Golden Era Thigh Training

In the Footsteps of Legends - Part 6: Upper Leg Training

Golden Era Training Secrets, Tips, Techniques, Methods, and Workouts for Building Massive, Symmetrical, and Defined Thigh Muscles

     We have reached the 6th, and penultimate, part of my on-going series on the training methods and workouts of the golden era bodybuilders, the champions of the ‘70s and ‘80s.  Although not necessary, it would be helpful to read the other parts before you delve into this one.  At the very least, read the first two parts, which cover the “overall” golden era methodologies (though Part 2 also covers shoulder training).  If you’re interested, here are the links:

Part One - Overview of golden era training

Part Two - Methods not discussed in part one along with shoulder training

Part Three - Chest training

Part Four - Back training

Part Five - Arm training

     After this one, I will conclude the series with a final article on calves and abdominals.  Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get right into the thigh training methods of the golden era, the training that they utilized to build large and detailed quads and hamstrings.

     Golden era thigh training, much like the workouts they used for their other muscle groups, largely centered around barbell movements with a few machine exercises thrown in, as well.  Unlike the training for their other bodyparts, however, thigh training included a few unique aspects, such as higher reps.

     As we’ve seen, golden era bodybuilders used a wide variety of different training methods but if there was one overarching theme it would be that of high-volume training along with fast-paced workouts.  As with the other articles in the series, I’ll start with the exercises favored by our old-school forebears and then move on to the methods afterwards.

The Movements That Made the Thigh Muscles

     Here are the primary exercises that golden era champs used for building their thighs.  Although you would occasionally see a few different movements, I think it’s safe to say that these were the main exercises.

Barbell Back Squats

     By the 1990s, the leg press—which we’ll look at shortly—had probably overtaken the squat as the #1 quad movement for building massive thighs, at least among the elite pro bodybuilders.  But from the ‘70s (and before) throughout the entirety of the ‘80s, the good, “ol’ fashioned” barbell back squat was the exercise for the quads.  But the squat wasn’t just seen as a leg movement, it was (quite rightly, I must add) the one movement that ruled all others when it came to building total mass, strength, and power for the whole body.  Nothing has changed to this day, since it’s still the best movement one can do if he’s looking for added muscle mass.

     The squat exploded onto the lifting scene going back to the 1930s, when one of the original “bodybuilding trainers”, Mark Berry, touted high-repetition back squats as being the solitary movement capable of packing on mass in a very short period of time.  His pupil, J.C. Hise, became an overnight sensation when in (I believe) 1932 he gained an astounding 30 pounds in one month by combining 20-rep squats (using the heaviest weights possible) coupled with eating an enormous amount of food.  The story of Berry’s and Hise’s methods were renewed in the late ‘80s with the publication of Dr. Randall Strossen’s book Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks.  But before that book hit the bodybuilding book shelves, the champs of the ‘70s and ‘80s knew that barbell squats were necessary for gaining mass, building an impressive physique, and growing massive thighs.

     Squats, and other leg movements, as we’ll see, were usually done with higher repetitions than other muscle groups by the golden era legends.  That was probably from the influence of Berry’s squatting methods, as they were well-known by all of the old-school bodybuilders of the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s.

     The barbell squat was typically performed with a high-bar and a close-stance.  The technique was more reminiscent of how weightlifters trained the back squat compared to powerlifters.  The one technique that varied, depending on the bodybuilder, was the use of a block or something else to elevate the heels.  Tom Platz, because he started off as an Olympic weightlifter and learned how to squat from weightlifters, squatted flat-footed.  Arnold, on the other hand, liked to squat with his heels elevated, using a small block under his feet.  Some bodybuilders, instead of using a block, simply squatted in shoes with a heel, though most preferred a flat-soled shoe or trained sans footwear at all.  If you watch Pumping Iron, or look at some old photos of Arnold training legs, you’ll notice that he trained barefoot.  That was not uncommon for a lot of the golden era lifters.

     I think that the best example of squatting from the golden era, and this probably won’t surprise you, is Platz.  If you duplicate his form, you’ll build big legs and gain plenty of whole-body mass.  But no matter how exactly you decide to squat—high or low bar, close or medium stance, heels elevated or flat—be sure that you squat deep, ass-to-the-grass, as I always like to write.  That kind of squatting will not only develop your quads, but will develop complete thighs, as it works your hamstrings, as well.  Look at the legs of weightlifters as opposed to many powerlifters.  A powerlifter may or may not have big legs, but a weightlifter always has well-developed thighs.  It comes from the closer stance, the flat heels, the higher bar placement, and the deep, butt to calves, squat.

