The ONLY 10 Exercises You Ever Need (DORIAN YATES)

If you ever wondered how physical therapist Jeff Cavaliere would react to Dorian Yates’ list of only 10 exercises that men need to build muscle, you’ve come to the right place. In this video, I am giving my reaction to a list of exercises that 6x Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates came up with featuring the only 10 exercises he feels that men need to build muscle. I will show where I agree and disagree with his selections and exactly why I feel the way that I do about each one, especially when it comes to building muscle myself. You might be surprised to hear what I have to say.

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The first two exercises on this list are for the legs; the leg extension and a squat or leg press. I can see why he would say the leg extension because we all know that it is the best exercise for isolating the quads. I don’t love the exercise because of how it feels for me (someone with chronic knee pain), but if someone can perform the exercise without pain, then I have no problem with it. For the squat or leg press, they are some of the best leg exercises for progressive overload and to be able to move heavy weight. I know some people have trouble building big quads with squats, simply because they are forced into a forward lean due to a short torso and long femurs.

Dorian Yates then moves onto discussing the back with his choices being the Nautilus pullover and a lat pulldown. The Nautilus pullover is an exercise I love, as long as it’s done correctly. I’ve seen others perform this exercise incorrectly and I would implore them to use the pads and drive the movement through with their elbows as opposed to their hands. While I love lat pulldowns, I would opt for a seated cable row because it is so versatile that you can change what areas of your back you can target. Elbows narrow and close to your sides, you will be effectively targeting the lats. For the upper back and rear delts (a muscle that doesn’t get enough attention), you would simply need to widen your grip and flare your elbows.

For the chest, Dorian Yates says some sort of bench press movement and a fly movement. If you are trying to build the most muscle possible and not focusing solely on strength, then a dumbbell bench press is the way to go. And if you are going to choose a variation, then I would say that the incline press is the best choice. This is because of the amount of stimulation your chest gets when performing it as well as targeting the upper chest, an area that most people are lacking development in. For the fly movement, I would avoid dumbbell bench flys and opt instead for something like a cable crossover. While you are getting the same movement, it is safer for your anterior shoulder capsule, but you can get greater adduction.

Dorian Yates moves onto shoulders next, opting to avoid a pressing movement because he’s already included the bench press, choosing dumbbell lateral raises. He says he prefers dumbbells because of a more natural plane of movement. Now, I wholeheartedly agree with his choice of a lateral raise here, as when viewed from the front, the middle delts present that capped appearance and add width to your shoulders.

Onto the calves, Dorian Yates’ choice here is the standing calf raise. To avoid contribution of the achilles tendon to the movement, we have to remove the ballistic nature of the exercise. Instead of bouncing your way through the exercise, slow it down throughout the entire movement and add a 4 second pause on the stretched and contracted positions.

For the biceps, his choice is the concentration curl. I would opt for something different here; some sort of strict curl, cheat curl, or strict into cheat drop set. I think that overloading the biceps with heavy weight is the best option for growing the biggest biceps possible and has been my choice for my biceps since the early days of my training.

Finally, the triceps. Here, Dorian Yates chooses the triceps pushdown. I would choose the lying triceps extension simply because it more effectively targets the long head of the triceps. This area, when properly developed, adds substantial size to the upper arm and really rounds out triceps development.

If you are looking for a complete workout program that includes these exercise choices that I agree with and the substitutions that I offer, then head to athleanx.com via the link above.

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Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).