Question of the Week: Rich Piana: What is my Opinion of him?
As a personal trainer in Austin for over 21 years, I have had a lot of people ask me over the years if I know certain people. Sometimes they are inquiring if I work with a celebrity they are especially fond of. Other times it could be one of their favorite athletes that are curious about knowing my relationship with. While I’m certainly no celebrity trainer, whatever that really means, I’ll never know, but I have certainly had my share of high profile clients. Who are they? Who cares?! I’ve never been a star struck kind of person and therefore believe, that all of my clients are VIPs. Furthermore, I have the utmost respect for people’s privacy. There are certain celebrities who are found on the internet exclusively, as opposed to playing fields or on silver screens. Obviously, there are some in the fitness world as well. The other day I was asked about one guy in particular. His name is Rich Piana.
I’m not the guy who will boast of whom he has trained, advised, or even met. It’s simply uninteresting to me, as I said. People are people, and I seek to work with the nice ones who have a good attitude, and are willing to work hard. Whether they are at the helm of a garbage truck or a huge corporation, is completely immaterial to me. I also have come to realize a long time ago as an Austin personal trainer, that somebody who is famous, will often attract a lot of negative attention by those who begrudge them, for whatever reason. With that on mind, I have no preconceived notion of how a person truly is until I meet them, and spend some time with them, both personally, as well as professionally.
For those of you who are in the dark about Rich Piana, he is a 40 something year old, retired bodybuilder, who reinvented himself with tons of tattoos, and swollen beyond possible limbs. He founded, and runs a nutrition company called 5% Nutrition. It is through his videos and use of social media, that he has gained a following of admirers, as well as a slew of detractors. I myself have never met Rich Piana, though I have certainly watched some of his YouTube videos, mostly out of curiosity. Having never met the man, it would be both unfair, and completely ridiculous to pass judgement on him, or try to relate to someone what the guy is like from simply watching a video or 2.
Rich Piana has an online presence of a guy that has seen and done a lot in the fitness world. Perhaps he has. He readily admits that he has been using anabolic steroids since the age of 18, as well as a whole host of other performance enhancing drugs, and even oil injections under the muscle belly in order to make himself bigger, and fuller looking. He has come under fire as a guy who was a mediocre bodybuilder, at best, having never joined the professional ranks of the IFBB, but who went on to achieve almost comical proportions in his 40’s through the use of injectable oils. While Mr. Piana has refuted the claims of the naysayers, that his body is filled with synthol and other oils, he has never quite given an acceptable explanation of how he was able to achieve the look by any other means. Does it matter? Of course not. Rich Piana, so long as he’s not hurting anyone else, doesn’t owe anyone an answer. If you don’t like the guy’s persona, his products, or his videos, there are plenty of other things in the health and fitness world to which you can divert your attention.
Do I have an opinion of Rich Piana? Sure. He seems like a genuinely intelligent guy, despite the endless profane fillers heard in his videos. He also seems to be a guy that has a lot of knowledge about certain things, such as nutrition, and of course, steroids. Furthermore, Mr. Piana seems like a likable enough guy in his videos, though he does seem to take himself a little too seriously, at times anyway. The bottom line, is that I’ve never met the guy, so I don’t have an opinion of him as a human being, one way or the other. I don’t find what he does very interesting, as bodybuilding, and all that it entails, is certainly not a healthy pastime. At least at that level. So while Rich Piana doesn’t strike a chord with me, he doesn’t rub me the wrong way either. At the end of the day, he’s an adult who can do as he pleases to himself. A fool would think that what he’s doing is sustainable both aesthetically, as well as health wise, but he seems to be fine with that, and ultimately, that’s what matters. What you or I think of someone else is irrelevant, especially without any first hand experience with them. He found a niche, created a product and a persona to sell it. What harm is there in that? If you have a problem with any of that, turn the page and move on.
Ready to Get Started?
Andy
Latest posts by Andy (see all)
- Workout Motivation: How To Get Motivated To Work Out - March 9, 2022
- Body Fat Types: Subcutaneous and Visceral Fats - June 1, 2019
- Why Diets Work If You Stick With Them - April 1, 2019
