A Portrait of Dorian Yates: The Life and Training ... (ISBN 0953476405)

a must read for any bodybuilder:
This book will contradict antything you have probably read in the past about bodybuilding. The books starts off with a short biography of Dorian Yates. Then it slowy introduces the reader to Yate's training principles. This book teaches short and intense training periods and lots of rest. The principle stressed is High Intensity Training, or HIT. This training method was the brainchild of Arthur Jones, then was the basis for Mike Mentzer's heavy duty training, which is what Yates used tobased his training. Dorian put his own twist to it and calls his version Blood and Guts Training. What this book teaches is highly beneficial book to a bodybuilder, especially one who is not using steroids. Of course Yates used steroids, but his methods will work better for a natural bodybuilder than the methods of most boybuilders, aka High Volume Training. Yates preaches for the bodybuilder to use no more than three sets: the first being a warm up set, and the next two set being to muscle failure. He advises a two day split for the body and in a 2 weeks time you will have done six workouts. It is set up where you do workout one twice the first week and once the second week, and you do workout two once the first week and twice the second week, then the schedule starts over. Yates said this split is near identical to the one he used his first years in bodybuilder. His advanced training utilizes a three day split, but he only used one set per exercise, really putting a lot of effort into intensity. The informtation in this book i give five stars, but i gave it four stars for another reason, All of the pictures in the book, which are black and white, are grainy and almost blurry. And there are no real good Pictures of Yates really, ther are about five decent pictures of him: the one on the cover, a front double biceps pose (which is used about three of four times throughout the entire book), a side tricep pose, and just a few others are barely decent. Everytime you turn a page in the book it puts a crease in the spine, so if you plan on reading this book a lot you can also plan on eventually losing a page or two. The cosmetics and durability of this book is why it recieved four stars. Overall, every bodybuilder needs to be familiar with Yates training method no matter how hardcore or serious of a bodybuilder he is.

Worthwhile for any lifter:
If you are a fan of Yates, you will enjoy reading about his life and about his experiences and injuries he faced while becoming the 6-time Mr. Olympia. If you are just a hardcore lifter, he offers his lifting routines and advice to anyone interested in bodybuilding. His lifting philosophy is a much different approach than the volume training that is widely accepted in the bodybuilding world. If you are looking for an alternative to volume training, this is a great place to start.

Great Biography/Training Philosophy Book.:
This book is very good for the fans of Bodybuilding it describes the Work Ethics and discipline of One of the Greates Bodybuilders, The Shadow. It is well written , includes great training tips. Overall a good resource for the intermediate/ advanced weight lifter.

Good information:
There is a lot of good information in this book. Honestly though, the best part of it for me was that it is a great motivational tool listening to him.

A Portrait of Dorian Yates:
The best material I ever read for bodybuilding. If you want mass gain, read the book. It worths every dollar.