     The barbell back squat was used by Arnold, Sergio Oliva, Serge Nubret, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu, and Ken Waller (who had great legs; he's next to Arnold in the photo at the top) in the ‘70s and Haney, Gaspari, Christian, Bannout, and Platz (obviously), in the ‘80s.  Another bodybuilder who had great legs and utilized the squat as his primary leg movements was Albert Beckles, but I mention him last for the fact that he was competitive in the ‘60s through the ‘90s!  No, you didn’t read that wrong.  Beckles had fantastic upper legs, came in 2nd at the ‘84 Mr. Olympia when he was 55 years old and won the IFBB Niagara Falls Pro Invitational when he was 61!  If that’s not a reason to squat (and train in the first place) then I don’t know what is.

Hack Squats

     The hack squat has a long history in bodybuilding.  Originally, before there were squat racks which made heavy barbell back squats an impossibility, these were done with a barbell.  “Old-school” barbell hack squats are still a good movement.  You do them by squatting down and picking a barbell placed behind you off the ground.  However, by the time of the golden era, these were done with a machine.  Machine hack squats are meant to mimic the movement of the barbell version by placing the load more directly on the quadriceps.

     In addition to back squats, this was the second most-used movement that Platz trained to build his massive legs.  He, like other golden era lifters, would often turn it into a pseudo-sissy squat by letting his heels come off of the platform.  This was a technique also used by Vince Gironda who, rather notoriously (and it’s about my only big disagreement with the “Iron Guru”), didn’t like the barbell back squat.

Lunges

     Another old-school favorite that has fallen slightly out of favor, replaced by newer, “shinier” machine movements for the thighs, was the barbell lunge.  I’ve always included lunges in my strength and power programs, even though, again, I’ve had a bit of “hate” from some other strength coaches who consider it an almost worthless movement.  But I included it, and still do, in most of my programs because my mentor, Bill Starr, always included it in his 5x5, heavy-light-medium programs once the lifter moved past the “beginner” stage.  But bodybuilders always included it, too.  Danny Padilla, Arnold, Rich Gaspari, and Paul Jean-Guillaume favored the movement, usually as the 2nd or 3rd exercise in their workouts.

Sissy Squats

      The sissy squat was the favorite movement of the aforementioned Gironda.  Programs such as his 6x6 routine only included the sissy squat for the quadriceps.  Most of the golden era champs, on the other hand, used this as more of a finisher once they had already done two, three, or four compound movements beforehand.  The only exception to this was the old-school bodybuilders who favored a “pre-exhaustion” method of training, where they would start their workout with either leg extensions or sissy squats before moving on to the back squat or other movements.

Leg Extensions

     Leg extensions, once again, usually as a finisher, were used by all golden era bodybuilders.  If there was one machine movement that they utilized for their quads, it was this.  The key to making the leg extension work, like all exercises, of course, lies in the use of correct form.  Make sure you utilize a leg extension machine that allows you to start each repetition with a deep stretch on the quads and finish with an intense contraction at the top.  In other words, a full range of motion.  Some leg extensions, particularly ones I’ve seen in home gyms, don’t allow for the deep stretch at the bottom of the movement, but it’s paramount for growing large, detailed thighs.

     Many of the golden era champs, as with other leg movements, liked to use much higher reps on these compared to other exercises.  Platz would sometimes do sets of 100 reps on them!  You may not need to go quite that high with your reps, but I think sets done in the 20-30 rep range should be used on a regular basis as part of your thigh training.

Leg Presses

     I’m not sure if you see them in gyms these days—as I’ve written before, I haven’t trained regularly in a commercial gym since the previous century—but the very first leg press that I worked out on was an old-school, vertical leg press machine.  You laid on your back beneath the weight stack on the leg press with your feet placed on the press and facing towards the ceiling of the gym.  When you read about 1970s bodybuilders doing the leg press, it’s this version of the leg press that they are talking about. This old-school machine was based on, believe it or not, the barbell leg press. Before there were leg press machines, back particularly in the so-called bronze era of lifting, trainees would lie on their backs, feet up in the air, and a training partner would place a barbell across their feet. Don't try that at home, kids.

