Rich Piana

Richard "Rich" Piana (September 26, 1971 – August 25, 2017) was an American bodybuilder. He was born in Los Angeles, California.

Piana won the Mr. California title along with competitions in Los Angeles in 2003 and Sacramento in 2009. His admission in 2016 that he used anabolic steroids as part of his regimen was controversial. Piana often appeared in commercials and television series such as Scrubs and Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Rich Piana started 5% Nutrition in 2014 as a way to promote himself as an influencer and rising YouTube star. His content has been seen globally by hundreds of millions of viewers and brand followers. Today, 5% Nutrition lives on in Rich's honor of creating efficaciously dosed sports nutrition products as well as lifestyle apparel.

Rich made famous several mantras, specifically around training, bodybuilding, and weightlifting. His more famous saying, "Whatever It Takes" is an aspect of the 5% Mentality and stands for "[regarding the 5% mentality] ... only 5% of the population is willing to do whatever it takes to reach their goals and that is true for basically anything in life."

We at 5% Nutrition have a duty and an honor to uphold the legacy of Rich. While we must remain focused on running a supplements and lifestyle apparel business, we push forward with the big man looking over our shoulders. We imagine how he would react to a new product suggestion or a particular flavor in development. While none of us could ever replace The Legend himself, we conduct ourselves in the light of his intent and the culture he left behind. Each day, our dedicated team, most of whom were here before he passed away, look to their own connection with Rich as they go about their work to keep his story alive.

Piana died at age 45 on August 25, 2017 in Florida, after spending two weeks in an induced coma following a possible overdose.

Other websites

• Official website