According to bodybuilding legend Rich Gaspari, bodybuilders in the 1980s remain unmatched, and here is why.

In an interview with Muscle & Strength on February 21, former bodybuilder Rich Gaspari got candid about the superiority of the bodybuilders from the golden era.

Reflecting on the '80s, Gaspari remembers the era being larger than life and driven by personalities and a 'mythical' training culture.

He recalled reading about bodybuilding in magazines at 11-years-old to finally arriving in California at 20-years-old, and the surreal experience of stepping into Gold's Gym Venice for the first time.

"Ed Connors gave me a house to stay and he had a house on the beach. So, we're in Venice. And you can walk to the gym, and you went into that gym, and I saw like Tom Plattz there, Samir Bonnout there, you know, Robbie Robinson there. It was just it was just an amazing time, you know, to be in in that in that era and experiencing that era."

Gaspari also commented on his experience at the World Gym and the distinct character of its training environment compared to Gold's Gym.

Unlike the gyms in today's time that mix music with training, World Gym was quiet, and the only sound you could hear was the sound of iron clanging.

The simple setup of the gym helped athletes stay fully focused on training, which is something lacking in today's gyms. In that gym, Gaspari was mesmerized by bodybuilding legends Joe Gold, Lee Haney, Lou Ferrigno, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"Nothing was better than like World Gym. They had an outside deck with a gym, and you could oversee the ocean and had all this equipment, and you'd just like be training there with your shirt off, and it was just like just an amazing thing to do."

Rich Gaspari's comments on classic vs. modern bodybuilding

During the discussion, Rich Gaspari drew multiple comparisons between classic and modern bodybuilding. The former Arnold Classic winner expressed that today's open bodybuilding is overly focused on extreme conditioning.

According to him, many top bodybuilders today are not as sharply defined as the ones from earlier eras.

He compared Derek Lunsford with legends like Ronnie Coleman or Dorian Yates, stating that although he has a great physique, he doesn’t have the same “sliced” look as the veterans. The classic bodybuilders were more striated.

Despite criticism, Gaspari acknowledged some positive points of modern bodybuilding as well. He highlighted the size increase that has occurred over time, commenting that he is surprised at how much heavier modern bodybuilders are.

He noted that classic bodybuilders often struggled with bloated midsections, while today’s athletes, despite being larger, maintain tighter waistlines.

Follow Bodybuilding Bros for all things fitness!

Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu