The Best Legs in Bodybuilding - These Guys Are The Wheel Deal
The Best Legs in Bodybuilding
These Guys are the Wheel Deal
Who has the greatest legs of all time? OK, that’s easy. The Golden Eagle, Tom Platz, set a standard for lower body development in the late 1970s and early 1980s that forever changed what was considered possible, and how much more would be expected from that moment in time on. Another man who redefined huge legs was the late Paul “Quadzilla” DeMayo. Since then there have been a few others whose quads, hams and calves were true standouts. But what about today? Who among the current crop of IFBB Pros has the best legs? After careful consideration, I came up with five men who earn the right to be called Wheel Kings. Any time you need inspiration to blast your own quads and hams into new growth, seeing photos or videos of these men and their powerful lower bodies is enough to feed the furnace.
Erik “The House” Fankhouser
Three of the men on this list have won either multiple Mr. Olympia or Arnold Classic titles. Two have yet to win a pro title, including our first entry, Erik Fankhouser from West Virginia. He might not have the competitive résumé of those guys, but his sickening wheels can hang with anybody’s. Erik’s quads are billowing and full from hip to kneecap, with that coveted dramatic outer sweep that creates the illusion of even freakier development. But it’s not just his quads that command your attention. Erik’s calves are among the best of all time, a legit 23 inches with insertions so far down they practically go to his heels. His lower body is one that won’t easily be forgotten.
Random Trivia
- Erik’s calves were already their current size by the time he graduated from high school.
- At his pro debut in 2008 at the Europa Super Show in Dallas, fans watching the live stream at home on Bodybuilding.com voted for Erik to win two awards, “Best Wheels” and “People’s Choice.”
- He has always trained quads and hams in the same workout.
- One of his favorite intensity techniques, “centuries” on the leg press (description in his workout routine), has become something many bodybuilders around the world use to challenge— and torture— their wheels with on leg day.
- Fankhouser credits hack squats along with genetics for his crazy quad sweep, but he’s always done them backward, or facing into the machine.
- Erik has trained by himself, without a training partner or spotter, for most of his lifting career.
Fankhouser’s Leg Routines
Workout 1: Heavy
Barbell Squats 5 x 10, 8, 8, 6, 10
Lying Leg Curls 5 x 10, 8, 8, 6, 10
Leg Extensions 5 x 10, 8, 8, 6, 10
Straight-Leg Deadlifts 5 x 10, 8, 8, 6, 10
Leg Press Calf Raises 50 toes straight, 50 toes in, 50 toes out, 50 toes straight
Workout 2: Pre-Exhaust With Failure
Leg Curls Warm-up, then 4 x 8-15
Leg Extensions Warm-up, then 4 x 8-15
Dumbbell Lunges 4 x 8-15
Straight-Leg Deadlifts 4 x 8-15
Front Squats 4 x 8-15
Standing Calf Raises 4 x 8-15
Workout 3: Faster and Higher Reps
Centuries Leg Presses*
Leg Extensions 4 x 12, 15, 15, 12
Step-Ups With Dumbbells 4 x 10, 12, 12, 10
Leg Curls 4 x 12, 15, 15, 12
Glute-Ham Machine 3 sets to failure
Seated Calf Raises 4 x 50
*Start with one 45-pound plate on each side for 10 reps. Proceed to two plates for 20 reps, three plates for 30 (resting only 30-60 seconds between sets). The ultimate goal is 10 plates for 100 reps, which Erik has never seen anyone do— including him!
Jay Cutler
Long before he was a four-time Mr. Olympia, more than two decades ago in fact, people in the industry were raving about the quads on a teenager from Massachusetts named Jay Cutler. As time went on, his quads, hams and calves helped set him apart from the pack. It wasn’t merely their sheer mass that impressed— it was the shape along with deep, clear separations between all the muscle groups. His quads are one area of his physique that remain hard and detailed even in the off-season when other areas are blurry. Jay’s cross-striated quadriceps are so jaw-dropping that they helped create one of the most iconic magazine covers ever— the January 2010 issue of MD, the now-famous “foot stomp” stage shot from his triumphant title reclamation at the 2009 Mr. Olympia.
