There's no sailor stronger than Popeye after eating a healthy serving of spinach.
So it makes perfect sense that Kirill Tereshin, 23, a Russian bodybuilder, would attempt to become the strongest man in the world by recreating the sailor man's signature biceps.
Tereshin has been injecting his bicep muscles with synthol, a dangerous oil (outlawed in the United States), which is meant to artifically create the bulge of large muscles.
Unfortunately, despite his massive 24-inch arms, Tereshin was defeated in an MMA fight at a gym in Russia. He was tapped out in 3 minutes by blogger/actor Oleg Mongol, who is in his 40's.
'Bazooka Arms' fails in his MMA debutyoutu.be
This isn't the first time Tereshin has found bad luck in the ring. Earlier in the year, he was defeated by a single punch from Vasiliy "The Dumpling" Kamotskiy, the "slapping champion" of Russia.
Tereshin was warned by Russian doctor Yuriy Serebryanskiny that the synthol injections could have innumerable negative side effects.
Serebryanskiny commented to The New York Post:
"He could lose movement in his arms, the muscles could turn into ballast that he won't be able to use to lift things. He could end up disabled."
The Post elaborated, saying the injections could "cause pulmonary embolisms, nerve damage, infections, sclerosing lipogranuloma, stroke and oil-filled cysts or ulcers in the muscle and could result in amputation."
Tereshin said in August that he had stopped using the oil due to medical complications.
"I used to go to the gym for two years before being called up for military service. In the army, I was worried that I would have a hard time and lose weight, so I decided to try synthol oil."
"When I finished military service, I began to transform myself and did everything at home. My mom was very worried about what I was doing, but we are okay now that she knows synthol can be removed."
"In the beginning, I wanted to inject synthol oil into other parts of my body, but then the problems started and I stopped using it."
Now, Tereshin wishes to visit the UK to see a doctor in regards to synthol-related problems. He's crowdfunding to pay for the trip.
See the late Robin Williams as the titular hero in Popeye, available here.
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Have you listened to the first season of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!'?
In season one we explored the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.
We're hard at work on season two so be sure to subscribe here so you don't miss it when it goes live.
Here's one of our favorite episodes from season one. Enjoy!
