The biography, life, and accomplishments of Tom Platz
You may know him as the “Golden Eagle”, or “The Quadfather”, as he goes by many names relating to his appearance. Who are we talking about? None other than Tom Platz. One of the most infamous bodybuilders of the to 70s and 80s, he stepped on the Mr. Olympia stage multiple times, competing against some of the greats like the “Austrian Oak”, Arnold Schwarzenegger. To this day, Platz remains one of the most popular bodybuilders in the fitness industry for a variety of reasons.
Below is a complete breakdown of Tom Platz’s profile, stats, biography, training, and diet regimens.
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Full Name: Tom Platz |
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| Weight | Height | Date Of Birth |
| 225-235 lbs | 5’8″ | 1955 |
| Division | Era | Nationality |
| Bodybuilding | 1970, 1980 | American |
Tom Platz Biography
You may recognize him for his massive and shredded legs, which are still big even in his 60s, but Tom Platz’s story starts far before that, and he actually had an issue with his lower back that prohibited him from squatting early on in his career. He may be a public speaker and trainer now, but he actually started lifting back when he was just 9 years old. Platz saw a poster of Dave Draper and was inspired, so his father encouraged it and Tom began lifting in the basement using workouts his dad read to him, and Tom’s younger siblings practiced learning to count by counting Tom’s reps. At age 11, he had cemented the idea of becoming Mr. Universe in his mind, writing to Joe Weider asking for critiques of his physique. Back then, Joe Weider actually told Platz that he needed to work on his legs.
By the age of 15, Platz had moved to Kansas city had become a personal trainer. He was illegally employed but the trainer saw so much enthusiasm from Platz about lifting that he had to hire him. Once he was settled in as a trainer, he began to train his legs, learning to do squats properly. Although he was only able to do about 95 pounds for 3 sets of 10 reps, and he actually did not even enjoy doing legs, which left him with skinny legs.
When Tom moved again, this time to Detroit, he began going to a gym filled with Olympic lifters, who showed him how to really grow his legs. Through perfecting his form on squats and learning about the infamous hack squat, Platz really began to make tremendous progress on his leg size.
Tom Platz stated that he met Arnold Schwarzenegger, and told him that he would be moving out to Los Angeles to train at the infamous Gold’s Gym, amongst other bodybuilders, and he said that Arnold seemed to somewhat not believe him almost. Well, Platz eventually made it out to L.A. to train, after completing his degree in 1978. He had only $50 in his pocket, but by this point his sights were set on winning the Mr. Olympia contest. Surprisingly, he stated that not many people were utilizing the squat rack when training legs, as they said it made your waist and butt too large. This changed when he arrived on the scene, as Platz utilized it to the fullest extent.
He started competing upon making it out to the west coast, and he went on to do so many times after that.
Competition History
Despite never taking home a first place title, Tom Platz gave it his all and many argue that he should have had better placings throughout his career than he did. Let’s take a look at Tom Platz’s competition history:
Contests
- 1995 Honorary Mr. America – AAU
- 1987 Detroit Pro Invitational – IFBB, 6th
- 1986 Mr. Olympia – IFBB, 11th
- 1985 Mr. Olympia – IFBB, 7th
- 1984 Mr. Olympia – IFBB, 9th
- 1982 Mr. Olympia – IFBB, 6th
- 1981 Mr. Olympia – IFBB, 3rd
- 1980 World Pro Championships – IFBB, Mr. Universe
- 1980 Mr. Olympia – IFBB, 8th
- 1980 Night of Champions – IFBB, 12th
- 1979 Mr. Olympia – IFBB, 8th Place
- 1978 World Amateur Championships – IFBB Mr. Universe
- 1978 Mr. America – AAU, Short, 2nd
- 1977 Mr. Southeastern USA – AAU
- 1977 Mr. America – AAU, Short, 2nd
- 1976 Mr. America – AAU, Short, 3rd
- 1975 Mr. Michigan – AAU
- 1974 Junior & Senior State Powerlifting Championships – AAU, 220 Class Champ
- 1974 Teen Mr. America – AAU, 2nd
- 1973 Mr. Adonis – AAU
- 1973 Mr. Ironman – AAU
Training of Tom Platz
Tom Platz is very well known for his extremely intensive training, where he would give it his absolute all and take things to failure, much like Mike Mentzer and his Heavy Duty methods. He stated that he never wanted to leave the gym knowing he could have done more, and when you think you are finished you actually have about 5 more reps in you.
Many actually criticize Platz’s mentality and training methods, stating that it is just all junk volume and no one can actually complete anything close to that unless you are on massive amounts of anabolic steroids. However, Tom Platz has come out about his steroid cycle which allegedly was only two compounds. So, that somewhat proves that the hard work and dedication to his intense training goes a long way, regardless of what is in your system.
His most famous training took place on his leg days. You can see videos of him doing insane amounts of reps on the squat, and doing crazy movements on the hack squat, as well as taking all of his sets on accessories to absolute failure. That being said, let’s take a look at Tom Platz’s actual leg routine.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Squats | 8-12 | 5-50 |
| Hack squat | 5 | 10-15 |
| Leg extension | 5-8 | 10-15 |
| Lying hamstring curl | 6-10 | 10-15 |
| Standing calf raise | 3-4 | 10-15 |
| Seated calf raise | 3-4 | 10-15 |
Nutrition
Standing at 5’8″ but weighing well over 200 lbs of mostly muscle mass is a huge accomplishment, and Tom knew that nutrition was a huge part of that. Like most bodybuilders, Tom Platz stayed on diet making sure to get in a good amount of protein as well as fats and carbs to fuel his intense workouts, as well as recover properly from them.
Below is a breakdown of Tom Platz’s daily meals:
AM (Before he trained ): Two Pieces of whole grain toast with butter and jelly, juice or milk, coffee Supplements
Lunch (After training): Three to six eggs, Hamburger patty, sliced tomatoes , juice, two pieces of bread
Snack: Cheese and crackers a glass of milk
Dinner: Very large prime rib salad (with cottage cheese, nuts,) Bread and butter Piece of pie of ice cream , coffee or milk
Snack: Evening Couple pints of ice cream or bag of nuts
Life After Bodybuilding
Outside of bodybuilding, Tom Platz is married to Cha Nikito-Platz, and he is still is heavily involved in the fitness industry, passing on his knowledge and training methods to younger generations. In August of 2023, he was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy, impacting the nerves in one side of his face. However, he is still going strong, calling out the supplement industry for the amount of hidden ingredients that you can find in things like protein powders, creatines, and other supplements that are supposed to have “transparent” labels. Instead, he Platz claims he still focuses on all whole foods in his diet.
Tom Platz Wrap Up
Overall, Tom Platz is one of the most influential and well known bodybuilders of all time. Although he is known for his massive legs, he did not always have those. Platz worked hard for everything he had, and his mentality behind it all is what we can really take away from this and apply to our every day lives.
What do you think of Tom Platz?
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