In a career that spanned over a decade, Rich Gaspari may not have won the Mr. Olympia title, but he did come in second for three consecutive years from 1986. However, years after retiring from the competitive stage, Gaspari continues to influence the bodybuilding world. At 59, his diet, training routine, and words are what young bodybuilders look up to. Even today, Gaspari serves as an expert voice that has never shied away from addressing even the most controversial or frowned-upon discussions in the bodybuilding world.

In a recent episode of his podcast, Gaspari talked about the cultural differences concerning substance use in his era compared to that of contemporary. What motivated Gaspari to address the works of these performance-enhancement drugs is the saddening news of how a 33-year-young bodybuilder lost his life.

Rich Gaspari claims that injecting diuretics is what killed Momo Benaziza

In the recent episode of the Fitness, Fame & Fortune podcast, Rich Gaspari talked about the life-threatening effects of steroids on the body. Using the Algerian bodybuilder Momo Benaziza as an example, Gaspari revealed the drug that killed the young bodybuilder in 1992. Talking about Benaziza’s physique and drug use, Gaspari said, “Momo Benaziza was always kind of puffy, and then one year, he took extreme diuretics to get himself ripped. Well, it killed him.”

Gaspari believes Benaziza was one of those bodybuilders who can get themselves paper-thin. However, getting that condition required more than what it was worth. “He would take injectable Lasix to get in that condition. And John, I’ve never used — I’ve used Lasix, which I’d never use again because the cramps were unbelievable, I couldn’t even imagine using an injectable Lasix,” he added.

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Moreover, Gaspari admitted to taking diuretics himself. However, unlike most modern-day bodybuilders, he claims to do so only for guest appearances during the off-season.

The alarming increase in the doses

Rich Gaspari believes that although drugs are not a new thing in the bodybuilding world, their usage has evolved with time. Comparing the old bodybuilding days to modern times, the performance enhancement compounds remain the same.

However, the quantity in which they are consumed has increased many-fold. Gaspari claims present-day bodybuilders take four times higher doses than what they used to take. Not only that, far from assuming, Rich adds that they also add insulin and HGH to the composition.

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Drug use has been prevalent in the bodybuilding world since the golden era. However, it is only now that veterans like Rich Gaspari are publicly acknowledging the issue and alerting the coming generation about its adverse effects.