"I consider it an art form" - Rich Gaspari on bodybuilding and how the classic physique division is saving it

America's very own Rich Gaspari is known for being the first-ever Arnold Classic champion. Despite never getting his hands on the Sandow trophy, Gaspari is widely considered a legend in the sport as he was a leading competitor for the better part of a decade. Since retiring from the sport in 1996, Gaspari has risen to be a unique commentator in the sport.

On a recent episode of Dragon Slayer Media's Fitness Fame & Fortune, Gaspari opened up about how he views bodybuilding as more of an art form rather than a sport.

"You talked earlier about what is bodybuilding, is it a sport or an art? I consider it an art form. Do you have to go through physical training to get to this art form, yes you do."

According to Rich Gaspari, despite the physical effort that goes into posing and building a competitive physique, the sport is essentially all about aesthetics. The body is the bodybuilder's canvas.

"You’re building a statue by throwing clay to build up your chest or your shoulders, but what are you doing? You’re displaying your body, after all this physical exertion that you’re doing to build that body. Is it really a sport? It’s something that is subjective."

Gaspari added that bodybuilding does not fit the exact criteria of being a sport like other disciplines do.

"You really don’t sit there and run through the finish line and pick a winner. When someone argues with me that it’s a sport, I say it’s not a sport. It’s an art form. You have to go do the gym to get to look like a certain way to be that art form, but is it really something that you can say, I don’t know."

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"The art form is coming back" - Rich Gaspari believes the 'lost' art of bodybuilding is being revived by classic physique

According to Rich Gaspari, there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to bodybuilding. He added that these factors make the sport more of an art form.

"A lot of what you’re doing is training, but people don’t see what it takes to make that body. The dieting, the training, the tanning, all the preparation it takes to get ready to go on that stage. That’s the part that it’s all the stuff that comes together to get you to be that bodybuilder on stage. I mean – I spent hours posing too."

Since its introduction, the classic physique has become widely popular and now stands as the second-most popular division in the sport. The division has brought a refreshing throwback to golden-era-type physiques in a sport that is dominated by mass today.

"It’s good that lately that the art form is coming back because of classic bodybuilding, but for the last couple of years, the last five or six years, it was lost. It was a lost art."

According to Gaspari, the art form was completely 'lost' a few years ago when the main focus was on being the most-muscular person on stage. He believes the art of posing was also lost with the exception of Kai Greene.

"Back – go five, six, eight years ago, bodybuilding posing was completely lost. I thought the routines were sh*t. The only guy that really posed, that gave a good show was someone like a Kai Greene."