Who Has the Greatest Legs of All Time? | You Tell Us
Who Has the Greatest Legs of All Time?
You Tell Us
In alphabetical order the bodybuilders listed in our poll represent Team MD’s top 11 best legs candidates. Tom Platz was an outright and unanimous winner, so rather than voting for best legs let us know your pick for second best and also your comments on best legs ever in general.
Poll for Second Best Legs of All Time
Jay Cutler
Paul DeMayo
Paul Dillett
Kai Greene
Jeff King
Mustafa Mohammad
Andreas Munzer
Ben Pakulski
Tom Platz
Victor Richards
Branch Warren
A Story That Has Legs
Leg day. It’s what turns mortal men into stage-worthy bodybuilders. It’s the day that teaches the bond between pain and progress. For a world-class competitor, leg day builds careers, creates legacies and separates the extraordinary from the ordinary.
Leg development has evolved over time. Photographs of early 20th century bodybuilders reveal modest lower-half development, subtle thigh sweeps and an obvious neglect of the hamstrings. As the years passed, equipment evolved, giving way to a more comprehensive understanding of how to effectively target our most multidimensional body part. Trainers learned how to attack the four muscles that comprise the quadriceps, while mastering the less-obvious intricacies of the hamstring. Eventually, the muscles above the Achilles tendon, once an afterthought, became more glamorous as athletes began to covet oversized calves.
Becoming a world-class bodybuilder requires the understanding that legs aren’t simply another body part. They account for the entire lower half of the physique, and as most judges profess, “a physique is judged from the ground up.”
There have been many champions recognized for their leg development, but those who can make jaws drop and eyes pop require genetics, sacrifice and dedication seldom found among the mere mortal. Over the years, countless legs have walked across contest stages. Some have been notable, others have been unforgettable, but only a select few can be considered among the best.
How Can We Possibly Choose the Best Legs of All Time?
To answer the above question we recruited members of Team MD to identify the best legs of all time. As MD Senior Editor Peter McGough explains, the task requires a comprehensive analysis: “When grading the best legs of all time, the whole quad, ham and calf triumvirate comes into play.”
Our panel was once again a who’s who of bodybuilding insiders. Each expert was asked to submit the names of five bodybuilders, ranked one to five, and point values were assigned accordingly. For some, the process was overwhelming. For others, like eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney, the task was far easier. “As far as I’m concerned, there were only two bodybuilders that possessed the greatest legs of all time: Tom Platz and Paul DeMayo.” Haney added, “The rest is eeny, meeny, miny, moe.”
Unfortunately for Haney, his ballot was disqualified because he failed to submit the required list of five names, but his point was heard, loud and clear. In fact, Haney was not alone in recognizing Platz and DeMayo, the man whose freakish leg development earned him the name “Quadzilla.”
Hall-of-Famer Shawn Ray, another one of our panelists, proclaimed, “Platz is the king of legs. No other bodybuilder did more, with so little, to parlay a career that otherwise could have been forgettable. When it comes to size, separation, balance and musculature— no one comes close to Platz!” When discussing DeMayo, MD Senior Writer Ron Harris added, “Paul was a massive young man, but it was his quads that always drew the most attention. Their outer sweep was insane, and they were impossibly thick all the way from the hips down to where they literally hung over his kneecaps. To see them in person, as I was lucky enough to, was a sight to behold.”
DeMayo lived only 37 years, but his legs remain among the most-talked-about body parts in the history of the sport. Chad Nicholls, one of the world’s most highly regarded contest-prep gurus, explained, “DeMayo’s legs were ridiculous from every angle. The muscle was full, complete and ripped.”
Beyond Platz and DeMayo
Platz and DeMayo weren’t the only men who garnered the respect of our panel. Nicholls added another name to the discussion. “When looking from every angle— from the sweep, to the depth of thickness, separation and hardness throughout the entire leg— the legs of Ben Pakulski are unbeatable,” Nicholls said. Nicholls, Bob Cicherillo, Peter McGough and I rank Pakulski second on our lists, behind only Platz.
