"Feed the machine" - Rich Gaspari opens up on nutrition and diets
Rich Gaspari is a former professional bodybuilder. He is well known among the followers of bodybuilding due to his fantastic conditioning and symmetry. Rich was a three-time Mr. Olympia runner-up.
Despite not winning the Mr. Olympia title in his career, Rich Gaspari has etched his name as one of the best bodybuilders among the bodybuilding community. He was famous during the 1980s and 90s. Rich is actively involved in discussions related to current trends and competitions in bodybuilding.
Recently, after the conclusion of the 2022 Mr. Olympia in December 2022, Rich was involved in controversy when he compared the back of the 2022 Mr. Olympia champion Hadi Choopan to the six-time Mr. Olympia title winner Dorian Yates. Hadi responded to Gaspari by saying, "Be professional Mr. Gaspari".
In a recent video posted on his Instagram account, Rich Gaspari spoke about dieting in bodybuilding. The former bodybuilder said:
"I started talking to a couple of decent bodybuilders and they’re talking about their caloric intake. These guys are eating at 185, 195, like 1900 calories. That’s eating like a bird. If you really want to gain muscle, you have to try to eat higher amounts of calories and do it slowly. I tell guys this, you’re not going to grow muscle unless you feed the machine."
He added:
"Guys are always afraid of being fat, but you can speed up the metabolism. I always tell people, being successful in bodybuilding is 70, 80% diet. Think of it this way, if you’re building a house or you’re building, if you don’t have the cement, you can’t build the wall."
The former bodybuilder said that if we don't have the right macronutrients to grow, then we won't grow. Rich Gaspari continued:
"How do you do this, if you guys are on a low caloric intake because you want to stay lean. A guy who’s like 185 should be taking in shit like 3,000 calories to really start building muscle, 3,000 to 3,500 calories. But, you have to do it slowly. How do you do that. If you’re on 1,900 calories, what you need to do is do three days of 1,900 calories, and then do a day of 2,400 calories."
The three-time Mr. Olympia runner-up insisted his viewers follow the above procedure for two weeks. He then wants his viewers to increase their calorie intake to 2,400 for three days. After that, he advises to increase it to 2,800 calories and follow that for two weeks.
Rich Gaspari speaks about macro nutrients and diets
As far as macronutrients are concerned, Rich Gaspari's macronutrient plan consists of 35% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 20% fat ratio. The three-time Mr. Olympia runner-up said:
"With macros, you want to stay on a 35, 45, 20, 35% protein, 40% carbohydrates, 20% fat. What you’re going to be eating with your proteins is you’re going to stay with low fat proteins. Staying with lean ground meat, chicken, salmon, eggs, try to eat more egg whites of course, but have a couple of egg yolks."
For complex carbohydrates, Rich claimed that he sticks to gluten-free carbohydrates, sweet potatoes, potatoes, yams, brown rice and oatmeal. Rich Gaspari said he consumes some simple fruits and beans as well. The former bodybuilder said vegetables are the main contributors to fiber in his diet.
Rich Gaspari said:
"Then you want some fiber. At least a couple meals with vegetables, of course, using asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, salads, so you have that fiber. If you eat this way consistently, slowly increasing your caloric intake, you'll be able to eat more and more and acclimate your body to be able to accept those higher calories and use it for building muscles."
Gaspari advised viewers to stay away from refined carbohydrates such as white flour, white bread and white sugar. Rich termed these refined carbohydrates as enemies. Though he is no longer a professional bodybuilder, Rich tries to stay as fit as possible and continues to share some ideas related to nutrition and diets with his followers.