Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari has kept his finger on the pulse of the sport even after retiring more than a decade ago. On February 26, 2025, he discussed the implications of athletes using and abusing gear, warning that many steroids today are fake and sourced from various countries.
Rich Gaspari was a top-tier competitor in the IFBB Pro League’s Men’s Open division. He became the inaugural Arnold Classic champion in 1989. During his tenure, he pioneered striated glutes in competition and served as one of eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney‘s main rivals.
He’s watched the sport undergo significant changes since he last stepped on stage. From training adaptations to steroid approaches, Gaspari believes the evolution of bodybuilding has led to both advancements and dangerous trends, particularly in the realm of performance-enhancing drugs.
Rich Gaspari Discusses Fake Gear & Today’s Growing Trend of Higher Steroid Dosages in Bodybuilding: ‘Be Careful’
In a recent YouTube video, Gaspari warned that steroids in today’s bodybuilding era are often fake. Back when he competed, he was able to pick them up legally from a pharmacy.
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“A lot of the steroids today are fake. They are coming from different countries, and a lot of them are fake. You have to be careful what you’re putting into your body. Back then, I was getting pharmaceutical steroids from the pharmacy. They were totally legal.”
He warned that steroid dosages have increased significantly since his first modest cycle.
“My first cycle was Dianabol, and I gained basically 40 pounds, and my bench went through the roof. Then, I started taking Anavar, which is another steroid.
They were two milligrams back in the day; the most I ever took of those is 10 pills, which is 20 milligrams. Now there’s 20-milligram pills that you can take. People are taking 100-200 milligrams, so the dosages are much, much higher.”
Gaspari emphasized that competitors today also use insulin, something he never touched throughout his career.
“In bodybuilding, it’s more the anabolic steroids. Growth hormone, insulin,” he shared. “I never experienced insulin. It was before my time. It was funny because I started seeing bodybuilders when I was still competing, they started experimenting with insulin.”
“Bodybuilders want to push and build up that glycogen as high as they can,” shared Gaspari.
However, he did use growth hormone sourced from a dead cadaver. This was especially risky because there was the possibility of contracting AIDS.
“I didn’t do the GH, but I’ve known bodybuilders on it, I won’t name names, that were using it that were getting effects. The second GH was before we were able to synthesize the peptide sequence. We talked about peptides to make GH, and they used a dead cadaver.
Now, I used that GH. The thing about that GH, what is really dangerous about it, they are getting 1,000s of dead cadavers they were extracting this growth hormone. The thing is, if one of those people had AIDs, you could get AIDS from it. Thank god that didn’t happen.”
Gaspari currently takes two IUs of growth hormone daily to keep himself lean. He cautioned that overusing growth hormone won’t always help someone improve their physique; sometimes, it can cause individuals to become diabetic.
“Right now, I actually get it [GH] prescribed by a doctor. I use two IUs a day. For me, it helps keep me lean. I’ve heard of bodybuilders using up to 18 IUs. There’s really bad side effects, you can become diabetic.”
Although Gaspari continued competing until 1998, he recognized his time in the sport was nearing its end and chose not to experiment with insulin or the higher steroid dosages that had become the norm.
“I got out of bodybuilding when you did your first show, I was out of bodybuilding. I came back and competed up to ’98, but then I saw the writing on the wall that these bodybuilders were getting so big. I just didn’t want to sacrifice my body by just taking the high dosages that they were taking.”
He added that today’s elite bodybuilders also use Trenbolone, which he described as highly toxic and dangerous.
“The one steroid I see abused today is a steroid called Trenbolone. Trenbolone is a very toxic steroid for you guys out there, you’ve probably heard of it,” he shared. “You hear these young kids that are doing trenbolone like it’s vitamin C. It’s a very toxic steroid to use.”
“It does affect you mentally. We talked about roid-rage. It makes you angry, moody and a lot of other bad side effects. It puts you in a depression. You have to watch when you take any of these types of steroids they are very dangerous.”
This wasn’t Rich Gaspari’s first time addressing the rise of steroid use among the younger generation of athletes. He recently warned others about the dangerous trend.
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.
While Rich Gaspari accepts that steroids have become a part of bodybuilding, he believes fake gear and extreme dosages are what’s hurting the sport most. He hopes that younger athletes and bodybuilders considering this path will conduct thorough research to protect their health.
Watch the full video from the Gaspari Nutrition YouTube channel below:
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