     By the ‘80s, the vertical leg press waned in popularity and was replaced with the version still most-used in today’s gyms, the 45-degree leg press machine.  Both of them are good compound movements.  I also think that once you have already built a good amount of muscle—you know, you actually look as if you lift weights—you can substitute this for the back squat.  That doesn’t mean that you should move away from the barbell squat entirely.  The squat will always be the best barbell exercise on the planet.  Sorry, that’s just the way it is, but there are some benefits to the leg press at that point.  It will allow you to take pressure off of your lower back and really focus more on your quads.  It also allows you to do all that high-rep leg training without having to worry about your form breaking down.  Unlike in modern gyms, however, the leg press wasn’t the foundational quad movement of the golden era.  I’ve placed it last among quadriceps exercises for just that reason.

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

     Now, we will look at the primary hamstring exercises used by golden era lifters, and the one movement used most for hamstring size was the stiff-legged deadlift.  I mentioned in the back training article in this series how, perhaps to the surprise of some modern readers, the conventional deadlift wasn’t used much by the golden era luminaries for their back training.  However, the same can’t be said about the stiff-legged deadlift.  It most certainly was a popular lift for the hamstrings—or the “leg biceps” as most old-school lifters referred to the muscle group.

     When golden era ‘builders used this movement, they usually did it off of a platform, so perhaps I should have titled them “deficit” stiff-legged deadlifts.  Yep, just as with all other muscles we've looked at, old-school greats wanted to get the best stretch imaginable for their leg biceps so a platform or bench—maybe a couple of 45-pound plates stacked on top one another—was used to stand atop for the fullest range of motion.  I have seen pictures of old-school bodybuilders not starting from a deficit but instead doing this exercise with plates no bigger than 25-pounds, meaning that the barbell would be closer to the floor to start the movement.

     Although higher reps were used on these than conventional deadlifts—for the ones who did deadlift—the reps were usually a little lower than on their quadriceps exercises.  On average, around 10-12 reps would have been used.

Lying Leg Curls

     This might be the one leg biceps movement that all golden era bodybuilders utilized.  Occasionally, it would even be the only exercise for the muscle group, especially in the ‘70s.  Once the ‘80s arrived, however, most of the champs used more movements, knowing that the rear of their body needed to look just as good as the front.  It didn’t do to have fantastic quad development from the front, but then turn around and have sub-par hammies.  Reps for this movement, from both decades, tended to be somewhere between 10 and 20 reps.

Standing One-Leg Leg Curls

     The 3rd common hamstring exercise was the standing leg curl, where they would use a unilateral approach by curling up one leg at a time.  This movement was about as common in their routines as the stiff-legged deadlifts.  As we’ll see shortly, the lying leg curl was almost always used, and then about half of the old-school champs used the stiff-legged deadlift and half utilized this movement.  Again, somewhere between 10 and 20 reps was most common.

Methods and Routines of the Legends

     In the mid 1990s—I think it was ‘95—back when I actually did train at a commercial gym, my workout partner Dusty and I (I miss my dear friend) had turned a few heads at the gym when we packed on 20 to 30 pounds each in a matter of just a few months.  Our secret?  Hard, voluminous leg training.  A few months before our physical transformation, Ironman had sent me to meet Tom Platz for a seminar he was giving in Birmingham (Alabama, not England).  That meeting solidified my belief that all-out leg training, especially high-rep squats, was the key that unlocks not just bigger legs but all-over hypertrophy.  When asked the secret to bigger arms or a bigger back or a bigger, well, anything, Platz always answered “squats.”  Lots of squats.

     I believe it was ‘94 when I met Platz.  I would go on to meet a number of pro bodybuilders, past and present (of the time), working for the major bodybuilding magazines, but Platz (and those legs!) was the most impressive.  It was rumored back then that he was going to make a comeback to the bodybuilding stage.  He didn’t.  But he did get in fantastic shape for some photo shoots—and perhaps to sell his soon-to-be-released training manual with Leo Costa, Big Beyond Belief.  I met him a few days after he had just done a shoot, and he looked stage-ready.  Only 10 or 15 folks showed up to meet him and listen to his seminar.  He might have been disappointed but for the few of us there it was a Godsend.  Everyone got to see him in an up-close, personal, and intimate setting.  He walked into the room wearing a suit and tie.  Even then, you knew he was a specimen.  Beneath his slacks, as he walked, his massive thighs rubbed against one another, mounds of thigh muscle jiggling and shaking.  After he gave his presentation, he proceeded to strip down.  Pictures will never do him justice.  You had to see his physique in person to truly grasp how impressive he was.  I returned to the gym, and writing my training articles, with renewed vigor.

