The Tom Platz leg workout built the best legs of all time. It’s nothing fancy, just old-school work. Do you have what it takes?
In the history of bodybuilding, a few names stand out as having had a massive impact on lifting culture. Of course, Arnold is the big one. Nearly every gym in America has an Arnold poster or two on the wall. But some less obvious guys like Mike Mentzer and Frank Zane are still relevant in their own way, too.
Yet none of them own a body part—not even Arnold. Tom Platz is leg training. Even though it’s been nearly 40 years since he last competed, his legs are still the standard.
The question is, how did he do it? How did he build the most impressive legs of all time? Let’s dig in and find out.
Tom Platz Leg Workout
The preparation started days in advance. Before stepping foot in the gym, Tom visualized what he would do. He performed the squat reps in his head, down to the smallest detail, long before putting his body through it. So, when the time came to load up the bar, there were no surprises.
Back Squat
An interesting point about Tom’s background is that he trained with Olympic lifters in the early 1970s. That experience significantly influenced how he squatted – high bar, upright, and deep. Working with Olympic lifters also taught him the benefits of proper footwear. Nowadays, it’s common to see people in the gym wearing shoes with elevated heels, but that wasn’t the case in the 1980s.
So, after lacing up his squat shoes, it was off to the rack for 8 to 10 sets, not including warm-ups. Tom would start light for higher reps and work up to a top set of squats for 5 or 6 reps. Make no mistake: squatting was the most important part of the workout. These sets were brutal.
Hack Squat
After barbell back squats, Platz moved on to hack squats. He took off the elevated heels for these and put on skater shoes (like Vans) for the rest of the workout. The hack squat technique was pretty funky. The best way to describe it is it looks like a sissy squat with the heels together, squatting up on your toes and your knees coming forward. Doing them this way maximizes quad involvement, specifically the vastus lateralis. If you want to try hack squats this way, start with light weights.
Leg Extension and Leg Curl
The last two exercises for the thighs were leg extensions and leg curls. You’ve probably never seen anyone go harder in the gym than Tom Platz does on leg extensions and curls. He pushed every set to failure and beyond. The reps were explosive and had an exaggerated range of motion. You have to watch it to understand it. Once he did as many reps as possible, he would have a partner assist in getting a few extra, moving the weight until it was completely motionless. The last few “reps” barely budge.
Calves
Tom’s calf training was nothing revolutionary from an exercise selection standpoint – he did standing and seated calf raises like everyone else. He often trained his calves twice a week, once using higher reps (15-20) and once using lower reps (10-15).
However, the one unique thing he did was static holds. After finishing up all of the working sets of calves, he would do one more set of a static hold. It consisted of loading up a standing or seated calf raise with a ton of weight and holding the contraction in the middle of the rep range for as long as he could.
The Tom Platz Leg Workout
- Back Squat: 8-10 sets x 5-20 reps
- Hack Squat: 5 sets x 10-15 reps
- Leg Extension: 5-8 sets x 10-15 reps
- Lying Leg Curl: 6-10 sets x 10-15 reps
- Standing Calf Raise: 3-4 sets x 10-20 reps
- Seated Calf Raise: 3-4 sets x 10-20 reps
How You Can Train Legs Like Tom Platz
Success often comes down to more than the workout you see written on paper. You can follow the Tom Platz leg workout, but you have to do more than that to get Tom Platz results. We have already discussed some of Platz’s principles, but I want to highlight a few things that stand out.
Squat Technique
Listen up. If you came here looking for the single biggest reason Tom Platz had massive legs, it was his squat technique. One of the key aspects of Tom Platz’s leg workout is the unique way he squatted. The secret was not in the exercise selection but in the exercise execution. When you watch Platz squat, it is a thing of beauty. He practically perfected it – high bar, upright, close stance, knees over toes, and deep. It’s an Olympic Weightlifting squat.
Although Platz is known for some crazy feats of squat strength (405 lbs x 50 reps and 525 lbs x 23 reps), I want you to forget about the weight and learn how to squat correctly. If you have to do a bunch of sets with 135 pounds for a while, that’s okay.
Prepare For Leg Day
As mentioned, for Tom Platz, preparing for leg day didn’t start by mixing up a pre-workout supplement. It started days ahead of time. He would visualize and rehearse the leg workout, specifically the sets of squats he planned on doing in the days leading up to the session. By the time he got under the bar, he had already performed those sets multiple times in his head.
You don’t have to go to the same lengths to mentally prepare as Platz did, but having a concrete plan of what you will do in the gym is beneficial. Taking it a step further, when you pull up to the gym, take a minute while sitting in your car to visualize yourself crushing sets of squats before walking in.
In addition to visualization, he would have pizza or a pasta dish the night before the leg workout for the extra calories and carbs. Leg workouts take a lot of energy. If you have high-calorie days built into your diet, having them the day before or the day of leg day makes sense.
Train With High Volume
The first thing you probably noticed about the Tom Platz leg workout is volume. Yeah, it’s a lot. But that’s old-school bodybuilding. The good news is that it’s only four exercises, not including the calf work. Within that is the actual message. Platz did the four leg exercises he felt worked the best. You rarely saw him doing leg presses, deadlifts, or lunges. Instead, he would rather do more squats, hack squats, leg extensions, and leg curls.
The other lesson here is to avoid getting caught up in only doing three or four sets of exercises. It’s perfectly okay to do more than four sets if a movement feels good. The best leg progress I made was when I did seven or eight working sets of squats during my leg workout.
Put More Effort Than You Think Is Possible
Do you train hard? No, seriously, I want you to think about this for a second because after watching Tom Platz train, you might not even consider what you do in the gym lifting. His training intensity was beyond what you could even imagine. Tom Platz notoriously took sets to failure and beyond.
I’m not saying you need to act like a maniac in the gym. However, most of us, myself included, could train harder. The best way to do that is by focusing hard on beating the logbook. Every time you walk into the gym, your goal should be to beat yourself. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Only worry about what you did last time.
FAQs
How often did Tom Platz train legs?
Tom trained his quads and hamstring so hard that he only needed to hit them twice a month or every other week. However, he trained his calves twice a week.
How much can Tom Platz squat?
Although he was not a powerlifter, Platz is known for some crazy feats of strength. He squatted 225 lbs for ten minutes, 405 lbs for 50 reps, and 525 lbs for 23 reps.
Did Tom Platz only do high reps?
No, Tom Platz did both low and high reps. That said, he believes that high-rep training contributed most to his leg growth.
Is the Tom Platz leg workout suitable for beginners?
I recommend starting with less volume if you are a beginner.
Here is a modified version for a beginner or even intermediate lifter.
- Back Squat: 3 sets x 5-10 reps
- Hack Squat: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Leg Extension: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Lying Leg Curl: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Seated Calf Raise: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
Leg Day Legacy
Well, there you have it—the Tom Platz leg workout. It’s a lot of work on paper, but to execute it like Tom requires a level of intensity you probably have never gone to.
You might be surprised to learn that Tom Platz built the best legs in bodybuilding history with what looks like a basic workout. However, there was nothing basic about how he did it. That’s one of the take-home messages. In today’s lifting culture, a lot of attention is paid to exercise selection and programming. And for good reason, those things are important. However, technique and intensity are important, too. Never forget that.
For more Golden Era bodybuilding content, check out the Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout and Diet Program: https://kylehuntfitness.com/the-arnold-schwarzenegger-workout-and-diet-program/
Author: Kyle Hunt
Email: KyleHuntFitness@gmail.com
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