Mass monster Dorian Yates says he was so huge, he could not fit in an MRI machine after brutal tricep tear in 1997
Bodybuilding legend Dorian Yates is still remembered and respected by fans. Responsible for introducing the mass monster era in bodybuilding, it was Dorian who changed the standards of modern-day bodybuilding by presenting a physique so fine that no one back then could compete with him. Given his sheer size, however, the Englishman also faced a few problems.
Being a bodybuilder with such a huge frame comes with its struggles. Back in 1997, Yates was supposed to compete at the Mr. Olympia for the last time. Unfortunately, just weeks before the contest, he suffered a brutal tricep injury. In an attempt to get an assessment of how big the risk was to compete that year, Yates was supposed to go for an MRI scan. However, due to his insane size, he couldn't fit into a regular MRI machine.
During a recent conversation with Dr. Peter Attia, Dorian Yates said (via his YouTube channel):
"I couldn't assess fully the damage because at this point, they had in the UK the regular MRIs like a tunnel and I was big. I couldn't get in there right. So I had to wait to go to New York where they had an open MRI a week before the contests, so it was like a cross point, I had this injury and it was career-ending." (26:10)
"I had chronic tendonitis like pretty much all year around of training and I was trying to manage it you know anti-inflammatories ice and changing the exercises and everything and as it was chronic what I probably needed to do was like just not lift for a couple of months and get therapy and break the scar tissue down and you know but when you're at the top of the game you..where's the two months downtime that you can take you know at least you don't think you can I mean that's the mentality, he added." (24:00)
How did Dorian Yates still manage to compete that year?
Having faced enough doubts already during his career, Dorian Yates became an absolutely indestructible personality. Pushing through all the pain, he decided to compete at the 1997 Mr. Olympia. However, he had to make some tweaks to his training in order to prevent the injury from getting worse. The best thing that he believes he did was to not tell anyone about the tear.
Talking about how his training looked like, Dorian Yates said in the same interview:
"Just cardio on a bike..cardio on a bike um training the other side even posing I was very cautious because I didn't want to tense too hard and you know." (27:27)
The 62-year-old and his team also took guidance from physiotherapists who made sure that the bruise didn't turn too ugly.
"It was still black but we got the tanning lotion and everything and I disguise it as good as I can but yeah it was uh that was a challenge," he added.