# Tom Platz (quote on squatting)



## ZECH (Sep 23, 2002)

"I really believe attitude monitors talent. You have to take what you want. There has to be a certain amount of killer instinct present. You can't take no-grow for an answer. This strategy can be applied in any venture."

"Some people like to live without too much risk. They're satisfied leading a safe existence. This attitude of caution infiltrates into their goals. Every successful athlete - or businessperson - enjoys taking calculated risks. You have to. Especially in the gym when you're squatting 500 for reps and you can't get one more but grunt out ten. Your nose starts bleeding, you fall into the rack???and that's set one."

"I have thought about training sessions weeks in advance. For instance, if a big squat workout is scheduled for the middle of next month, I am aware of it as the days pass by. One-week prior I'll make sure not to walk too much or engage in any unnecessary activity. I used to plan my classes in college with minimum walking distance between them."

"After being taught sets and reps and working at it for a length of time you can't paint by numbers anymore. It must come from within. Any artist has an emotional contact with their work. A true bodybuilder doesn't just build muscle he creates muscle. You can't be a robot."

"The first thought that comes to mind when the sets become tough is that I cannot lose. I refuse to lose and be a failure. It's much more desirable to leave the gym saying, "I won!"

"It's not a competition between you and someone else. You may not do your best and still win. But when you are competing with yourself you have to beat your own record. When I was in my twenties I didn't think about it much, but when I was in my mid-thirties I came to realize my own mortality. Let me explain. In my twenties, after doing more reps than I had planned on a set of squats, I'd fall to the floor and cover my eyes. The light hurt them and it felt like there was someone stabbing knives into my legs. There was always severe oxygen debt, but I was confident I'd "come back". In my thirties I'd lie on the floor sometimes and think, "God damn! What if I don't come back?"

"Looking back, I do believe my drive to achieve this over-the-top intensity was, in a way, self-abusive. I wasn't out to kill myself. But when you're training that hard there is a certain amount of self-abuse. Normal people don't have to go through that. You don't drive a normal car excessively hard. A funny car, however, is pushed for all its worth to achieve every last bit of performance. But we learn a lot about our everyday cars from the drag strip. In the same way, we gain knowledge about the human body from pro athletes. Not everyone is psychologically able to be a pro athlete."

"I wasn't the biggest bodybuilder. There's no denying that I had some freaky bodyparts. But ultimately I think it was most important to me to relay the energy I found in the gym to those in the audience. Through my posing I wanted to change or add to the way people think about the gym experience."

"Arnold used to enjoy my intensity. He'd comment on the amount of energy I'd conjure up. But I played off the other people, too"

"When you promise yourself something, make a commitment, you can't give up. Because, when you're in the gym, you have to fulfill the promise you made to yourself. The people who can self motivate - in any field - are usually the ones who win. Regardless of talent."

"I used to like putting a little space between plates on the bar. They'd jingle when I came up out of a squat, making a deep-throated roar. The old 45s were the best. The sound would pass through my spine and ears. It was like a car engine revving up. It would help me time my movement. A cue to go down for the next rep."

"Six-hundred pounds (on squats) became a moderate-rep weight???One month before the '84 Olympia I did 635 for 12 reps."

"In 1993, I was just playing around with heavy weights. What we'd (him and Fred Hatfield) do is put over a grand on the bar, take it off the rack and just hold it for a count of ten or twenty. It's a great idea, but my spine couldn't handle it."

"In the process of training I'd find the exact moment of maximum tension within the muscle group and exploit it. I did what I did instinctually, and now scientific data backs it as a viable way to make muscle hypertrophy."

"I was built to squat."

"I don't believe in luck. Luck comes to men of action."

"The only aspect of my (bodybuilding) career I would change if I could would be to have calmed down a little in the offseason. I was just so enthusiastic."

"Sometimes your strongest attribute becomes an obstacle. The fact that you can focus and concentrate and nail something usually means you become very good at doing one thing at a time. The problem I've encountered is that I sometimes focus so much on one thing that I will forget everything else."

"The psychological tools I've gained from bodybuilding will never atrophy."


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## Tank316 (Sep 23, 2002)

cool read, the man had the legs didnt he, whew!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Arnold (Sep 23, 2002)

Excellent post! Where did you get this quote?

I met Tom back in the late eighties, he was one cool dude! Very down to earth, confident, but very polite and eager to meet everyone and pose for pictures (the best part was Tom was not trying to sell anything!) If I can find it, i will post my picture with him.

To this day he is one of few pro bodybuilders that I liked and am glad to say that I met. (and I have met many of them)


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## Golds_Soldier (Sep 23, 2002)

have u seen him lately?


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## Golds_Soldier (Sep 23, 2002)

He looks awsome!!!


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## Arnold (Sep 23, 2002)

he works for the ISSA >> http://www.issaonline.com/founders/

and here is his website >> http://www.tomplatz.com/

but, no I have not seen any current body pics of him.


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## miamiguns (Sep 23, 2002)

Tom is old school... is Brad new school?  This guy is awesomely huge!!

http://www.thinkmuscle.com/multimedia/video/


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## Arnold (Sep 23, 2002)

yeah, but Tom is legendary like Arnold, and Tom is one of the few bodybuilder's that's intelligent and educated!


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## Mudge (Sep 23, 2002)

One thing I love about metal plates is the jingle, makes you feel like your hefting a good load!

How many of us here really go balls to the wall, I am trying to re-teach myself to do that, and I'm not there yet, looking forward suffering in a couple hours 

Today's huge bodybuilders have access to some things that didn't yet exist way back when.


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## Arnold (Sep 23, 2002)

I used to, but age is creeping up on me and I fear injury.


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## Mudge (Sep 23, 2002)

This guy is strong, but he's half assing it.


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## Mudge (Sep 23, 2002)

Last I've seen of Tom's pix, he's a bit small now, at least in comparison (don't know what he looks like shirtless). He was maybe the original "Quadzilla" though, definately had the mind to push himself to the limits like a nutcase needs to in order to be successfull!


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## Dr. Pain (Sep 23, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by Mudge *_
> 
> 
> How many of us here really go balls to the wall,




In Squatting....I believe it's BALLS ON THE FLOOR! 


My Favorite Tom Quote:




> The squat rack is the Alter where ALL life begins!




Dr. Squat  (or somebody)  "



> The leg press was invented to keep the geeks away from the SQUAT RACK!!!



(I'm just quoting it, don't shoot the messenger) LOL 


DP


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## Mudge (Sep 23, 2002)

LoL... Dr.Squat apperantly works with Platz (Prince's link above).

I love the leg press, squats make me suffer


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## ZECH (Sep 25, 2002)

Prince this came off of Virtualmuscle.com.  Good site........


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## WINSTON (Jun 6, 2011)

heavy deep squats with increase libido in the long run . platz was built to squat . but if you have long legs and short torso its much more difficult . yates didnt squat much and had great thighs . so hard to say . squatting is still great . overall health . and put you in anabolic mdr great for muscle building . . athletic ability too .


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