14 DAY TRIAL // Bodybuilding, just like any other sport, takes time, patience, and above all, a lot of hard work and dedication. Of course, there are countless ways to phone it in and pass for a bodybuilder, though those in the know can always tell a fake from the real thing.
Synthol, also known as site enhancement oil, is one of the means employed to fake it. Romario Dos Santos Alves, a 25-year-old father of one from Brazil, thought he could get a bodybuilder’s body without actually having to break that much of a sweat for it - and today, he looks back and feels happy that he’s alive to tell his story.
He is grossly deformed, but at least he’s alive.
Muscles over health
In a new interview with Barcroft TV (video below), Romario says that he first got the idea into his head of transforming himself a few years back, when he moved out of his hometown. The first thing he did in his new hometown was to go to the gym, where he saw a lot of huge, muscular guys.
He wanted to look like them too. He also liked Marvel’s The Hulk, the green rage monster who takes over from Dr. Bruce Banner when he loses his temper. The Hulk is muscular and he’s huge, and he’s also very strong.
Unlike Romario, The Hulk is also very proportionate.
Not thinking about the health implications of what he was about to do, Romario acquired synthol, a synthetic filler made of oil, alcohol and painkillers, which is injected into the head of the muscle and gives the appearance of more mass.
Because it’s just a filler, synthol doesn’t offer actual strength. It also comes with a series of health complications, for which reason it’s very frowned upon in bodybuilding, despite the fact that it can be so easily purchased.
Romario either didn’t know about the health implications or he didn’t care. Unfortunately, he found out about them soon, when he began experiencing excruciating pain in his arms, which had now grown to a disproportionate size.
A doctor told him that the filler had solidified inside the muscle and that he had developed an infection, so that his only option was to have one of the arms amputated.
Even with this dire prospect, Romario didn’t stop injecting.
No more synthol, still dreaming of a bodybuilder career
Eventually, Romario understood that his problem was very, very serious. He says he was addicted to the injections, at last deciding to have the arm amputated so that he could stop getting the synthol.
As luck would have it, another specialist told him that the surgery to remove his arm was not necessary. He hasn’t used synthol since.
His biceps are now at 25 inches (63.5 cm) each, and he will never gain the appearance of normal muscle definition, but he still holds out hope that he will, one day, become a bodybuilder.
His story should serve as a cautionary tale of how the easy way out of or towards something isn’t always ideal.
