How good were Dorian Yates Genetics?

[mikelong23]

I dont understand how he won, when i look at him I see a decent amount of muscle, of couse. but nothing stands out on him, maybe im just to young to have seen him in his competiting days but to me i dont understand b/c he is supposed to be this big MF'er but hes really not.

 

[StRoNg_WoN]

His genetics didn't get him that body. Lots and lots of Roids did.

C'mon man... you can't be serious... that's just as bad as all those skinny guys in the gym saying that anyone bigger then them MUST be on the sauce...

Roids don't build a body... hardwork does...

 

[Latamier]

C'mon man... you can't be serious... that's just as bad as all those skinny guys in the gym saying that anyone bigger then them MUST be on the sauce...

Roids don't build a body... hardwork does...

Agreed on the hard work , but the roids definately help. How many people do you think made it to the Mr. O without years of juicing under their belt?

 

[Dr.M]

Politics is right! Like 24/7 said. That's why Paul Demayo dropped out of the olympia in 95'. But what doesn't have politics involed? Dorian is still very much a champ!

Demayo wasn't perfect either, but he was fucking Superman IMO. If he could have brought up his chest a bit more, fuck he was badass. Long live Quadzilla!

 

[guldukat]

As someone else said, it's important to qualify what you mean by "good genetics." It can mean a lot of things:

1--Structure/shape
2--Responsiveness to sauce
3--' ' to training
4--ability to get not only super-lean, but sickly dry

Dorian's structure was weird. He's one of my favorites, but his arms were odd-looking. I think people are actually wrong to rag him on development as such; his triceps pose was probably the best in bodybuilding when you consider his crazy conditioning, and his biceps were actually HUGE before he tore one of them. Check the pictures of him taken a few weeks out from the '93 Olympia before telling me his biceps lacked for mass

However, they were attached such that, when huge, they almost would hang off the side of his arms...the real mass isn't as apparent vs. someone like Vince Taylor, who also has long biceps but has outstanding insertion points.

Obviously, Dorian responded well to juice and to training. I still say that if he hadn't torn his left biceps, Ronnie Coleman wouldn't be a multi-Olympia winner. Ronnie's huge and more complete than Dorian (overlooking the calf, forearm, and possible trap "shortcomings" next to Yates), but at the same weights, the two look totally different. At 257, Yates is hard as nails and totally dry. To approach that kind of conditioning Ronnie has to weigh ~245, as he did at the '01 Arnold. Even then he isn't near as bone-dry. So, yes, Dorian outmasses him. That's especially evident when you realize Dorian is almost as hard at 270 (pre-Olympia pics in '93 again); he doesn't improve his conditioning significantly when he goes much below that weight.

So I think, definitely, Yates had well above-average genetics. Someone with average genetics wouldn't weigh 257 at 5'10" without a 50" waist to match. They wouldn't be able to move the iron Yates does even if they magically doubled their strength for that purpose.

I wouldn't go so far as to say he has the best genetics ever or anything like that, though, since his shape was borderline poor and he was skinny before he started training. I'd have to give him about an eight-five out of ten overall.

I also think Yates deserved all of his wins. Several guys bested him in a couple of poses (Nasser and Levrone in front biceps for instance), but he soundly whipped everyone in the majority of the compulsories IMO. Fancy dancing doesn't whip superiority in the prejudging.

 

[EliteBB]

Great gallery of DY pics through his Olympia progress:

http://www.bodybuildingapplied.com/data/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=608

 

[RocketRichard]

I seen pics of him at 185 lbs in an old Muscle and fitness mag.....if i find it ill post them

Do you mean this pic?:

 

[StRoNg_WoN]

That would be the one yes.. taken from Blood and Guts...

 

[MrOlympia2004]

he was a freak

 

[FlexManning]

This thread was an oldie but a goody, wasn't it?

Anyway, Yates did have some symetry problems, especially after he tore his bicep, but nobody's perfect. Look at Coleman's mediocre calves, abs that never matched up to Wheeler's when they were both at their peak, and his weird looking lats. Yet many say he's the best ever.

But Yates obviously did have good genetics in several bodyparts. I mean, you can't get much more genetic than calves, forearms, and lat shape and he had the best of all 3 in his day. I've also heard that pictures never did him justice. I read that Shawn Ray looks shitty in person and great in pictures, but Dorian looked better in person.