Rich Piana, whose full name is Richard Eugene Piana, was born on September 26, 1970 and died on August 25, 2017. Rich Piana was a popular American bodybuilder and wealthy businessman. He won the National Physique Committee (NPC) Mr. Teen California title in 1989, the NPC Mr. California title in 1998 and the National Physique Committee (NPC) competitions in 2003 and 2009. He had his own line of nutrition products called Rich Piana: 5% Nutrition. He publicly admitted that he had been using anabolic substances such as trenbolone, synthetic human growth hormone and insulin as part of his bodybuilding regimen during his career, starting when he was 18 years old. He had claimed that he was aware that steroids would harm his body, but he had also said that his use was a necessary part of competing at the highest levels of bodybuilding and that it was a risk he was willing to take.
Why did Rich Piana's death occur?
Rich Piana died at the age of 46, after two weeks in a coma. At death, his heart and liver weighed more than twice that of an average adult male, and he had "serious heart disease" He was aware that his organs were enlarged and that is a known side effect of certain substances like HGH, insulin and other hormones that Rich had been taking. He also had significant hardening of the arteries and plaque in his arteries (coronary atherosclerosis). He also had abnormally yellowish skin color, fatty liver, ascites (accumulation of protein-containing fluid in the abdomen), congested thyroid, congested and discolored kidneys, ischemic brain tissue (brain tissue that had lost its blood supply), brain tissue necrotic and cerebral edema. Another abnormality was in his lungs, which were filled with yellow fluid and swollen (pleural effusion of bronchopneumonia with edema), had apparent fat emboli and microabscesses, and also showed acute and chronic inflammatory cells. However, the autopsy report was inconclusive as to the cause and manner of Rich Piana's death, due to the hospital disposing of the samples prior to his death.
Rich Piana was a well-known bodybuilder among the lifters community as a result of his bodybuilding accomplishments and friendly, outgoing personality. He was known for having a YouTube channel that featured motivational talks, personal life stories, exercise demonstrations, special guest appearances and facts about Piana's daily life. In videos of him, he often talked about the 5%, which he described as a mindset and movement of people willing to do whatever it takes to achieve whatever goal they have. He believed that only 5% of people had the ability to do this.
Young Rich Piana, his early life
Rich Piana was born in Glendale, in the state of California, on September 26, 1970. His ancestry was Armenian (on his mother's side) and Italian (on his father's side). Rich Piana as a young man grew up in Sacramento, California, where his enthusiasm for bodybuilding began when he was six years old. He went to the gym to watch his mother train for her bodybuilding competition. Alongside her, Rich Piana young was also heavily influenced by Bill Cambra, an "old school" bodybuilder. At age 11, young Rich Piana began lifting weights. Four years later, she began competing in bodybuilding contests. During her senior year in high school, he lived with his father in La Crescenta, California. By the age of 18, a young Rich Piana already had several titles under his belt, including 1989's IFBB Mr. Teen California, and had started a common practice: cycles of anabolic steroids known as "test and deca," which combine Testosterone (an anabolic that is the main male sex hormone) and Deca-Durabolin (known generically as Nandrolone).
Photos of Young Rich Piana
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| Young Rich Piana with his mother, who started his passion for bodybuilding. |
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| Rich Piana when he was young. |
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| Young Rich Piana in shape for a bodybuilding competition. |
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| Young Rich Piana appears in the bodybuilding magazine Ironman. |
Rich Piana's bodybuilding career
Piana won the IFBB Mr. Teen California competition in 1989 at the age of 18, and in 1998 he was named the IFBB Mr. California. Bodybuilder Rich Piana continued to compete off and on for some 25 years, winning NPC competitions in the Los Angeles Super Heavyweight division in 2003, the Sacramento Superweight division in 2009 and the Super Heavyweight division and the overall championship at the 2009 Border States Classic. He was featured on the cover of the November 1998 issue of Ironman magazine and the Summer 2015 issue of Muscle Sport magazine.
He made a cameo appearance as the Incredible Hulk in an episode of the television series Scrubs, and played a well-oiled, muscular guy named Marcus in an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" (no dialogue). He was one of the main focuses of the 2017 bodybuilding documentary Generation Iron 2.
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| Rich Piana as a bodybuilder. |
Rich Piana and anabolic substances
In a 2014 YouTube video, Rich Piana said that he had used anabolic steroids for 25 years - since he was 18 years old - and specifically stated that everyone should be aware that steroid use will cause harm to your body, but he also said that he was willing to take the risk. He said that he had experienced some side effects, including hair loss, gynecomastia (enlarged breasts, which he had treated with medication) and signs of liver toxicity, but stated that he had not had any acne or major problems until now.
