Dorian Yates reveals his 'psychological trick' for brute force in pressures

When six-time Mr. Olympia winner Dorian Yates speaks, the fitness world listens. This legendary bodybuilder, known as "The Shadow", was renowned for his incredible intensity and training style that took him to the absolute top. Now, even years after his career ended, he shares the details that helped him build one of the best physiques in history.

In a recent post, Yates focused on one particular psychological aspect that helped him maximize his performance on pressing exercises - whether it was the bench press, leg press or hack squats.

Imagine the muscles as a spring

Yates' secret doesn't lie in a new supplement or a miracle machine. It's a visualization technique. Dorian advises that when doing compression exercises, imagine your muscles as a giant coiled spring, similar to the one you'd find in a car's suspension.

The whole principle works in two phases:

1. The Compression Phase (Negative Phase): When you lower the weight down (e.g., dumbbell to chest or sled leg press down), imagine that you are compressing this spring. You must be in absolute control of the weight. With every inch of downward movement, energy and tension builds up in the muscle (spring). Feel the spring compressing more and more.
2. Release Phase (Positive Phase): In the bottom position, when the spring is maximally compressed and full of energy, an explosive release follows. Yates describes this as a "BOOM" moment - you release the stored energy and push the weight back up with explosive force.

Why does it work?

This mental aid has two main benefits:

• Control: It forces you to control the weight downward. Instead of the dumbbell just dropping, you "charge" it into the muscles. This increases time under tension and minimizes the risk of injury.
• Explosiveness: this aids in the transition from the negative to the positive phase of the movement. Instead of losing tension in the lower phase, you use it to start strong upwards.

As Dorian himself says:

"Control the weight and use it as a tool to create maximum stress for the working muscles. Keep the tension, be compact, and then release the force."

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