Valdir flexing in Sao Paulo (Picture: Barcroft)

He wants to be like his hero Arnold Schwarzenegger – or even the the Hulk.

So bodybuilder Valdir Segato injects oil into his muscles to help him bulk up and achieve his ambition of becoming famous for his physique.

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He has gained 25kg as a result of his painful synthol injections, but unsurprisingly, the unnatural way of bulking up doesn’t actually make his muscles stronger, and could even prove fatal.

Even so, Valdir says he is delighted that people stare at him in the street.


‘This is a dream come true that I searched for and conquered,’ he said. ‘You look at your body and see that it’s growing and you’re going to want more.’

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He injects synthol into his bicep (Picture: Barcroft)

He says this is a ‘dream come true’ (Picture: Barcroft)

Valdir, aged 48, started injecting the potentially lethal oil five years ago. Since then his arms have doubled in size from 12 inches, and he wants to get even bigger.



The construction worker, from Sao Paulo in Brazil, he says he is proud to be known locally as ‘He-Man’ and ‘the monster’ in the street.

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In his youth, he was addicted to drugs and lost so much weight that people would call him ‘skinny dog’ and ‘little skull.’

Valdir said: “There was a time in my life that I got involved with wrong things. I decided to change my life.’

He started going to the gym, which is where another user introduced him to the synthol telling him he could get more extreme effects than from lifting weights alone.

So he started to inject it regularly into his biceps, chest and shoulders.

Valdir pictured as a child (Picture: Barcroft)

He wants to look like the Hulk (Picture: Barcroft)

His biceps measure 23 inches (Picture: Barcroft)

‘The oil is mostly aesthetic, it models the body and makes the muscle swollen – it doesn’t affect strength,’ he said.

In fact, doing it could kill him or leave him in danger of serious problems such as amputation.

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‘The doctors tell me to stop it, the advice they give me is to stop using,’ he said. ‘But it’s my decision to use it because I want to, because I like to.’

Valdir’s inflated muscles have also made it difficult for him to find love, as potential partners are too intimidated to approach him, he says.

He said: ‘At the moment, I am alone, I don’t have anyone. I do get attention, but people seem to be scared to approach me, I think that’s the problem.’

He used to look very different (Picture: Barcroft)

The oil does not actually make him stronger (Picture: Barcroft)

‘There are times I hear people mocking me a lot, especially younger kids. They are always saying something because of my body,’ he said.

‘The worst thing is when people stop you and call you an ugly thing. But I don’t care what people say, if I like myself, that’s enough.’

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Valdir’s friends are also concerned.

Fernando Carvalho da Silva, a fellow construction worker, said: ‘I think the oil thing is stupidity.

‘He thinks it’s good and I’m a friend so I stay quiet, but deep down I want to tell him to stop but he doesn’t want to.

He injects it into his neck and back (Picture: Barcroft)

He is known as ‘He-Man’ (Picture: Barcroft)

‘It’s the risk he takes – he wants to look good and wants to be famous.’

Now Valdir is aiming to pump up his biceps by a further 10cm and hopes his muscles will lead to stardom.



He said: ‘My dream is that with my musculature I try can achieve something – make a career from my body.

‘I don’t have any regrets. I look at myself in the mirror and I like the way I look.’