Late Rich piana

Early lifeEdit

Piana was born in Glendale, California, on September 26, 1970.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} He was of Armenian(through his mother) and Italian descent (through his father). Raised in Sacramento, California,^[12] his enthrallment with bodybuilding began when he was six. He would go to the gym to watch his mother train for her bodybuilding contests. Alongside her, Piana was also heavily influenced by Bill Cambra, an "old-school" bodybuilder. At age 11, Piana began weightlifting. Four years later, he started competing in bodybuilding contests. For his senior year in high school, he lived with his father in La Crescenta, California.^[12] By the age of 18, Piana already had several titles under his belt, including IFBB Mr. Teen California in 1989,^[8] and had started on a common steroid cycle practice known as "test and deca" that combines testosterone (an anabolic steroid that is the primary male sex hormone) and Deca-Durabolin(known generically as Nandrolone).

CareerEdit

Piana won the IFBB Mr. Teen California competition in 1989 at age 18, and in 1998 he was named IFBB Mr. California.^[8] He continued to compete on and off for about 25 years, winning NPC competitions in the 2003 Los Angeles Super-Heavyweight division, 2009 Sacramento Super-Heavyweight division, and the 2009 Border States Classic Super-Heavyweight division and overall championship.^[9] He was featured on the cover of the November 1998 issue of Ironmanmagazine^[8][9] and the Summer 2015 issue of Muscle Sport magazine.^[9]

He had a cameo appearance as The Incredible Hulk in an episode of the television series Scrubs^[8]and played an oiled-up muscle man named Marcus in an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" (without any spoken lines). He was one of the main focuses of the 2017 bodybuilding documentary Generation Iron 2.

In a 2014 YouTube video, he admitted that he had used anabolic steroids over the course of 25 years – since he was 18 years old – and specifically stated that everyone should be aware that using steroids will do damage to their body, but also said that he was willing to take the chance.^[13] He said he had experienced some side effects, such as hair loss, gynecomastia (enlarged breasts, which he had treated with medication), and signs of liver toxicity, but said he had not had acne or major problems thus far.^[13] However, he said "I am totally 100% aware that damage is being done to my body by the choices I am making", that "I know for a fact that doing what I am doing is going to cause damage", but also said "I have made a choice and I am willing to deal with that – I am willing to take those chances".^[13] In another video in 2016, he backed up his decision but advised viewers not to use the drugs, stating, "If you have the choice to do steroids or stay natural, stay natural. There's no reason to do steroids. You're only hurting your body and hurting yourself." He then clarified that professional bodybuilders have no such choice, since they cannot win at that level without using the drugs.^[5] He said "If you want to become a professional bodybuilder, guess what? You're probably going to have to fuckin' do 'em. You're not going to have a choice – you're going to have to do them. That's the boat I was in. I was competing on stage and I was getting to the point where I was going to keep getting blown off the stage if I didn't do them. So I took that step and that's the road I chose, and here I am."^[5][7]

He offered advice on how to use the drugs "properly" for those he said were going to use them anyway.^[5] He said that when he was competing at the national level, he was taking 20 international units per day of Serostim, a synthetic form of human growth hormone, which would cost about $8,000 per month at ordinary prescription prices (although he was sometimes getting it for free^[14] or for about $2,000 through connections with people who had prescriptions for it to fight HIV infection).^[5] He said that during his bodybuilding career he "lived and died for bodybuilding".^[14]

Piana quit bodybuilding competitions in his last few years and spent his time as a social media personality and promoting his business, called Rich Piana: 5% Nutrition.^[8] The meaning of "5%" in the name of the brand is that "5% represents the percentage of people that are out there actually doing whatever it takes to fulfill their dreams, to accomplish their goals, and to live the type of life they want to live."^[10][1][2]

In his post-competition life, he promoted his brand and frequently spoke about the use of steroids and hormones and the associated consequences.^[13][15] He made appearances at fitness expos, and in videos posted on YouTube, he gave advice about diet and fitness routines. He had 1.2 million followers on Instagram and hundreds of thousands of followers on YouTube.