Tom Platz: Profile – Height, Workout And Diet

Tom Platz is a retired professional bodybuilder from the USA. He competed in the 1970s and the 1980s era of bodybuilding and produced some memorable performances against the elite crop of bodybuilders. He is recognized specially for the lower body development and many consider his legs to be the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in the sport’s history. This article explores Tom Platz’s biography, workout routine, diet as well as statistics.

Tom Platz Statistics

Tom Platz Biography

Early Life

Thomas Steven Platz was born on June 26, 1955 in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA. He developed a passion for muscle building when he was a kid and it changed the course of his life. Platz came across a picture of Dave Draper and Betty Weider when he was only nine years old. He wanted to transform himself into a strong and muscular individual and started lifting weights.

When he was 11 years old, Platz looked up the Mr. Universe magazine and he felt the desire to become one himself. The image of a muscular and lean physique was etched on his mind that moment onwards. Watching bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger do their best work in the 1970s filled young Tom with motivation to pursue the sport with determination and focus.

Tom Platz’s father firmly supported his son’s decision to become a bodybuilder. He started training Tom and his two younger siblings in the basement of their house. The family worked with a modest setup during this time. Tom Platz remembers learning to do bench press while lying down on the floor. 

He did basic exercises to gain strength and muscle. Surprisingly, he never trained legs in this initial phase of training. Platz was born with a lower back issue and doing squats was uncomfortable for him. Additionally, his peers told him that squats are best avoided as they can hurt the back and grow the butt disproportionately big.

Little did anyone know that Tom Platz would go on to build one of the best lower bodies in the history of the sport!

Elevating the physique to next level

Over the next four years, Tom Platz built a respectable physique using the basic movements learned from his father. When he was 15, Platz moved to Kansas City to get a job as a gym instructor. Although he was underage to be legally employed, the gym owner hired him to attract more clients looking at Tom’s physique.

Tom Platz started interacting with the lifters coming to the gym and over the next couple of years, these interactions gave a new direction to his bodybuilding journey.  A couple of serious lifters coming to the gym showed him the right technique of doing squats and Tom Platz started incorporating them in his workouts.

He did short workouts initially with lighter weights but it still remained a secondary aspect of his training. After moving to Detroit, Tom Platz started training at Armento’s gym where many Olympic lifters, like Norb Schemansky, trained.

Schemansky’s friends and training partners taught correct squatting techniques to Tom Platz and his legs soon turned solid and thick. The Olympic lifters there had a keen eye and they realized that Tom Platz’s legs were genetically gifted to grow massive and fast.

Prior to this, Platz was known for being someone with a massive upper body with well defined chest and back but skinny legs. It was in Detroit that the veteran bodybuilder learned to perform hack squats as well.

The leg training principles and knowledge stuck with Tom Platz after he moved to Los Angeles as well. By this time, he had learned to separate the wheat from the chaff and ignored unformed opinions about squats.

Career

Early steps into professional bodybuilding

Tom Platz did not stop at just building a massive physique with the right training and lifestyle. He pursued the bodybuilding career with full force. The young phenom acquired a Bachelor’s degree in Science Physiology as well as a Masters degree in Fitness Science. He pursued MBA from the University of California and led a successful career as a professional bodybuilder, professor and director of a famous company.

By the time he was 18 years old, Tom Platz started competing in amateur bodybuilding shows and got the IFBB Pro card after winning the 1978 World Amateur Championships in the middleweight division. He made a move to California after turning pro, building a legendary bodybuilding career in the years that followed.

Professional career

Tom Platz made his Olympia debut in the year 1978 with an eighth-place finish. 1980 was the most active competitive season of Platz’s professional bodybuilding career. He graced the stage four times that year and produced his best performance at the 1980 World Pro, a runner-up finish.

Tom Platz’s best attempt at the prestigious Mr. Olympia crown came in 1981 when he finished third behind winner Franco Columbu and runner-up Chris Dickerson.

Tom Platz competed on the Olympia stage four more times and finished inside the top ten on three of those occasions. He retired from competitive bodybuilding following a sixth-place finish at the 1987 Detroit Pro.

Although he never won the Mr. Olympia title, Tom Platz left a lasting legacy with memorable performances that will be remembered for a long time. Check out these 13 best bodybuilders who didn’t win the Mr. Olympia title.

