Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari has a sharp eye for talent based on his decades of experience in the sport. While he no longer competes, he remains active in the community with hot takes. In a recent Instagram post, Gaspari criticized young lifters for using steroids at the beginning of their fitness journey.
Rich Gaspari first gained attention for his insane mass, size, and refined lower-body muscle development in the Men’s Open division in the mid-80s. His dry conditioning coupled with striated glutes made him stand out from the competition. While he did not find Olympia glory, Gaspari took a bronze medal in his Mr. Olympia debut and earned three silvers to eight-time champion Lee Haney. He created history by becoming the first Arnold Classic winner and got inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2004.
Gaspari has been a vocal critic of the Open division in the last few years. As a talented poser, he considers bodybuilding an art form and not a sport due to its subjective nature. However, he sees a lack of artistic focus with more athletes favoring sheer muscle mass instead of posing.
‘The Dragon Slayer’ highlighted the rise in the popularity of trenbolone in the fitness space. While he admitted the compound could lead to significant gains, he warned about its use due to the damage it wreaks on the liver and cardiovascular system. He added tren use could lead to anger issues for even the nicest person.
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Gaspari fired shots at modern bodybuilders for not paying enough attention to their calves. He left the fans stunned with a throwback clip where he showed off his massive calves while crushing an intense training session. He suggested training the muscle group three times a week with high volume and heavy weights.
Rich Gaspari reckons Chris Bumstead would need to put on 40 pounds to have a shot in the Men’s Open division. He praised the four-time Classic Physique Olympia winner’s symmetry and backed him to defend the title successfully at the 2023 Mr. Olympia. However, he criticized ‘CBum’s’ arm development and muscle density when compared with Open contenders.
Gaspari is a strong proponent of high-intensity training. He opened up on some of the crazy ways he used to pump himself up for an intense weight training session and offered a grueling abs routine for boosting strength and hypertrophy. Then, he emphasized incorporating slow-mo reps to amp up workout intensity and build muscle.
Rich Gaspari Speaks Out Against Harmful Steroid Practices Among Young Lifters
In a recent Instagram post, Rich Gaspari criticized young lifters for starting steroids early. He highlighted the health risks that come with taking harsh compounds like tren and called for training quality above all else.
“I’m going to talk about a subject that I’m going to get a lot of flak for from a lot of the younger kids that are training with weights and that’s the usage of anabolic steroids,” said Gaspari. “A lot of these young kids just starting out to train go directly on really hardcore drugs like trenbolone, high doses of testosterone, anadrol, Dbol, all these drugs. Now, I was a professional bodybuilder I had to use steroids to compete. But, the dosages were much lower than I see today in a lot of these bodybuilders.”
Gaspari claims the dosages were way lower in his days of competing on stage.
“And I’ve done blood work to make sure I stay healthy and cycled with steroids. A lot of these guys are taking steroids continually. These are kids 18 year olds, 17, 18, 19, doing high doses of trenbolone and not really monitoring themselves, which is really dangerous. It’s a big problem.
“What I’ve seen is that a lot of kids just don’t know that they have to work hard, train hard, train smart, and eat the right type of foods, eating nutritionally, eating the right amount of macronutrients, which I see a lot of people just don’t eat enough to really grow muscle.
“Just me talking out saying if you are going to take the risk of taking steroids, you need to get blood work done, you need to be able to go off and on cycles, but these kids are not doing that. They just continually stay on high doses of really toxic steroids that later on… they might not be here.”
Rich Gaspari revealed the technique he used on the incline dumbbell one-arm row to build thickness in his back with a bench. He used an incline bench to reduce any momentum from the swing to ensure optimal gains during the entirety of each movement.
Gaspari listed Jefferson squats as his exercise of choice for developing bigger legs. He emphasized going down to a full range of motion for the best results. Then, the 60-year-old detailed the modified sumo squats as a solid movement to target the glutes and build strength in the legs. He suggested performing the exercise on an elevated platform for the best results.
His latest update might encourage some lifters against taking steroids. Overall, Gaspari just wants to see the sport practiced in a safe and healthy manner.
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