Among the challenges in trying to establish a definitive ranking is the task of comparing bodybuilders from different eras. Is it really possible to compare legs of the 1970s to those of our present-day champions? There are several men who earned the honorable mention of McGough, a list that includes Paul Dillett, Mike Francois, Paco Bautista and Phil Hill. McGough even offered up this friendly suggestion, “Go ahead and Google the name Robert Förstemann, a German sprint cyclist, and check out his cartoonish quads!” (What cycle was he on?)
A list of great legs wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a few pairs of lower limbs representing the current decade. Ron Harris explains, “Branch Warren’s legs are an assault on the senses, thick and gnarly as old tree stumps. One look at them is enough to make most men want to head to the gym and set up shop at the squat rack. And then there’s Jay Cutler. Like fellow Massachusetts legend DeMayo, it was the pronounced outer sweep that made Jay’s legs appear that much bigger and freakier. Jay also showed incredible separation and crisp detail in his quads. Did Jay have the best legs of any Mr. Olympia champ? Ronnie had more sheer size, but for overall development in the quads, hams and calves as well as deep separation and pleasing shape, Jay gets my vote.”
Any conversation about great legs must include 1990s phenom Vic Richards. The Nigerian-born mass monster had what many believe are the biggest legs in the history of bodybuilding. Despite earning a pro card with a win at the 1992 Nigerian Championships, Richards never competed on a pro stage. But the folklore of his legs remains, and Shawn Ray hasn’t forgotten them, recalling, “Vic’s legs were probably the biggest! While his quadriceps lacked sufficient competition definition, and his hamstrings were slightly soft, he had— pound-for-pound— the biggest legs I ever saw in person.”
The Results!
Each member of our expert panel submitted their list of five names, ranked one to five. A point value of five was assigned to a first-place vote, four for a second place vote, and so forth. A review of all ballots reveals a total of 11 different names. After all the votes were counted, we had ourselves a unanimous decision. Despite a healthy debate and a few conflicting opinions, every single ballot had the same name listed in the top spot.
According to our panel, the legs belonging to Tom Platz are the greatest of all time. “He hasn’t competed for almost 30 years,” explains Ron Harris, “yet to this day, we have yet to see one man equal, much less surpass, his legendary lower body development; quads, hams and calves— all jaw-dropping in terms of size, shape and detail.”
When all the points were tabulated, Platz earned the top spot by a sizable margin. Ben Pakulski narrowly edged past Paul DeMayo for the number two position. It’s worth mentioning that our top three finishers have combined to win a total of zero titles at the pro level, but enduring images of their legs transcend far beyond the contest stage. Branch Warren and Jay Cutler rounded out the top five.
Many have suffered through leg workouts, testing their tolerance for pain, pushing themselves beyond thresholds relatable to most. But today we congratulate those who made our list, earning the accolades of our panelists, and etching their names in the history books— owners of the greatest legs of all time.
The Final Ranking (Point Total)
1. Tom Platz (30 Points)
2. Ben Pakulski (16)
3. Paul DeMayo (15)
4. Branch Warren (11)
5. Jay Cutler (5)
6. Victor Richards (4)
7. Jeff King (3)
8. Kai Greene (2)
8. Mustafa Mohammad (2)
10. Andreas Munzer (1)
10. Paul Dillett (1)
The Ballots Revealed
Shawn Ray, Hall-of-Fame Bodybuilder
1. Tom Platz
2. Paul DeMayo
3. Jeff King
4. Vic Richards
5. Branch Warren
Bob Cicherillo, Olympia Emcee
1. Tom Platz
2. Ben Pakulski
3. Branch Warren
4. Jay Cutler
5. Paul Dillett
Peter McGough, MD Senior Editor
1. Tom Platz
2. Ben Pakulski
3. Paul DeMayo
4. Mustafa Mohammad
5. Branch Warren
Chad Nicholls, Contest-Prep Guru
1. Tom Platz
2. Ben Pakulski
3. Paul DeMayo
4. Vic Richards
5. Andreas Munzer
Ron Harris, MD Senior Writer
1. Tom Platz
2. Paul DeMayo
3. Branch Warren
4. Kai Greene
5. Jay Cutler
Dan Solomon, MD Features Editor
1. Tom Platz
2. Ben Pakulski
3. Branch Warren
4. Jay Cutler
5. Paul DeMayo
So that’s how our panel saw it, now you let us know your thoughts.