Competition History

1978

• World Amateur Championships – 1st place
• USA World Qualifier – 1st place

1979

• Mr. Olympia – 8th place

1980

• World Pro – 2nd place
• Grand Prix Pennsylvania – 10th place
• Night of Champions – 12th place
• Mr. Olympia – 9th place

1981

• Mr. Olympia – 3rd place

1982

• Mr. Olympia – 6th place

1984

• Mr. Olympia – 9th place

1985

• Mr. Olympia – 7th place

1986

• Mr. Olympia – 11th place

1987

• Detroit Pro – 6th place

Tom Platz Workout

At the peak of his career, Tom Platz had a massive and incredible physique complete in all aspects. He had great proportions, muscle mass, definition and excellent conditioning to put it all together. But his lower body was a work of art and many consider it to be one of the absolute best in this history of the sport.

The enviable lower body gave Tom Platz nicknames like ‘The Quadfather’ and ‘Quadzilla’.

As mentioned before, Tom Platz’s interaction with Olympic lifters in Detroit was a major catalyst in his lower body development. He learned the right way of training the lower body during that time but it was not the only reason for his growth.

Tom Platz had trained his mind and tricked it into pushing beyond the boundaries. For instance, Platz would tell his mind that he has shorter than he actually was. He would also wear high socks while squatting to create an illusion of shorter legs. By doing this, he tricked himself into believing that he did not have to lower down a lot and made the exercises feel easier.

Training Style

Tom Platz’s training style was pretty intense, even by the yesteryear standards. He pushed to failure and even went beyond the point of failure to force his body into growing big. He termed it ‘freaky style training’.

In his twenties, Platz took the freak factor in his training to a whole new level and trained twice a day, targeting each body part two times every week. He trimmed down the intensity a little bit after entering the 30s and followed a four-days-on and one-day-off training routine.

By this time, his lower body had far outgrown the upper body. As a result, Platz trained legs only twice per month, focusing on bringing his upper body at par with the legs.

He was not concerned with the number of sets, per se, and focused on training beyond failure. Additionally, Tom Platz adhered to the exercises that worked well for his body and experimented with new ones when he felt that an exercise was not the best bet for him.

Training week

In the 1980s, Tom Platz worked out four days a week. He squeezed back and chest training in one day. He would start the day with a chest workout and perform the back workout late in the night. Other than that, the veteran bodybuilder dedicated a day each for shoulders, arms and leg training. He took the fifth day off and repeated the cycle once again.

Platz performed both isolation and compound exercises for complete development of the physique. He primarily relied on free weight and basic machines to get the work done.

A typical training week in Tom Platz’s training routine looked like this:

Chest – Day 1 (Morning)

Back – Day 1 (Evening)

Shoulders (Day 2)

Arms (Day 3)

Legs (Day 4)

Check out the full Tom Platz Leg Workout to train like a champion.

Abs (on any day)

Tom Platz Diet

Tom Platz was disciplined with his dietary habits and made sure that he ate the correct foods in correct quantities and at correct time to fuel his massive and muscular physique.

Platz’s diet was high in protein and he ate small meals frequently throughout the day to sustain the energy levels. Platz trained intensely and burned a high number of calories throughout the week. As a result, he had to eat a high-calorie diet that was rich in other macro and micronutrients as well.

Typically, a full day of eating in Tom Platz’s routine during his competitive years looked like this:

Meal 1 (Pre-workout meal)

• 2 Slices of Whole Grain Toast with Butter and Jelly
• Juice or Milk
• Coffee
• Supplements

Lunch (After workout)

• 3 to 6 Eggs
• Hamburger Patty
• Sliced Tomatoes
• Juice
• 2 Slices of Whole Grain Bread

Snacks

• Cheese and Crackers
• 1 glass of Milk

Dinner

• Large Prime Rib Salad with Cottage Cheese and Nuts
• Bread and Butter
• Piece of Pie or Ice Cream, Coffee or Milk

Snacks

• Ice Cream Pints or Bag of Nuts

To Conclude…

Tom Platz is a shining example of someone that constantly kept learning and adding new facets to his physique. From being someone that was known for disproportionately underdeveloped legs to transforming into one with a great lower body, Platz showed that you have to keep an open mind and learn to adapt.

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