Rich Gaspari, the legendary “Dragon Killer” of bodybuilding, was born on May 16, 1963 in New Jersey (USA). The enthusiasm for bodybuilding came to him after reading comic books about superheroes (Batman, The Incredible Hulk and others), popular at that time. Strong, muscular heroes made the boy think about whether a real person can also look like. The answer was found in the pages of a journal about bodybuilding. Dave Draper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno – these guys really looked like superheroes.
At the age of 15, Rich began to train, devotes to bodybuilding 6 days a week and scrupulously following all the recommendations in the magazines. Six months later, he realized that from such a number of training muscles are too tiring, and the effectiveness is reduced, and began to spend in the gym 4 days a week. At 16, Gaspari took part in competitions for the first time. 6th place not so much upset the young man, how much spurred his ambitions.
At the age of 20, Gaspari took first place at National for juniors, and a year later became a professional IFBB, receiving the title “Mr. Universe (Amateur World Championship)” in light heavyweight. It was not just a victory – it was a record. Rich became the youngest “Mr. Universe” in the history of the competition. And already on “Nights of Champions” (in 1985) Rich struck all the renewed form – stone, incredibly huge muscles. Gaspari actually opened a new era of bodybuilding, forcing the judges to change the criteria for evaluating bodybuilders. After this tournament, the photo of this sportsman appeared on the cover of the magazine “Flex”.
Incredible, at that time, the buildup of muscles became Gaspari‘s business card. In the same 1985, he took a confident third place in the competition, “Mr. Olympia”, and from 86th to 88th, he remained firmly on the 2nd, behind only Lee Haney, for which he received one of his nicknames “Silver Rich”. Of course, Gaspari also had a victory – “World Championship Pro” (1986), a series of “Grand Prix” in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. And in 1989 the most significant event in the career of this bodybuilder took place – 1st place in Arnold Classic. Conquering the titles, Rich managed to at least once bypass all the most famous bodybuilders except Lee Haney. Even more “dimensional” and genetically gifted bodybuilders were defeated by the “Dragon Slayer” Gaspari.
Rich has appeared countless times on the covers of magazines such as Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Iron Man, Muscular Development, Muscle Media 2000, Muscle Mag International and many others.
After leaving bodybuilding, Gaspari received the certificate of the National Academy of Sports Medicine and seriously started organizing his own business. The methodology developed by Gaspari Nutrition is known all over the world. A fanatical love for bodybuilding has evolved into a desire to help other people to form the body of their dreams.
Rich Gaspari Photo Gallery
