Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari believes it takes more than cardio for sustainable fat loss. On March 30, 2026, he broke down why endless cardio won’t improve fat loss and shared that diet is the main driver of change.
“So many guys and girls doing hours of cardio, I see them doing cardio for an hour a day, and they are not seeing their body change. Why are they not seeing their body change? The body acclimates to resistance, cardiovascular training.”
Rich Gaspari led an illustrious career in the Men’s Open class. He won the inaugural Arnold Classic competition back in 1989, and gave former eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney some of his toughest battles onstage. In retirement, Gaspari has remained healthy and strong, leaving fans curious as to how he approaches nutrition and training.
Rich Gaspari Says Cut Cardio and Change Your Diet to Boost Fat Loss
In the Instagram post, Gaspari explained that the body gets accustomed to cardio, which can stall fat loss.
“So what happens is if you’re doing five days a week, one hour of cardio, your body starts to get accustomed to doing that and stops losing weight.”
Instead, he said to focus on changing your diet for the best fat loss results. He revealed that the balancing protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats are key to progress.
“What do you do to make your body lose body fat? Change your diet. People don’t realize the importance of eating proper foods. What does that mean?
I’ve said this countless times that higher protein, having complex carbohydrates, and no refined carbohydrates, no sugars, eating more of a diet 45% protein, 35% complex carbs, and 20% fat.”
For fat loss ‘sticking points,’ Gaspari noted that reducing cardio and locking in the diet can spur real change:
“If you want to see changes in your body, guys that have been doing it, girls that have been doing cardio for hours, cut out the cardio. Change the diet. Cut your cardio to only three days a week, 25-30 minutes. Your body then will adjust to the dieting and you see your body start to change. When you get to a sticking point, you can increase the cardio to say four days a week.”
“You can continually increase that cardio anytime you get to a sticking point if you want to lose more body fat. Just doing an hour of cardio a day, your body is used to that cardio and is not going to change,” said Rich Gaspari.
Gaspari remains in tremendous shape at 62. He has a proven training and nutrition system he follows in retirement. Above all else, he focuses on eccentric resistance training, a high-protein diet, and balanced supplementation.
Gaspari continues to help shape the next wave of bodybuilders and athletes. He is adamant that diet changes are the secret to fat loss when the body becomes accustomed to cardio.
