Anyone who has ever picked up a body building magazine has probably come across Rich Piana and his insanely massive physique:

  According to Piana himself, it also takes steroids: In a recent interview with Deadspin, the 45-year-old body-building star opened up about his steroid use, explaining that from the tender age of 18, he has spent the last 27 years of his life on and off the juice: Piana says he wouldn’t “change a thing” and is happy with the life steroids have brought him. It all started for Piana when he was 11 years old and would go to the gym to watch his body-building mother train. From that point on Piana got addicted to weightlifting, and by 15 he was attempting to enter competitions. However, Piana failed to qualify in most competitions, and when he didmake the cut, he got swept away by the competition:

“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.”

That’s when Piana decided to take his training to the next level. To become the bodybuilder he is today, Piana would begin eating 8 to 12 meals a day, not to mention spending over $2,500 on human growth hormone per month, without even taking steroids into account: By the time steroids had become an integral part of his lifestyle, Piana had gone beyond the point of no return. While Piana says he does not regret his choices, he doesn’t advise his lifestyle, explaining:

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

But here’s what doctors and scientists have to say about the reality behind steroid use. On a physicality level, while steroids can give an advantage when it comes to gaining size, they can cause:

• acne
• breast development in men
• low sperm count
• painful erections
• decreased testicle size
• ingrown hair
• impotency
• menstrual irregularities
• enlarged clitoris
• reduced breast size for women
• masculinized female fetus
• However the dangers do not simply end there.

Steroids are also associated with:

• liver cancer
• heart attacks
• blood clots

However, he did go on to say this:

“But if you want to become a professional bodybuilder, guess what? You’re probably going to have to f***ing do them, you’re not going to have a choice. That’s the boat I was in.”

Piana has become so open about his steroid use that he has actually posted his usage cycles to the internet: Despite what people may say about his life choices, Piana is happy:

“But you know what? I’m happy with everything I chose and happy with the way that everything went in my life and I would not have done anything different.” “I’m completely happy with the choice that I made to start taking steroids at an early age of 18.”

Piana no longer body builds professionally; he now makes his money through endorsements, his own brand of supplements and through his YouTube channel, where he offers up advice to those who aspire look like him.For example, here is a lesson on steroids Piana tried to give his followers via Instagram – his post reads:

“Do people understand that steroids are all made from testosterone?? All men have testosterone!! Taking steroids is simply adding more of what every man already has in their body! Everybody has different testosterone levels naturally. Doctors regularly prescribe testosterone for men over 40 who have low levels. Its called hormone replacement. Bringing back our hormone levels that naturally decrease with age. People say he’s on steroids like its some amazing drug that he’s taking when the person saying it has the same thing in his body?? Someone taking steroids does not have something you dont have they just have more of it in their body! Depending on their dosage, age and your age they could be taking steroids and not have more testosterone in their body than you?? Seems like a lot of people are not aware of this so I felt the need to educate.”

From the looks of it, Piana doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Obviously, achieving a body like Piana’s is far from easy and takes an immense amount of determination, self control, and discipline.