Giant legs

If you have been around the Iron Game for a while, there is one name that comes instantly to mind when people discuss leg training. That name is Tom Platz. “The Golden Eagle” is widely regarded as having the most massively muscular legs in the history of bodybuilding. His thighs measured a whopping 35 inches and were shredded to the bone. Tom’s muscle building program that created those unforgettable wheels revolved around one exercise and one exercise only; the barbell squat. If you want to add some serious mass to your legs you had better familiarize yourself with this exercise in a hurry.

Since the quads typically have a very wide variance of muscle fiber types you can use a great range of reps in your quest to build pillar sized legs. Often times, Tom and other lifters with notoriously huge legs, would go as high as fifty reps per set on squats. When I was young and painfully skinny, high rep squats were one of the most effective discoveries I ever made and helped me and my brother pack on size faster than anything we had ever tried to date. The old 20 rep squat programs from the golden era of the Iron Game made a massive man of many a skinny boy.

Although high rep squatting leads to massive and rapid gains, I usually recommend starting with a few heavy sets in the 4-8 range first. Sometimes I even add in a set of 10-15 after the heavy sets, and finally finish with one all out set of 20 (and sometimes 30-50). When you use this rep scheme you ensure that you hit all fiber types and stimulate the greatest amount of muscle growth possible.

Distended bellies also known as GH-gut or roid-gut

The GH gut is well known phenomenon among “modern” bodybuilders. It is widely discussed on bodybuilding-boards, magazines and in the gym. We’ll try to explain the reason why it happened and if there is a way back.

Let us start at the beginning.

During the Golden Age ( the 1940s and 50s) the champions like Steve Reeves, John Grimek and Reg Park (picture 1) wanted to sculpt their bodies like the statues of the ancient Greek and Roman gods. Their goal was to attain an athletic body with aesthetical size and symmetry. These  champions of the pre-steroid time were proud of their health and strength and looks.

Bodybuilders of the 1960s, had these men as their example, these where athletes such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Bob Paris and Frank Zane. These bodybuilders where the ones that started to use anabolic androgenic steroids, starting with Dianabol (methandrostenolone)  small blue pils they called “the breakfast of the champions”.