Random Trivia
- Within a year and a half of training when still a teenager, Jay’s legs had already achieved the size he would be known for as a pro years later. He could also do a few reps with 700 pounds for squats.
- Jay has always maintained that his legs don’t measure as much as most people assume they do. It’s his exaggerated outer sweep that gives them the illusion of being several inches larger than they actually are.
- He credits most of his quad development to squatting with a two-by-four board under his heels in his early years.
- As the years went by, Jay went from doing squats as his first exercise for quads to his last.
- Jay has always done lunges, but always in place— never walking.
- Jay did not squat from 1998-2002, as squats were making his quads grow too much and throwing off his proportions.
Jay’s Leg Routine
Leg Extensions 4 x 12 (as warm-up)
45-Degree Leg Presses 2 x 12-15 (warm-up), 4 x 10
Hack Squats 4 x 10
Leg Extensions 4 x 12
Smith Machine Squats 4 x 10
Vertical Leg Press 3 x 10
Seated Leg Curls 4 x 10
Single Leg Curls 4 x 10
Lying Leg Curls 4 x 10-12
Stiff-Leg Deadlifts 4 x 10
Ben “Pak Man” Pakulski
Ben’s quads are so enormous and have such a crazy sweep that they appear to be morphed. And when Ben turns around, you can hear the gasps as his 23-inch calves assault the senses. Pakulski has fought hard from the time he turned pro back in 2008 to beef up his upper body to match those legendary wheels, and every year closes the gap a little bit more. But there is no question that regardless of his overall physique balance or titles won, Pakulski’s name will always come up whenever the subject of incredible legs and calves comes up.
Random Trivia
- Ben gives all the credit for his lower-body genetics to his father. Even in his 50s, Mr. Pakulski has legs that are close to 30 inches with separations in the quads, and his calves are legitimately over 22 inches.
- While still in high school and training mainly for football and hockey and at a bodyweight of 175, Ben could perform three sets of eight rock-bottom reps of squats with 405 pounds.
- He once tripled 705 in the squat without a belt or knee reps.
- Pakulski’s degree in kinesiology and economics from the University of Western Ontario is one of the reasons he doesn’t use the leg extension as a warm-up, as most others do. “Extensions isolate the quads and do a great job of that, so using them to prepare for a multi-joint movement like squats that also involves the glutes, hams and lower back makes no sense.”
- He used to lunge with up to 315 until slightly tearing his hamstring doing that, and from that point on lightened the load on that movement.
- Ben’s use of and praise for Vibram FiveFingers shoes as the perfect footwear for leg training led to many thousands of bodybuilders going out and getting a pair for themselves to use on leg day.
Pakulski’s Leg Routine
Quads
Leg Extensions 6 x 6-20
Hack Squats 3 x 20
Leg Press 10 x 12-20
Walking Barbell Lunges 4 x 20
Horizontal Leg Press* 3 x 20
OR
Leg Extensions 3 x 20
*Final exercise is done for one to three triple drop sets
Hams
Lying Leg Curls 10-12 x 8-20
Seated Leg Curls 4-5 x 8-10
Reverse Hyperextensions 4-5 x 15-20
Stiff-Leg Deadlifts 4-5 x 15-20
Wide-Stance Leg Press 5 x 8-15
Kai Greene
“Unique” is a term that has been used to describe both Kai Greene’s physique and personality over the years. Nobody else in this sport is quite like Kai, and even his legs stand apart as distinctly incomparable. For you “Kill Bill” fans out there, his legs are a lot like Hattori Hanzõ sword:
“If you’re gonna compare a Hanzo sword, you compare it to every other sword ever made ... that wasn’t made by Hattori Hanzõ.”
