“You knew they were good steroids” - Rich Gaspari discusses counterfeit drugs used by bodybuilders

Gaspari is an icon when it comes to professional bodybuilding. Although Gaspari never won the Olympia, he finished in the top three four times in his career. Since his retirement, Gaspari has continued to be passionate about the sport and voices his opinions at every opportunity available.

In a recent episode of the Fitness Fame & Fortune podcast, Gaspari joined John Romano to discuss the use of counterfeit drugs in the sport. He also detailed the differences in steroid dosages between his time and today.

Speaking of how easy it was to acquire certain drugs back in his day, he said:

"I use to go to that drive to that pharmacy and the pharmacist used to just sell. They weren’t controlled, so they used to sell you, Primobolan, Anavar, Testosterone — all the really — you know they were all pharmaceutical-grade so you knew they were good steroids."

Gaspari compared this to the regulations in place today, which force bodybuilders to look to the black market to buy PEDs. Gaspari also questioned the quality and integrity of the drugs bought through the black market.

"More product was get – the bodybuilders of today, use a lot of the black market to get their steroids," he added. "What happens is, the purity of what they’re getting may not necessarily be what they say it is. So, when I was using anabolic steroids, I would get them directly from a pharmacy. When I bought Primobolan; I knew it was Primobolan. When I was buying Anavar; I knew it was Anavar. When I was buying Dianabol, I knew they were Dianabol."

Tapping into the black market comes with its own issues, the most concerning of which, involves indulging in counterfeit drugs. He continued:

"A lot of the products right now that are out there right now, they’re like, ‘hey I got this Chinese version of Dianabol or Anavar, it’s blah blah blah,’ and the guy will go, ‘I didn’t make any gains on it.’ My point is, there’s a lot of fake shit out there. I’ve seen guys – top pros, for some reason they competed at a show and looked like shit. What happened? Is it because they got fake product to get ready for their show… I think that happens a lot."

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Gaspari believes the steroids have not changed over the years despite the progress in the pharmaceutical industry

The former IFBB professional highlighted that progress in pharma does not translate to a change in steroid use. He believes that bodybuilders today continue to use the same steroids as he did back in his heyday:

"Secondly, I do believe that the other designer products or drugs that you’re talking about, when they come to like peptides and SARMS. When you mention IGF-1, those are not steroids. When you look at steroids, I still think today’s bodybuilders are using reminiscent to the same type of steroids that we used 35 years ago ... Those haven't changed."

He believes that the only change in steroid use is the dose:

"The only thing changed with the anabolic is – from what I’m hearing – and I can’t say it first hand because I’m not watching them inject it, but the dosages are way higher than what I’ve taken."

The use of steroids in bodybuilding has been a point of contention for many years now. Many old-school bodybuilders such as Samir Bannout have been critical of steroid use today.