T-Nation: Okay, so why squat in cycles?
Tate: One reason is because although the squat is one of the best exercises for mass, it's also one of the main exercises that people stick to way too long.
Let's say you hit an overtraining state. Diagnose that however you want: lack of progress, morning pulse rate, feeling like ****, whatever. If you're in that state and you're continuously putting a bar on your back, which is a load on your spine (and your spine is your central nervous system), then you're inhibiting your ability to recover from other training.
T-Nation: You know, a lot of hardcore people wouldn't think of not squatting for a period of weeks!
Tate: I think it's important. It's very apparent that there are times when you need to get the bar off your back. Every time I went through a phase where I took the bar off my back, my muscle hypertrophy increased significantly. Now, keep in mind the overtraining state was in effect, there were injuries in effect, and there was probably a year when I didn't have a bar off my back.
But I think that for every 12 to 16 weeks of squatting, you should go through a three week phase where you take the bar off your back. Now, with that three week break, I'm not saying you don't squat; maybe you use the belt squat, which we use a lot of. It's a belt squat machine that allows you to squat but there's no loading on your spine.
Also, when you're going through that phase, there are no good mornings or safety squat bar lifts either – no bar on your back whatsoever! What you're reduced to is a lot of glute-ham raises, a lot of hamstring and quad work, step-ups, lunges, and belt squats.
What you find is that your leg mass increases for two reasons. First, your body is able to begin recovery like it normally should. And second, you're using exercises that you probably haven't been using for the last 12 to 16 weeks.
, i plan on giving the book squat or powerlift squat a go in the next few months just to test Tate's idea, frankly it makes sense to me.