Yates is considered to be the first of the "mass monsters" in bodybuilding. He combined his enormous muscle mass along with peak conditioning, quoted as being "granite hardness". He believes that his injuries are due to his habit of maintaining an extreme level of training intensity all year long, even when approaching contests, while being on a severely restricted "cutting" diet which weakens the body overall. Regarding the use of PEDs, he referenced the documentary "Super Size Me" and stated that eating three McDonald's meals a day is more harmful for the metabolism than his 12 years of regular steroid use.