‘We by no means as soon as sacrificed high quality for revenue. What I’m most pleased with with GASP is that we created a motion of like-minded individuals who every have their very own model of what GASP means to them.’ -GASP CEO Michael Johansson
Chances are high that if you happen to reside the health way of life and love understanding, you’ve acquired a minimum of a number of objects of GASP or Higher Our bodies garments in your closet or dresser drawers. I do know I’ve amassed fairly a set of tank tops, hoodies, shorts, and pants! Through the years within the pages of MD you noticed the easiest champions rocking these manufacturers, stars like Department Warren, Flex Lewis, Johnnie Jackson, and Dennis Wolf. I’ve by no means identified the story behind the model itself. Not too long ago I spoke with proprietor Michael Johansson from GASP and Higher Our bodies world headquarters at Vacation spot Dallas and realized how the corporate motto of “No compromises, no excuses, keep relentless” got here to be.
All of it started within the late Nineteen Eighties, when Michael was promoting Brian Moss’ Higher Our bodies activewear model from the USA within the Nordic nations: Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and his native Sweden. The bodybuilding way of life had but to achieve reputation in that a part of Europe. “Solely a choose few went to the health club again then,” Michael notes. Higher Our bodies grew sooner than they may sustain with, and the corporate went below in 1992. After negotiations, Johansson started producing the model once more in 1994. “The duvet of our first catalogue that 12 months featured Aaron Baker, and it was similar to the GASP model you already know in the present day.” Their gross sales had been restricted to Sweden, a nation of simply 10 million folks, however health club homeowners and ultimately Dick’s Sporting Items all carried Higher Our bodies exercise attire. Over the following few years, the corporate took a extra mainstream route away from the hardcore health club crowd. “I felt we had been dropping one thing important, the place we had come from, our core values,” Michael tells us. “And it as all simply to be extra industrial and enchantment to a much bigger viewers.” That is how GASP was born.
Within the foreground, GASP CEO Michael Johansson
Michael was a bodybuilder himself within the early ‘90s, and his ardour for the game and way of life drove the values and mission of GASP. “We had been doing it from the guts, not from the pockets.” Johansson needed to assist others attain their bodybuilding objectives. “By the point I used to be 27, I noticed I didn’t have the genetics to be Mr. Olympia,” he says. “However I may very well be Mr. Olympia in enterprise and contribute to the game in my very own manner. Higher Our bodies can be the extra industrial aspect of the corporate, and GASP can be the emotional side for like-minded folks.” In 2008, Michael determined to deal with the US market. The primary athletes to symbolize the model couldn’t have been extra acceptable: Department Warren and Johnnie Jackson, the epitome of hardcore in each sense. He made a daring gamble in 2012 when he bought every thing in Sweden and moved the corporate to the USA. Immediately, GASP and Higher Our bodies are bought and distributed in over 110 nations. Issues weren’t easy crusing. The arrival and speedy rise of social media platforms challenged many established enterprise fashions, and by 2017 Michael felt the model struggling to stay related on this new setting. Finally the corporate tailored and thrived as soon as once more. I identified to Johansson that not solely is GASP clothes trendy, but it surely’s additionally extremely sturdy, as confirmed by the numerous objects of theirs I’ve sweated in and washed a whole lot of occasions. “That’s the place the ‘no compromises’ side is available in,” he defined. “We by no means as soon as sacrificed high quality for revenue. What I’m most pleased with with GASP is that we created a motion of like-minded individuals who every have their very own model of what GASP means to them. Everybody has their very own expertise of the iron world, and we assist you form your personal path. The garments remind you of onerous work, no compromises, and no excuses, which is on the very coronary heart of bodybuilding.”
For many years, Venice Seaside was The Mecca of bodybuilding, the place bodybuilders from all around the world migrated to be a part of the tradition. After that Las Vegas started attracting the health elite, and now due to GASP and Higher Our bodies, Dallas has grow to be the brand new space emigrate to on account of their huge warehouse/headquarters and health club, Vacation spot Dallas. “I needed the health club to have that old-school feeling of the gyms I grew up coaching in, and of Metroflex Arlington and hardcore locations like that,” says Michael. “It’s all about ardour and objective for individuals who wish to work onerous within the health club and fulfill their desires, no matter these is perhaps. I needed it to be a gathering place for like-minded folks, which is why I referred to as it Vacation spot Dallas.” Up to now GASP athletes Keone Pearson and Martin Fitzwater have moved there, and shortly two-time Olympia 212 champ Shaun Clarida could have left his native New Jersey along with his spouse and baby for Dallas as nicely. It’s additionally the place a lot of their sensational video content material is filmed for his or her Iron World YouTube channel, by chief videographer Nick Del Toro, who did superb work for MD for years.
‘Everybody has their very own expertise of the iron world, and we assist you form your personal path. The garments remind you of onerous work, no compromises, and no excuses, which is on the very coronary heart of bodybuilding.’ -GASP CEO Michael Johansson
Every part shifted in 2017 when Johansson felt the corporate was turning into too company, and he determined to carry it again to its roots as soon as extra. “Everyone brings one thing to the desk, whether or not they’re present champions, aspiring bodybuilders, or athletes who’re now not competing. It’s a household right here and everyone seems to be welcome. We’re numerous however once more, like-minded.” There are lots of different manufacturers to select from and the health clothes business is extra aggressive than ever, however GASP and Higher Our bodies have remained related via all of it. “Our clothes is for everybody who has desires and objectives, and we consider serving to others raises all of us to a better stage.” This 12 months, GASP and Higher Our bodies are supporting 80 beginner and professional contests, they usually have over 15,000 model ambassadors and athletes world wide. “It’s all about creating extra camaraderie and extra of a group,” Michael says. “That’s way more essential than promoting clothes.”
Ron Harris acquired his begin within the bodybuilding business in the course of the eight years he labored in Los Angeles as Affiliate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Journal” present within the Nineteen Nineties. Since 1992 he has revealed practically 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and health magazines, making him probably the most prolific bodybuilding author ever. Ron has been coaching because the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives along with his spouse and two kids within the Boston space. Fb Instagram
