Article content continued

On Instagram he said: “Putting Toronto mayor Rob Ford through a Valerio workout. The BodyPro training system!!!” The posts were deleted not long after he was contacted by the media. He deleted his entire Twitter and Instagram accounts later Wednesday.

The tweet was sent out under Moscariello’s alias “Valerio Mosca,” the name he uses with the Team Body Pro Athletics website, the bodybuilding supplement company Mutant Nation and on several social media accounts including Facebook Youtube, Twitter and Instagram.

However, Moscariello’s full name is used several times in various pages of Team Body Pro Website and in other Internet postings.

Responding to an email from the National Post asking about the steroid conviction and coaching ban, Moscariello wrote: “It was a joke picture and has been blown up for no reason. I do wish him luck. I should not have posted a joke picture like that I didn’t realize what this caused. I’m sorry. I wish [the] mayor luck on his journey.”

He declined to directly answer any questions about the conviction and ban and did not confirm if the relationship with Ford is ongoing.

However, in an earlier telephone interview Wednesday, Moscariello was enthusiastic about training the mayor, who was sweating it out on a treadmill the night before, weighing in at 336 pounds.

“He’s got the discipline and he’s got the drive. I really think he can lose the weight, but he has to give it his all. I want him to give me 100%, not even just 99%. Without 100% I won’t take him on. But if he gives me 100%, if he comes to the gym, I’ll beat him up [through a rigorous workout]. I’ll beat him up until he can’t take anymore,” Moscariello told the National Post.