     In the gym one evening, Dusty and I were just about to commence with one of our “hard” leg workouts.  One of the local bodybuilding “stars” (we’ll call him Bob) wanted to join us.  Bob was a Mr. So-and-So of one of the local cities.  He had a pretty good physique—good enough to win a local contest at the time—but knew that his lower body was what was lacking.  After seeing us train a few times, and the results that we were obtaining, he thought, I suppose, that he might learn a thing or two.

     We started with barbell squats.  It was our “power” movement.  Fairly low reps, still plenty of sets, and enough rest time between each set to allow us to move big weights.  We did 5 to 6 sets of 6-8 reps, working up to one absolutely all-out set.

     Bob liked that part of the workout.  But then Dusty got out the bucket.  “What’s that for?” Bob asked.

     “Oh, that’s our puke bucket,” Dusty replied.  “It’s for what comes next.  At some point, me or Sloan, and now you, are prob’ly gonna need it.”

     I don’t know if Bob thought he was joking or not.  He looked a little unsure but shrugged.  “Okay, what’s next?” he asked.

     We went to the leg press machine, loaded enough weight for 50-rep sets of leg presses, and then loaded a 45-pounder to each side of the smith machine next to it.  We then did supersets of leg presses and smith machine squats, 50 reps on each movement.  For the smith machine squats, we placed our legs out in front of us, feet close together, mimicking almost a heck squat.  We did, I think 3 supersets of each one.

     Bob needed the bucket.

     Pretty much exhausted, our legs pumped with blood, he probably thought, though, that we were done.  We weren’t.  We took an Olympic bar and two 45-pound plates to the back parking lot behind the gym.  We loaded a plate to each side of the bar and did walking lunges until we couldn’t do another rep.  Complete failure.  One set each, but it was enough.

     Bob never trained legs with us again.

     Dusty and I continued to grow over the coming months.

     We’d see Bob in the gym some nights.  He even joined us for some upper body workouts on occasion.  He also understood full well while we made gains.  But I’m also pretty sure he thought we were crazy.  “Never again,” he told us once.  I don’t think he ever won another bodybuilding show.  His legs always lagged behind his admittedly impressive upper body.

     I mention that story for one reason.  It was nothing extraordinary compared to the leg workouts of many of the golden era legends.  It most assuredly wasn’t anything more intense than the kind of workouts Platz did for his massive lower body.  It was, in fact, pretty similar to what a lot of the golden era lifters did on a regular basis.  Leg workout after leg workout.  Week after week.  Month after month.  Year after year.  And some of them did that kind of session 3 times per week.  Most, however, even if they trained legs 2 or 3 times weekly, only went that hard once a week.  Platz did those kinds of sessions, he told me, only every 2 weeks.  That’s also the route Dusty and I took.  Sometimes we trained legs 2 days per week and sometimes just once, but we only went crazy every 14 days or so.

     I also may have gotten the idea of walking lunges from one of my favorite bodybuilders during those years, Eddie Robinson.  In an article for Ironman, Greg Zulak wrote this one time about Robinson’s leg training:

     After Eddie and his training partner squatted their brains out with 525 pounds for 25 reps, they’d put a 175-pound barbell on their shoulders and do lunges the entire length of a football field behind the gym and then back again.  How many reps do you think you’d do for each leg lunging 200 yards?  Two hundred?  More?  I don’t even think Eddie knows for sure.  What he does know is that every time they did it, he barfed his guts out afterward.  Every single time.  It takes a brave man to know beforehand that he's going to perform an exercise that will make him vomit.

     As with other muscle groups, a lot of the golden era guys liked to train their thighs with one-exercise-per-bodypart regimens.  Others did 2 exercises.  Platz liked to just squat or do squats followed by leg extensions.  Some would do 2 movements by pre-exhausting their quads with leg extensions and then do a big, compound lift.  Bill Pearl, for one of his Mr. Universe wins, trained with leg extensions followed by hack squats.  And, sure, others did 3, 4, or 5 exercises per session.  If you break it into quads and hamstrings separately, though, 3 was the limit for most of them.

     I think it’s safe to write that you can summarize their leg training in this manner: high-volume, fairly high-frequency training, fast-paced workouts, and higher reps compared to their other muscle groups.

