, that Dorian had inadvertently prepared himself for life’s spiritual challenges.
Dorian gets vulnerable and reveals a real crisis point after he retired in 1997. He instantly won over spectators across the world because people knew he was real, that there was no rock-star act. For Dorian, his defining quality was, and still is, authenticity. As he says in the course of our intimate discussion, he never changed his work ethic, his commitment or his attitude to his job, regardless of his successes. Dorian, coming from the Midlands in England, from a working class background, changed all that. Back in the early eighties, bodybuilding was suffering from the glamorous Hollywood image that followed Arnie. To this day the thing that marks out his career is the mental attitude he brought to the sport. Dorian’s extra-competitive nature drove him to mastery over his mind. Dorian has PhD knowledge in all these things. For all you athletes out there, you will have more than enough new knowledge to discover in this episode about training, nutrition and the human body. The attention to detail, the discipline, and the emphasis on form and muscle control mean that he also considers it an art form. Bodybuilding for Dorian Yates was, and is, more than just a sport training, diet and nutrition. During a spell in a detention centre for a minor crime, he discovered bodybuilding, and the combination of natural talent and a rapacious thirst for knowledge, meant that it was pretty evident from an early age he was destined for greatness. In this week’s interview Dorian takes us back to his days as a troubled but determined young man, struggling to find his way after losing his father at 14. Our last episode with Dorian is the stuff of legend among London Real fans, so we knew that if we were going to do it again, it would have to be phenomenal. It is truly a pleasure to present to you once again six-times Mr Olympia Dorian Yates.