The real-life Popeye: Man injects himself with a lethal cocktail of oil and ALCOHOL to grow monster arms (photo)

Bodybuilders in Brazil are risking death by injecting themselves with a potentially lethal cocktail of oil and alcohol to pump up their muscles.

Arlindo de Souza has grown 29in biceps - the biggest in Brazil - after injecting the filler into his body, where it causes appearance of swollen muscles.

But even he admits it can cause dangerous infections. Some users have had their arms amputated. Others have died.

    'My friend Paulinho, he passed away from doing these things,' said Mr de Souza. 'I felt his death a lot. He took it, I took it, but he went beyond the limit. I advise no-one to take this oil.

'I've stopped taking it, and other things as well, but there is always that will to start again. But I'm managing to control myself, to this day.'

'The guy gave it to me. He said, "Take this, it will make you grow in days",' said Mr de Souza, who is single and lives with his elderly mother, Josefa Gomes de Souza, in Olinda on the coast of Brazil's Pernambuco state.

'I loaded the syringe, put it in my arm, injected it and it swelled me up right there and then.

'To tell you the truth, I didn't feel a thing. There was sometimes a bit of dizziness but nothing apart from that.

'I was working out the same so my strength stayed the same - nothing changed.

'Most people who take it do not know how to apply it. They will use just any old blood vessel. Some will end up loosing an arm, another needs an operation, some may even lose their lives.'

Injecting site enhancement oils carry the risk of infection and of abscesses developing in the muscle. These abbesses can grow and spread within the tissue.And there are some people who think he is from another planet.'

But his brother Adriano Josi Jordco de Souza, 56, said the beefcake look is not without its advantages, especially so in its appeal to women.

'The women around here and in other places admire him. They think he looks nice,' he said.

#popeye the sailor#