Squeezing out every possible rep is what turned Dorian Yates into a six-time Mr. Olympia bodybuilding champion. In a recent Instagram reel on Oct. 31, 2025, he bashed the idea of reps in reserve and underscored that muscle growth comes from achieving failure.

“My opinion on ‘reps in reserve’… Like I’ve said before, I only know where 0 and 100 are. Just train hard to failure. Training does NOT need to be complicated.”

Yates rose to stardom thanks to his iconic ‘Blood and Guts’ workouts throughout his career. He adopted principles from the late Arthur Jones and Mike Mentzer , two specialists who were known for intense training methods. “The Shadow” didn’t hammer joints with junk reps and volume; he maximized results on each set, regularly achieving failure.

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