Rich Piana facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rich Piana |
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|---|---|
| Bodybuilder | |
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| Personal info | |
| Born | September 26, 1970 Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Died | August 25, 2017 (aged 46) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 221–315 lb (100–143 kg) |
| Professional career | |
| Pro-debut | National Physique Committee (NPC) Mr. California, 1998 |
Richard Eugene Piana (September 26, 1970 – August 25, 2017) was an American bodybuilder, businessman, and YouTuber. He won the National Physique Committee (NPC) Mr. Teen California title in 1989, NPC Mr. California in 1998, and NPC competitions in 2003 and 2009.
Piana was popular in the weightlifting community for his bodybuilding achievements and over-the-top extroverted personality. He maintained a successful YouTube channel which featured motivational speaking, personal life stories, exercise montages, special guest appearances, and insights into his daily life. In his videos, he often spoke of the mentality and drive of "the 5%", which he said is the percentage of people who are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.
In August 2017, at the age of 46, Piana collapsed and spent two weeks in a coma before dying.
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Early life
Richard Eugene Piana was born in Glendale, California, on September 25, 1970. He was of Armenian descent through his mother and Italian descent through his father. He was raised by his mother in Sacramento, California, and his enthrallment with bodybuilding began when he was six years old; he would go to the gym to watch his mother train for her bodybuilding contests. He was influenced by her and Bill Cambra, an "old-school" bodybuilder. At age 11, he began lifting weights. Four years later, he started competing in bodybuilding contests. During his senior year of high school, he lived with his father in La Crescenta, California.
Career
Piana won the NPC Mr. Teen California competition in 1989. At the age of 18, Piana started a common steroid cycle practice known as "test and deca" that combines testosterone and Deca-Durabolin. In 2014, he stated that due to the dramatic results he achieved with steroids, he got "hooked" on them. In 1998, he was named NPC Mr. California. 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. He was featured on the cover of the November 1998 issue of Ironman magazine and the Summer 2015 issue of Muscle Sport magazine.
Piana had a cameo appearance as the Incredible Hulk in an episode of the television series Scrubs, and played an oiled-up muscle man named Marcus in a 2004 episode of Malcolm in the Middle (without any spoken lines). He also appeared in the 1999 episode of The Parkers titled "The Boomerang Effect". He was one of the main focuses of the 2017 bodybuilding documentary Generation Iron 2.
Piana quit bodybuilding competitions in his final years to spend his time as a YouTuber and businessman, with his nutrition product line called Rich Piana: 5% Nutrition. 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". In his post-competition life, he promoted his brand. He made appearances at fitness expos; 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 subscribers on YouTube.
Personal life
Piana was married twice. He married Icelandic bodybuilder Sara Heimisdóttir in 2015. They separated in 2016.
Death
At 1:30 p.m. on August 7, 2017, Piana collapsed while receiving a haircut from Jansen at his home in Clearwater, Florida. He was standing at the time and hit his head when he collapsed. After spending two weeks in an induced coma to try to reduce swelling to the brain, Piana died on August 25 at the age of 46.
Rich Piana was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California.
