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 By: Kris Gethin
It was a sunny afternoon in Venice, California and a monsoon of torment was about to riddle Marika Johansson's legs as if they had just been diced up in bite sized portions and served in a dirty ashtray. The grief and suffering was being administered by "The Shadow" Dorian Yates and he was h#ll bent on inflicting pain that anywhere else would be otherwise be deemed illegal.
  Click To Enlarge. Dorian Yates And Marika Johansson At Gold's Gym.
Leg extensions were burdened after Yates had instructed his protégé to warm up on a stationary bike for ten minutes before conducting some muscle activation techniques. In typical Yates style, two warm-up sets were used on the chain driven apparatus to fire blood into the muscle before exploding into a single "Blood and Guts" set.
 Click To Enlarge. Marika Performing Leg Extensions. FLEX magazines senior writer - Greg Merritt looked on as Marika's nostrils flared as she sucked in oxygen in preparation of the grueling torture that lay ahead. "One, two, push," yelled Yates to initiate the first rep. "Don't throw it, use your quads," was "The Shadow's" follow up demand. At the 12 rep count, Marika was visiting failure and from here to the 19th rep all placed in the hands of adrenalin, vapors of oxygen and the taunts coming from the six-time Mr. Olympia. The set was complete and this was just the beggining.
 Click To Enlarge. This Was Just The Beggining. "Do you remember me?" said a passer by to Yates as he walked around the abused leg extension. "No," was Yates's stern reply. Upon reminding him who he was, Dorian acknowledged his familiarity before telling him in no fancy terms "OK, I can't f@ck about, I'm training this woman," before pointing Marika in the direction of the leg press.
Yours truly was burdened with the job of loading plates on to the machine due to Dorian's lack of enthusiasm. The reason being, he had only recently undergone shoulder surgery which was still as fragile as Cindy Crawford sentenced to be Branch Warren's training partner. Following two warm-up sets and more plates thrown onto the leg press and after a minute or so, Yates turned to me and asked where his Swedish student had disappeared. "I think she went to the rest room," I smiled. "No pissing during the workout," said the Shadow as his cadet returned to her post. Sitting in the declined seat, Johansson placed her feet at shoulder distance apart, slightly pointing out and gazing into the plates fully aware that she was about to be reunited with convulsing discomfort once again.
 Click To Enlarge. She Was About To Be Reunited With Convulsing Discomfort Once Again. When the weights sled was un-racked there was no turning back. Yates barked into Johansson's ear words of encouragement as she battled her way to muscle meltdown. She shuddered her way to the destined 12th rep before her trainer ordered an extra forced rep. At the command of 13 repetitions, Yates shouted "safe," instructing she could rack the weight and that he had finished with her limp body for the time being.
The king of leg mutation - squats, was the next exercise read out on the Shadows roster. After one warm up it was time to dive in like a Muscle-Tech ad interrupting a decent editorial. "Nice and tight, keep your whole body tight," shouted Yates. "One set, last chance," was his follow up reminder as she lifted the bar up from it supports.
 Click To Enlarge. "Nice And Tight, Keep Your Whole Body Tight" Shouted Yates. Dorian stood close at the half way point knowing that Marika's legs could collapse under the bar at any point. "Come on, through the roof," sneered her dictator as she forced out her 13th and final rep. Gasps of air made themselves present as the Swedish blonde staggered to a nearby resting home. "That's it for quads, now we rest for 5 to 10 minutes before hitting the hamstrings," said Yates.
 Click To Enlarge. "Come On, Through The Roof," Sneered Her Dictator.
We walked back to pole position where the madness started, and that was next to the leg extension where the chain driven hamstring curl machine sat, almost quaking in fear. "I like this machine, this one is the best and I have one the same in Temple gym," quipped Dorian. A mirror pattern that followed all before presented itself once again - one warm up and it was time for the all-out explosive set. "I want you to pause at the top to gain full contraction and lower it down slowly," said a stone faced Dorian.
Beads of sweat ran down her arms as I captured images of her pain riddled face with Yates serving as my backdrop. "Don't throw it up, only use your hamstrings," were the yells directed to Marika and on the fifth repetition she seemed like she was struggling like Superman after having kryptonite spread on his morning toast. From here on in, it was only the barks from the six time Mr. Olympia that gave Johansson the strength to crawl to the eighth rep.
Stiff-legged deadlifts were served as the last course on the menu for today's buffet of brutality. Dorian softly instructed Marika to keep her back arched, butt out and head up as she progressed through her warm up set, however, the interrogation began when she commenced her working and final set.
 Click To Enlarge. Stiff-Legged Deadlifts Were Served As The Last Course. "OK, let's finish this right and fire those hamstrings," was exerted from the figure standing behind and breathing down her neck. Although Johansson's legs were stiff as instructed, they were shaking from the intense weight and the appetizer, main and desert of destruction that was dished out onto her submissive muscles. On the 11th rep there were only scraps of energy left and they were used to sand upright after she slammed the weights to the floor.
The torment had surprisingly enough only taken 40 minutes but it is this time target that Yates had focused on during his Olympia reign. "Bodybuilding is all about intensity and efficiency," said Yates at the conclusion of the workout. 40 minutes, four times per week, six Olympia trophies in the Yates household. We need not say anymore.
 Click To Enlarge. Bodybuilding Is All About Intensity And Efficiency.
Click The Play Button To Start The Video.  Marika's Nutrition Plan The Last Week Leading Into Her Show.
Meal 1: Meal 2: Meal 3: (Pre workout meal) Meal 4: (post workout meal) Meal 5: Meal 6: Meal 7: Meal 8:
 Click To Enlarge. Marika Johansson At The 2006 Europa.
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