Thomas Steven Platz (born 26 June 1955) is an American retired professional bodybuilder.

[3] He ambushed the closing ceremonies of Mr. Olympia 1990 to announce its formation, after attending the event with McMahon as representatives of Bodybuilding Lifestyles magazine.

[4][5] He is known contemporarily for seminar speeches on his life, work, inspirations, and motivation as well as for helping to train bodybuilders like David Hoffmann.

[1] Platz later joined Armento’s Gym and was acquainted with Olympic weight lifters Norb Schemansky and Freddie Lowe and learned the proper way to squat.

It was decided that they’d compete in two phases — a max lift portion and a single set with 525 pounds for the most reps possible.