Rich Piana is a polarising figure within the bodybuilding world and that’s just the way he wants it

RICH Piana has been using steroids for 33 years. He says he’s healthy, happy and unapologetic about what it’s done to his body.

Among Rich Piana’s trademarked products is a supplement labelled “Full as F***”. Picture: Facebook

RICH Piana’s business model is built around a simple three-word slogan: Whatever it takes.

It’s the motto assigned to his bodybuilding and supplement program and it’s the mantra by which he lives his life.

For more than 30 years, Piana has injected his body with anabolic steroids. Coupled with hard work and a ridiculous diet, the results are insane, as you can see.

Rich Piana has been using steroids for more than 30 years and says he wouldn’t change a thing. Picture: Facebook

Rich and his wife Sara, who married in 2015. Picture: Facebook

His goal has always been to be the best — whatever it takes. The winner of bodybuilding competitions in Los Angeles in 2003 and Sacramento in 2009 has accomplished plenty but he’s not ready to stop.

Unbelievably, he wants to get bigger and he’s sharing the journey-to-gigantic with a loyal fan base in the millions.

The controversial figure, who admitted in several video to years of steroid abuse, is undergoing an entirely new transformation. He calls it “Bigger By The Day” and it’s as scary as it sounds.

This is what it consists of: A massive steroid cycle, nine meals a day, a series of workouts not fit for the average human being and, according to one recent profile, “protein shakes big enough to drown a toddler in”.

In a social media blitz across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, the 45-year-old has been sharing almost daily pictures and videos. A month ago, on Day 76 of the program, he wrote that he was weighing in at 312 pounds (141.5kg) and that number was actually “down” on recent gains.

Among the captions were the words: “Monsters do exist.” They do indeed.

‘D***HEAD, SCUM OF THE EARTH’

For all his fans, Piana has his share of critics. Most say he shouldn’t be promoting the use of steroids. On his Facebook page in the last week, visitors have called him “a bitch”, “a d***head bully”, “scum of the earth” and a “steroid muching c***”.

Piana says they shouldn’t judge him because it’s his body and it’s his choice; a choice he’s happy he made at the age of 18.

In a revealing video posted to YouTube, Piana explained how he uses great care with steroids, how he understands the importance of “on/off cycles” and why nobody in the competitive bodybuilding industry can compete without using performance enhancing drugs.

“If you have the choice to stay natural or do steroids, stay natural. There’s no reason to do steroids, you’re only hurting your body, you’re hurting yourself,” he said.

“If you want to become a professional bodybuilder, guess what — you’re probably going to have to f***in’ do ‘em. You’re not going to have a choice.”

He said that was “the boat I was in”.

“I was competing on stage and I was at a point where I was getting blown off the stage if I wasn’t going to do steroids so I took that step and that’s the road I chose and here I am.

“But you know what, I’m happy with everything I chose and happy with the way everything went in my life. I’m completely happy with ... deciding to take steroids. My health is fine, everything’s good.”

He said the secret to his success, one that has afforded him a hugely-profitable clothing line and supplement business, is his honesty.

“Coming out, talking about steroids, just being straight up with people,” he said in a recent video. “I think people trust me.”

His relationship with fans can be volatile. His most recent interaction made news around the world after he repeatedly slapped a young bodybuilder who reportedly has an intellectual disability.

Jason Genova, who has a sizeable YouTube following himself, got under Piana’s skin when he asked his fans to attack Piana. They did, and according to Piana himself, he and his wife received death threats.

When Genova and Piana came face-to-face at a meet-and-greet for bodybuilders and fans, Piana was immediately confrontational.

“You kind of f*** with people’s social media, right?” Piana asked. “Do you think that’s cool?”

Genova, clearly intimidated, responded: “No, it’s not cool.”

“So you’d never do that again,” he asked, before telling the fan he’s “gotta do something back to you”.

“Can I slap you around a little bit on camera? Just to make us even?”

After delivering no less than 12 slaps to Genova’s face, he asked if the young man has learned his lesson. Clearly he had, but when the footage emerged, Piana was slammed for his actions.

“Rich, you went full potato,” a user wrote on Piana’s Facebook page.

“Jason didn’t do anything besides a video. The kid is autistic and can’t even clip his toenails by himself.”

Piana said he did what he did because he was upset.

“He has caused so much damage and f***ed with so many people for NO reason,” he wrote.

“His reasoning for attacking me was I never invited him to be an athlete on my team? Well I didn’t even know who he was or never even seen a pic of him.”

It’s all part of life in the spotlight for the man with millions of fans who follow his every move. He knows that by sharing everything he has to take the good with the bad.

Last year, Piana even shared his wedding video, In it, he was dressed in a tank top tuxedo.

Piana visited Australia earlier this year and is on his way to the UK later this month, another place his brand holds up.

He’s not shying away from his past, despite the criticism. He’ll almost certainly share his future online, across every platform he can access. His body and brand will continue to get bigger — Bigger By The Day — and the two are inexorably linked.