     Here are a few of the workouts from some of the most popular golden era superstars.

Tom Platz

Olympic-style squats (high-bar, close-stance, ass-to-the-grass): 6x15,10,10,6,5,1 (pyramid sets)

Hack squats: 4x8-20

Leg curls: 4x8-60 (yes, 60!)

Leg extensions: 4x8-60

     Keep in mind that this was just one of his workouts.  As mentioned, some days he did nothing other than squat.  He told me that he sometimes just squatted for 10 minutes straight with 225 pounds loaded on the bar, not even counting reps.

Paul DeMayo

Squats: 4x10-12

Hack squats: 3x10-12

Leg extension: 3xfailure

Lying leg curls: 3x10-12

Standing leg curls: 3x10-12

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 3x10

     Even though DeMayo didn’t come onto the scene until the ‘90s, I included him here since his workout obviously is representative of the golden era methods we’ve discussed and the fact that he possessed the biggest legs, at the time, since Platz.

Frank Zane

Leg extensions: 3x12-15

Squats: 6x8-15

Leg presses: 3x10-15

Lying leg curls: 3x10-12

Leg extensions: 3x10-12

Franco Columbu

Squats: 7x20,15,10,8,6,4,2 (pyramid sets)

Leg presses: 4x50,25,15,8

Leg extensions: 6x20

Barbell lunges: 3x12-15

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 5x6

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Squats: 6x15,10,8,8,6,4

Smith machine squats: 4x12,10,8,6

Hack squats: 4x12,10,8,6

Superset: 

  Leg presses: 4x8

  Lying leg curls: 4x10

Superset: 

  Standing leg curl: 4x10

  Stiff-legged deadlifts: 4x10

Serge Nubret

Squats: 8x12

Leg presses: 6x12

Leg extensions: 6x12

Lying leg curls: 8x15

Standing leg curls: 8x15

Dave Draper

Squats: 5x12,10,8,6,4

Superset:

  Leg extensions: 4x12-15

  Lying leg curls: 4x12-15

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 4x10-12

Lee Haney

Leg extensions: 4x12-15

Leg presses: 4x10-12

Squats: 5x8-10

Lying leg curls: 4x8-10

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 4x8-10

Sergio Oliva

Squats: 8-10x10-15, 3x20 (The first 8 to 10 sets were all progressively heavier sets followed by 3 back-off sets of 20 reps.)

Front squats: 5x10

     Again, that is just an example of one of Oliva’s workouts.  He was also fond of supersetting two different quad movements followed by a superset of two hamstring exercises.

Rich Gaspari

Leg extensions: 5x12-20

Leg presses: 5x8-12

Superset:

  Hack squats: 3x12-15

  Sissy squats: 3x12-15

Lunges: 4x12-15

Final Thigh-Building Thoughts

     If you want to build an impressive physique, you need to take thigh training seriously.  Not only does it develop a complete physique—there’s nothing worse than a lifter with a big upper body but skinny legs—but it will also pack muscle on your entire frame, just like Platz said.  Do you crave big arms more than anything else?  Then get in the squat rack and under the bar for some serious squat training.  It’s worked for almost 100 years, and it still works to this very day.  Of course, guys don’t do it because it’s hard and demanding.  Heck, it’s the reason Dusty and I never saw Bob again behind the gym for an all-out onslaught of walking lunges.

     Because thigh training is so demanding, make sure that you’re eating plenty of food and getting your protein needs on a daily basis.  That’s also the reason that, for almost the last century, heavy squatting has often gone hand-in-hand with drinking a gallon of milk each day.  High-rep squats and the GOMAD approach can add slabs of muscle on your frame.

     Golden era thigh training might be a lost art.  But like all great art, someone will always appreciate the beauty of the art, and other artists will be inspired to take up the craft.  If you’ve been inspired by the golden era methods, maybe it’s time to head for the squat rack and some high reps.  Just don’t forget your puke bucket.

     I hope you are enjoying my series on the golden era legends and their legendary training principles.  If you have, then please consider supporting my work by purchasing one of my books.  Click HERE for more information on all of my books currently for sale.  And if you really enjoy this series, be on the lookout for my upcoming book on old-school bodybuilding.  I should have more information on it soon.

     If you have any comments or questions, leave them in the “comments” section below or shoot me an email if you would prefer more private correspondence.   I’m always glad to assist, and I typically get around to answering my emails every couple of days.