Bodybuilder Rich Piana collapsed and hit his head in an apartment in August, leading to him being placed in an induced coma. Piana’s autopsy, which was released last week, ruled his cause of death as “unknown,” due in part to an inability to run toxicology tests.
When emergency services arrived at the home of the 45-year-old, they allegedly found a powdered substance. A new death report has found that it was pre-workout powder, which Piana would allegedly snort like cocaine.
Piana’s girlfriend Chanel told investigators it was ‘CON-CRET PRE workout powder,’ which is advertised as a high-caffeine booster.
Pre-workouts, almost all of them contain caffeine and users usually get a massive rush of energy when it starts to kick in. Snorting pre-workout powder is not as novel in the bodybuilding community as it seems outside of it. Piana made no secret of the habit.
Investigators reportedly found 20 bottles of steroids at Piana’s house.
On the topic of steroids, Piana once said:
“If you want to become a professional bodybuilder, guess what – you’re probably going to have to f***ing do ’em. You’re not going to have a choice.”
But Piana insisted that he knew how to use the drugs without risking his health.
“Bodybuilding is not my main objective in life. It’s just something I do on the side. So I would never in a million years risk ruining my health or ruining my future do to bodybuilding.”
The death of Rich Piana remains inconclusive – The officials said it’s still unclear what caused Piana’s medical emergency.