Rich Gaspari joined voices like Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates in criticizing the state of conditioning in modern day bodybuilding.
It’s a hard day for a newer generation of bodybuilders, who are in something of a war right now with some of the greats who inspired them to take up the sport. Rich Gaspari is the most recent voice in a chorus of older bodybuilders from the 80s and 90s to criticize the current state of the sport.
Gaspari suggested the physiques in modern bodybuilding represent a decline in conditioning from those in previous eras of the sport. Gaspari shared a video with fans on Instagram this morning where he expanded on those beliefs. You can watch the video in full below.
“Bodybuilders today don’t train calves as well. It’s a missing bodypart [sic],” Gaspari added in the description of the video.
Many in the comments section agreed, criticizing the bloated physiques of contemporary bodybuilders who rely on performance-enhancing drugs to get ahead, a common trend on the Olympia stage for at least a decade now.
“I don’t want to belittle the competitors of 2019,” Gaspari shared. “There’s some great bodybuilders, but I sort of agree [with the comments made by Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates]. The guys are massive, that has improved drastically…but what we don’t see, from my era, is the conditioning.”
Gaspari’s concerns echo a lot of others that have been made recently after what some considered a disappointing Olympia season. Famously, Ronnie Coleman recently expressed his belief that “none of today’s bodybuilders could place top 6 in the 90’s.”
Gaspari tried to spare the feelings of modern bodybuilders, but Ronnie Coleman did not mince words.
“Conditioning is not the same,” Coleman said in an interview with Valuetainment. “Look at those guys. I mean, nobody looks like they’ve been on a diet, like a real diet diet. Nobody looks in shape. They look okay.”
The physique in vogue on today’s bodybuilding stages rewards mass monsters who bulk up and bulk hard. Many of today’s most famous names in bodybuilding lack the classic V-taper that legends like Ronnie Coleman and Arnold Schwarzenegger were famous for popularizing.
Dorian Yates is another legend of the sport who has criticized the direction that competitive physique has taken, though his place in that history is more ill-defined. Generation Iron’s own documentary looking into Dorian’s life explores the title of “mass monster” and what that means for a competitor’s physique. Although Dorian was absolutely massive compared to guys competing back in the day, his physique still more closely resembled the aesthetics of Arnold than it did of, to pick a random example, Brandon Curry.
At the end of the day, it’s honestly a matter of personal preference which physique you prefer. Times are always changing and the sport may look completely different in as little as five or ten years from now. Do you like the classic V-taper of Arnold Schwarzenegger, or do you like the immense bulk of Phil Heath? Let us know in the comments below!
