Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari took the IFBB Pro League by storm with his shredded physique during his days of competition. After hanging up his posing trunks, he gained respect for his knowledge and outspoken takes. In a recent post made on Instagram, Gaspari recommended bench squats as the king of all lower-body exercises to build massive legs.
A bench squat is essentially a squat performed with a bench. During your descent, you touch the bench with your buttocks. This serves as a cue for when to begin your ascent, providing a useful form indicator. Compared to a standard squat without a bench, this variation often allows for greater depth, especially for those new to squatting.
Rich Gaspari first gained attention for his insane muscle mass, size, and sharp conditioning as a Men’s Open competitor in the 1980s. He exhibited a lean body with an unreal dryness and was the first athlete to bring striated glutes on stage. He proved his potential with a bronze medal in his Mr. Olympia debut in 1985. While he didn’t win the Sandow trophy, he presented a major challenge to eight-time champion Lee Haney and took three runner-up placings in a row. He created history by taking home the top prize at the first-ever Arnold Classic in 1989 and got inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
For Gaspari, quality training always takes priority over taking gear. However, he feels bodybuilding has gotten too extreme with the overuse of PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs) even in the women’s Bikini and Wellness divisions. He pinned the blame on inexperienced coaches pushing steroids on their clients right away without a valid reason instead of focusing on training and diet.
Gaspari gave fans a look into the strong mindset he carried for training legs in the gym. As a proponent of high-intensity training, he offered tips on how to build legs along with various techniques to amp up intensity, such as slow negatives and drop sets.
Having competed at the highest level for over a decade, Rich Gaspari understands the risks that come with being an elite bodybuilder. He admitted considerable gains could be achieved using substances like Trenbolone but cautioned against taking the harsh steroid due to its toxicity and liver/cardiovascular system damage.
Gaspari laid out the brutal calves training routine he utilized in his heyday and fired shots at modern competitors for not paying enough attention to the muscle group. Then, he provided fans with an intense variation of the sumo squats, using an elevated platform for more range, to target glutes and develop stronger legs.
Rich Gaspari lauded reigning four-time Classic Physique Olympia champion Chris Bumstead for his dominant run in the game. He believes Bumstead is suitable for the Open division but would not be able to hold his own against mass monsters unless he brought his biceps up and added 40 pounds to his build.
Gaspari opened up about the crazy ways he would motivate himself to increase intensity in workouts, one such instance saw him pump iron with the idea that his family would get killed if he didn’t finish the training properly. He also detailed abs exercises that helped him gain strength.
Rich Gaspari says bench squats are the king for building mass
In a recent Instagram post, Rich Gaspari made the case for bench squats to be the king of exercises when it comes to building mass in the legs.
“Doing 5 sets of Bench Squats basically doing a warm up of 135 for 20 then doing 20 reps for 225 then doing 275 for 20 reps afterward following a heavy set of 315 for 15 and my last set of 245lbs for 30 reps,” wrote Gaspari. “Not lifting as heavy as my old days but at 60 years old not bad weights that I feel good doing And not hurting myself.
Squats are the King for building Mass on your legs and high reps are what build size on your legs. My lower back, knees are all in great shape and love what I can still do pushing others decades younger!”
Rich Gaspari unveiled some of his best tips on using slow-mo reps to boost workout intensity and muscle growth. He recommends holding each contraction and extension for five seconds to see the best results. Then, he demonstrated his bench technique on the incline dumbbell one-arm row to thicken out the back.
Gaspari suggested his audience take advantage of the Jefferson squats with a focus on depth to target legs in different ways to put on muscle. He followed that up by highlighting the concerning trend of new lifters taking toxic anabolics when they just started experimenting with weights.
His latest offering will certainly inspire many to crush some heavy sets of bench squats and hopefully in a safe and effective manner to avoid injuries.
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