The bodybuilding world definitely does not need any introduction to Dorian Yates. Nicknamed The Shadow, Yates held the title of Mr. Olympia for six years in a row. As an emerging rookie, he thought it was out of his league to compare himself with the likes of Frank Zane, Lee Haney, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Today, not only does The Shadow have the fifth-highest number of Olympia wins, but also his own wellness brand. With all these achievements in his bag, Yates loves to look back in time to his early years.

In a 2019 interview, the IFBB professional talks about the drive behind his legendary workouts and muscular physique. He also discusses his financial condition in those initial days, and what it was like to win back then.

Dorian Yates had no money when he won his first trophy

While talking to the Escape Fitness’s, Escape Your Limits podcast, Yates says, ” I remember getting to the point where I was British Champion… but I still came home to Castle Vale to this council flat… and I came back with my trophy I put it top of this old TV. I’m thinking great British Champion but… there’s no TV, I haven’t got a car, I’ve got no money…I wasn’t thinking of this in a bad way…was happy…I kind of knew that things were gonna come, but at that point British Champion but still broke.”

The English bodybuilder also shared how he grew up in a countryside house where there were lots of stables and farms. His father died when he was 13, and after his mother left he had no place to go. At 18, Yates ended up being sentenced to prison for 6 months for making a store dummy collapse on his friend. Incidentally, it was in prison that Yates found his calling for bodybuilding.

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“Eventually after when I came from the detention center, I didn’t have anywhere to stay, the city housed me in our council, so they gave me a council flat on a very notorious council estate in Birmingham, at the time called Castle Vale and they offered me this place because not many accept it and go there.”, added Yates. The bodybuilder’s adversities were not new, and he did not let them put him down.

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“But for me it was fine, so that’s where I was living for probably five years when I started training.”, added The Shadow. The Shadow marked his place in bodybuilding in the 1980s and 1990s. But even after his retirement in 1997, he could not distance himself from the fitness industry.

Yates’ new endeavor

Dorian Yates is now managing his supplement and wellness brand DY Nutrition and helping new powerlifters to reach their goal with the help of his wisdom. He even provides online fitness training and has an academy for the same. Yates always envisioned himself as an achiever. With his new ventures, one can clearly say that the maestro has many milestones to complete.

Starting from a difficult childhood, the legend managed to become one of the world’s richest bodybuilders. Does his story aspire you as well? Tell us in the comments.

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