"I am totally 100% aware that the decisions I make are harming my body"-said Rich Piana. "I know for a fact that doing what I do is going to cause harm," but he also stated, "I've made a decision and I'm willing to deal with it—I'm willing to take those risks".
In another video in 2016, he again backed his decision but advised viewers not to use the drugs, saying, "If you have to choose between using steroids or staying natural, stay natural ". There is no reason to use them. You're just hurting your body and hurting yourself". He then mentioned that professional bodybuilders don't have that option as they can't win at that level without using them. He said, "I was competing on stage and I was getting to the point where I was going to keep getting kicked out of the competition if I didn't use them. So I took that step and that's the path I chose, and here I am".
He offered advice on how to use these substances "properly" for those who were going to use them anyway. He claimed that when he competed nationally, he took 20 international units a day of Serostim, a synthetic form of human growth hormone, which cost him about $8,000 a month at regular prescription prices (although he sometimes got it for free or for a few $2,000 through contacts with people who had been prescribed to fight HIV infection). He also said that during Rich Piana's bodybuilding career, he "lived and died for bodybuilding" .
Rich Piana on YouTube and other social media
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| Rich Piana with "The Mountain" Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and their girlfriends. |
Piana gave up bodybuilding competitions in his later years and spent his time as a social media celebrity and promoting his business, called Rich Piana: 5% Nutrition. The meaning of "5%" in the brand name is that " 5% represents the percentage of people who are out there doing whatever it takes to fulfill their dreams, to achieve their goals and to live the kind of life they want to live".
In his life after the competitive stage, he promoted his brand and spoke frequently about the use of doping substances and the associated consequences. He made appearances at fitness expos and in videos posted on YouTube, he gave tips on diet and fitness routines. He had 1.2 million followers on Instagram and 1 million subscribers on YouTube.
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| Piana and Mike O´Hearn. |
Personal life of Rich Piana, girlfriend and wife
Rich was married twice. His first marriage ended in divorce after having an affair. He later had a long-term on-and-off relationship with gymnastics model Chanel Jansen, Rich Piana's best-known girlfriend. He then married Icelandic bodybuilder Sara Heimisdóttir (Rich Piana's wife) in 2015. They separated in 2016 and he later accused her of using him to gain US residency and stealing money from him. His second marriage was annulled as occurring under false pretenses, and he resumed his relationship with Chanel Jansen, who was Rich Piana's girlfriend at the time of his death.
Rich Piana reportedly also struggled with opiate addiction at some point, according to his girlfriend Jansen.
Rich Piana Death; events that happened
At 1:30 p.m. on August 7, 2017, Rich Piana collapsed while receiving a Chanel Jansen haircut at his home. He was standing at the time and hit his head when he fell. Jansen called the 911 emergency operator, following his instructions to try to perform CPR until paramedics arrived within 10 minutes of his call. Paramedics confirmed that his heart was not beating properly. His heartbeat was eventually restored, but only after enough time had passed for brain damage to occur from lack of oxygen. Following the discovery of crushed white powder along with a straw and a credit card on the table at his home, paramedics administered Narcan, a medication used to counter possible opiate overdose. There was later speculation that recreational drug use, foul play or other unknown factors were involved in his death. However, Rich's girlfriend, Chanel Jansen, denied that cocaine, heroin or other drugs were involved, saying that he had sometimes snorted a high-caffeine supplement before working out, and that he did not use recreational drugs. It was reported that they found 20 bottles of testosterone in his house .
Jansen later said that his brain had been deprived of oxygen for more than 30 minutes. She also said that in the last few days before his collapse, Rich Piana had exhibited some unusual symptoms, including shortness of breath and nausea, and claimed he was later told these could be warning signs of impending cardiac arrest.
After spending two weeks in an induced coma to try to reduce brain swelling, Rich Piana tragically died on August 25, 2017, at the age of 46. An autopsy revealed "significant heart disease" and that his heart and liver weighed more than twice that of the average adult male. Jansen said that Rich Piana was aware that his organs were enlarged and that this was a known side effect of the steroids and hormones he had been taking, but he also said that he did not know that this put him at risk of stroke sudden heart attack.
The autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause and manner of Rich Piana's death. No toxicology analysis was performed for the autopsy and no toxicology analysis from the period of his hospital treatment was made available to the medical examiner for his study. The hospital had discarded the samples needed for later toxicology analysis, despite specific requests to preserve them for analysis. This led to conspiracy theories about a possible cover-up of the true circumstances and cause of Rich Piana's death. The autopsy report said there was no evidence of recent injuries, and seemed to rule out physical trauma as a significant factor in his death.
He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, California .
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| Place where the remains of Rich Piana rest. |
Curiosities and interesting facts about bodybuilder Rich Piana
Famous on Instagram and YouTube
These two social media were Rich's favorites. He reached a million followers on each one. He won over his audience thanks to his good advice and humor. Although his passion was competitive bodybuilding, Rich Piana claimed that the competitions themselves did not make enough money. He was also not in favor of the idea that it was a bodybuilding judge who decided whether his body was aesthetic or not. Rich Piana said that his image was much easier to monetize on social media. In fact, he always encouraged people to start any business nowadays, which, according to him, was easier these days thanks to social media.
Rich Piana not only a bodybuilder
Rich was a millionaire, and his earnings did not exactly come from bodybuilding competitions, from which he retired after a few years. From a young age he learned to invest in the stock market, where he earned a lot of money. In addition to that, Rich Piana started several businesses that were successful. In some videos he talked about a clothing line for bodybuilders, which was so successful that he didn't have time to prepare its summer edition. He also created his great sports supplementation company 5% Nutrition.
Video by Rich Piana where he talks about starting a business, investing in the stock market, the real estate market...
Rich Piana supplements and diet without deception
One of the most striking aspects of his mentality is that he was one of the few honest entrepreneurs about his line of sports supplements. Rich Piana stated on several occasions, especially addressing his message to young people, that although supplements can be a small help, they can in no way replace a meal or give amazing results. On diet, Rich Piana said plainly, "Buy and eat real food, before my supplements. I sell supplements and I'm telling you this".
Even after Rich Piana's passing, his supplements are still marketed today.
Rich's appearances with other famous people
On Rich Piana's YouTube channel, it was common to see him with well-known characters as actors. He made videos with actor Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (The Mountain in Game of Thrones) or with renowned bodybuilders like Michael O'Hearn.
TV spots
Thanks to his muscular appearance, Rich Piana starred in some television commercials. This is a compilation of the times Rich Piana has appeared on TV.
Rich Piana's theme or song
Rich Piana's theme/music.
In one of the commercials in which he starred, a melody was played that Rich himself would later use to record his YouTube videos. This catchy music is known on the internet as "The Rich Piana Theme". It sounds like this.
Radicalization of his physique
One of the things Rich Piana loved most was receiving attention from others and being noticed wherever he went. To do this, based on doping substances and hard training, he built an imposing physique with massive arms. In addition, he was very adept at changing his appearance, including hair color, wearing contact lenses, extreme tanning and expensive clothing.
Other biographies you can read!:
Rich Piana and the differences between training natural and unnatural bodybuilders
Rich Piana was a staunch advocate of high-rep, muscle-pumping bodybuilding training. According to him, bodybuilders who use doping substances do not have to train so heavy and often gain good results by tiring the muscle and causing metabolic stress with high reps. However, in another video he indicated that for a natural athlete the training should be different; and in that case he did recommend that the natties train heavier to see results.
Where does the name of his company 5% Nutrition come from?
For Rich Piana, only 5% of people are capable of doing everything it takes to achieve their goals and dreams, success in business or in anything they set out to do. Hence, he named his supplementation company 5% Nutrition.
It refers to that 5% of people who are willing to do whatever it takes to see their goals fulfilled in life.
Rich Piana: height, weight and measurements
Rich Piana was 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and weighed 221–315 pounds (100–143 kg).
If he was known for anything it was for his massive size and especially his huge arms. Rich Piana's arm measurement was 60 cm (23.5 in).
The fact of being a very heavy person for his age could cause him problems, endangering his health. Rich Piana was aware of this, and shortly before his death he was trying to lose weight.
Best videos of Rich Piana
Rich Piana talks about supplements in bodybuilding
Rich Piana on training as a natural and unnatural athlete
Rich speaking about genetics in bodybuilding and fitness
Compilation of some tips from Rich Piana
The story of Rich Piana, despite the tragic ending, was one of struggle and overcoming. From a young age he was a fighter, a visionary and won the hearts of thousands of members of the fitness community, not only from the United States but from all over the world. There will always be a place for him in the fitness community (and in the business world, as he was one of the most successful entrepreneurs and millionaires in the United States).
Rich Piana quote: "Do what you have to do to be part of that 5% of people who achieve the goals they set for themselves ".
