If you’ve ever wondered about the specific exercises, sets, reps and weights the best bodybuilders were lifting in their prime, Dorian Yates has you covered. Sharing a nine-move back workout he completed in July 1993 on Instagram – just a couple of months before winning his third Mr Olympia title – Yates highlighted the sheer intensity of his training.

From 200kg barbell rows to 275kg shrugs, Yates was moving monstrous weight to build the thick, wide back that defined his physique. And as a huge advocate of training to failure, he did it all with surprisingly low volume. Despite including nine exercises, the workout totalled just 13 working sets – entirely by design.

‘You’ll see some exercises here that weren’t featured in the Blood & Guts video, like bench rows [chest-supported rows] and seated cable rows, for example. Blood & Guts was a snapshot in time of the exercises I did, however the intensity remained the same throughout,’ he wrote.

‘I also did a pre-exhaust superset here too, which I didn’t do consistently, as I wanted to focus on one exercise at a time and give it my all without thinking that I have another to follow right away.’

Yates also incorporated both negative and forced reps, pushing sets beyond failure using even more brutal intensity techniques.

So, if you want a glimpse into what it takes to build an elite bodybuilding back, here’s the session the now-64-year-old completed in his prime.

A. Machine Pullover x 2 sets of 8-10 reps (1 light set, 1 medium-heavy set) + 1 set of 6 reps with 2 forced reps

B1. Machine Pullover x 1 set of 6 reps
B2. Underhand Pulldown x 1 set of 6 reps

C. Barbell Row x 1 set of 7 reps, 1 set of 7 reps (1 light set, 1 heavy set)

D. Chest-Supported Row x 1 set of 8 reps with 2 negative reps

E. Close-Grip Cable Row x 1 set of 10 reps with 2 negative reps

F. Rear Delt Fly Machine x 1 set of 12 reps with 2 forced reps

G. Barbell Shrug x 1 set of 8 reps, 1 set of 7 reps with 2 negative reps (1 light set, 1 heavy set)

H. Hyperextension x 1 set of 10 reps

I. Rack Pull x 1 set of 6 reps

Machine Pullover

• Set the seat height in a machine pullover so that when your arms are raised overhead, your elbows are resting comfortably on the pads.
• Push your back firmly into the seat, bracing your core to maintain that tension.
• Reach overhead to take hold of the handles, before then contracting your lats to initiate the movement. Exhale as you do so, driving with your elbows rather than hands.
• Bring the handles as close as you can to your abdomen, hold for a second, before then returning to the start.

Underhand Pulldown

• Sit down at a lat pulldown machine.
• Grab the bar with an underhand grip with your palms at shoulder width.
• Pull the bar down to your chest, then return slowly to the start position. Your torso should remain static throughout.

• Grab a barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
• With your legs slightly bent, lock your core, keep your back straight and send your hips behind your heels so that your torso is almost perpendicular to the floor.
• Row the weight upwards in an arc shape towards your hips.
• Pause and squeeze the shoulder blades together for a beat whilst keeping the shoulders away from the ears.
• Slowly reverse the rep back to the beginning position.

• Set your bench up to a 45-degree angle. Sit down on the bench with your chest on the pad top, feet planted. Squeeze your core and glutes.
• Pick up your dumbbells or barbell. Squeeze your shoulder blades together.
• Drive with the elbow first, pulling it towards the ceiling and back towards your ribcage. Don’t lift the chest off the bench.
• Squeeze and pause at the top for a few seconds.

Close-Grip Cable Row

• Take a seat on the machine with your feet on the holders, a little wider than shoulder width. Drive the heels, and squeeze the glutes. Grab onto the handle.
  
• Lean slightly forward and round out the upper back. Think about pulling the shoulder blades apart as much as possible.
• Aim to get a good stretch through the lats. As you row, pull the shoulder blades down, back, and together just as you did in the beginner version. Row the handle bar in, landing just above your belly button.
• You should finish in the same position as the beginner row: perpendicular with the floor, spine straight, with the shoulder blades squeezed together.

Rear Delt Fly Machine

• Sit on a dual-function fly machine, facing the chest pad and with the seat adjusted so your hands are in line with your shoulders.
• Grip the handles, maintaining a slight bend in your elbows as you drive the weight backward and out in a wide arc, leading with your elbows.
• Once your arms are out to your side, pause for a second before then controlling the weights back to the start.

• Hold a barbell with overhand grip, shoulder width apart.
• Raise your shoulders as high as you can go, then lower them back down and repeat.

Hyperextension

• Anchor your legs in a back extension or hyperextension machine, facing the pads for your hips.
• Bend your torso forward towards the floor, hinging at your hips. Go as deep as you can comfortably go, or until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings.
• Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings to bring your torso back to the top, where your body should complete one straight line.

Rack Pull

• Set up a barbell on a rack.
• Keeping your core tight and back neutral, drive your hips forward and pull your shoulders back to deadlift the bar up to the top position.
• Return to the rack and repeat.

Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.

During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.

Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…

You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_