Tom Platz – The King of Quads
Tom Platz arguably had the most insane legs of all time (and still does based off recent video footage!). If this name doesn’t ring a bell for you, you have been missing out on something great all your life. Platz is a golden-era bodybuilder and stepped on the Mr. Olympia stage along with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Tom’s legs got the way they were because of his insane workouts. We’re sure you might have seen hundreds, if not more, workout videos, but you’ll never have seen anything like the Tom Platz leg workouts.
If you’re one of those people who despise leg days and can’t find the motivation to train your wheels, watching a Tom Platz training video before hitting your legs can be the motivation you so badly need.
Tom Platz loved squatting and swore by the exercise. He considered squats to be the best leg exercise and relied heavily on them in his leg workouts. After squats, he preferred hack squats and sissy hack squats.
Many of us mortals might get light headed just thinking about the volume of squats he performed. All of us can learn a lot about squatting and having a better form by following Platz’s principles.
How Many Can You Do?
We’re sure you might be doing leg extensions and leg curls in your workouts, but have you ever done these exercises the way Platz does them? Chances are, Tom Platz is the only person who does them the way he does and that’s why he has the legs he has.
In your next leg workout, get yourself a spotter, but instead of asking him for support, tell him to add resistance to your reps. Adding external resistance to the weights will fill your muscles with blood and lactic acid, giving you a gorging pump.
Taking it to the Extreme
Tom Platz has a very different view about training than many of his peers. Listen to him talk and you’ll realize he’s all about hitting failure with every set. There is nothing called overtraining in his dictionary.
At the same time, in his bodybuilding days, Platz’s leg workouts were so intense that he only trained his legs twice a month. Tom’s range of motion while performing his exercises is something we all can learn.
Platz – The Trainer
You can take a bodybuilder of out bodybuilding, but you can’t take the bodybuilding out of a bodybuilder. Tom Platz now spends his time training people and we can all access his infinite bodybuilding wisdom through these videos.
Before a workout, you never know how many reps Platz is going to do or how many reps he’s going to make his trainees do. He’s all about going until the body can’t take any more. Platz didn’t believe in making his workouts look beautiful. Tom believed if he made his exercises look nasty, his wheels would turn out nasty as well. He was right!
Some Squatting Tips to Take Away
Always keep your back straight while squatting. Don’t bend forward as it puts more tension on your lower back and glutes and recruits less of your quads. Squeeze and keeps your quads tight throughout the exercise.
While squatting, make your nose your pivot point. Your nose should go straight down perpendicular to the ground as you squat. It should be like jumping straight into a swimming pool. If your nose looks like you’re diving into the pool, you’re doing it wrong.
To wrap things up, look at this video of Tom Platz doing 23 reps with 525lbs on the bar. Platz has a smile on his face all throughout the set. This shows how much he loves what he does. Before we part, always remember, you’ve got five more left in you.
Who has the best legs in the bodybuilding industry in your opinion? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
*Header image courtesy of Tom Platz YouTube.