If you saw photos of 10 or even 20 pairs of lower bodies of various IFBB Pros, you would be able to pick out Kai’s in two seconds flat. It’s not so much the sheer bulk of The Predator’s quads, hams and glutes that sets them apart. What does make Kai’s legs different is the astounding level of detail and separation. In his side poses, there literally seems to be a dark chasm splitting the vastus lateralis from the thigh biceps, a canyon that travels all the way up to the hip. And of course, the most notable quality of Kai’s quads are those rows and rows of zipper-like cross striations.
Random Trivia
- His early inspirations for building his legs came from photos of early ‘80s stars Tom Platz and Tim Belknap.
- Even though you will see them listed in his training articles past and present, there really is no such thing as “Kai’s leg routine.” An instinctive trainer by nature, he does what feels right at each workout— and no two are ever identical.
- Some bodybuilders are afraid to do more than a few minutes of warming up on a cardio machine prior to their leg workout, fearing it will sap their lower body power. Kai has been known to stay on a StepMill for 45 minutes or more until he feels physically and mentally ready to begin.
- An early would-be coach told the young Kai not to even bother training his calves, because as an African-American they would never grow anyway.
- When he was only 8 or 9 years old, any time he wore shorts adults used to ask him if he ran track, as his legs were already muscular.
- Kai could squat 800 pounds by the time he was 18 years old.
- His form on squats has been called the best ever seen by many who have watched him train.
- Kai used to use over 500 pounds for stiff-leg deadlifts.
- His preferred footwear on leg day is thin-soled wrestling or boxing shoes from Asics or Everlast.
- Kai is the only IFBB Pro known to regularly incorporate “Jefferson lifts,” a deadlift performed straddling the bar with one leg on each side.
- He is also one of the few male pros who devotes substantial time and effort into training his glutes.
Kai’s Leg Routine
Quads
Leg Extensions 3 x 20
Leg Press 4 x 20-25
Hack Squats 3-4 x 20-25
Walking Lunges 3 rounds back and forth across gym floor
Hams and calves
Lying Leg Curls 4 x 15-25
Standing Leg Curls 4 x 15-25 each leg
Stiff-Leg Deadlifts 4 x 20
Seated Calf Raises 4 x 12-20
Standing Calf Raises 4 x 12-20
Toe Presses on Leg Press 4 x 12-20
Branch Warren
At last we come to Big Daddy Branch, the modern-day Platz. Today’s generation has its own king of legs in the form of Branch Warren. Just as the unreal thighs of Platz amazed and inspired a generation to take their own legs past what was previously considered possible, so too has Branch motivated legions to blast their quads and hams through the pain barrier and into glorious enormity. For a man whose name is Branch, his thighs are more like tree trunks: massive, wrapped in thick veins, and with a grainy hardness that lets you know they were forged from raw pain and sheer effort over many years. The quads, hams and calves are all equally dense and powerful. Are these the best legs in modern bodybuilding? That’s a matter of opinion, but when put to any type of vote or poll online, Branch has always come out crowned king.
Random Trivia
- Branch is the only man to come back from a full quadriceps tear and win a major title, the 2012 Arnold Classic.
- The majority of all the squats Branch has ever done have been performed between two freestanding hydraulic lifts at Metroflex, which he prefers to a standard squat rack or power cage.
- Boots are Branch’s preferred footwear on leg day.
- Many of his leg workouts have been performed in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, as Metroflex lacks air conditioning.
- His favorite pre-workout meal on leg day is steak and rice. His favorite post-workout meal is steak and pasta with a full can of sauce.
- Branch’s legs were so far ahead of his upper body at times that there have been two periods of a year when he did not train legs at all.
- He gets his big calves from his mother.
- Leg day is Branch’s favorite workout, because it’s the toughest and most challenging.
Branch’s Leg Routine
Leg Extensions 6 x 30
Leg Press 5 x 25 (finish with 28 total plates, 1,260 pounds plus sled)
Hack Squats 4 x 10 (up to seven plates per side)
Nautilus Duo Squat + 4 x 15 (stack)
Inclined Lying Leg Curls 4 x 15
Seated Leg Curls 4 x 15
Lying Leg Curls 4 x 15
*Warm-ups not shown
+Legs are alternated with this machine from the early 1980s, so it’s really a single-leg press.
