Piana, whose mother was a body-builder in Los Angeles, California, got introduced to the world of weightlifting when he was just 11-years-old, after going to the gym to watch her train, according to Daily Mail. He began weightlifting shortly after, and competed for the first time at age 15.
After a few unsuccessful competitions, Piana turned to steroids to help him bulk up at around age 18.
In one of his training videos, Piana explained his choice, saying, “If you have the choice to steroids or stay natural, stay natural stay natural. There’s no reason to do steroids, you’re only hurting your body and hurting yourself. But if you want to become a professional bodybuilder, guess what? You’re probably going to have to f**cking do them, you’re not going to have a choice. That’s the boat I was in.”
“I was competing on stage and I was getting to the point where I was getting blown off stage if I wasn’t going to do steroids, so I took that step.”
Piana estimates that he was spending $2,500 on growth hormone per month, without even taking steroids into account, according to Daily Mail.