THIS is the horror moment a bodybuilder screams in agony after suffering a nightmare injury as he tries to leg press 400kg while preparing for a competition at his local gym.
Muscleman Ranieri Lopes Filho posted the footage of him hurting himself on his own social media.
He now faces months on the sidelines and will be unable to start training again until the end of the year if his recovery goes well.
The 31-year-old ruptured his quadriceps tendon at a gym in Teresina in the north-east Brazilian state of Piaui, where he had been honing his body for a bodybuilding event due to take place in May.
Footage of the moment Lopes Filho injured himself showed him grabbing hold of his right knee and yelling in pain as his head rolled back and he sat helpless in the leg press chair.
He was trying to lift the heavy weights for the second time after sitting down to begin the exercise – and the noise of the tear could be clearly heard in the video shared on Instagram.
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Gym staff and other clients ran to aid Lopes Filho by removing the weights on the end of the bar and lifting the machine off his feet.
But he was clearly still in sheer agony and rolled over to one side as the emergency services were alerted.
Lopes Filho, who has been training for ten years, was rushed to hospital and operated on the following day.
Medics have told him he now has to rest with his leg completely extended for three weeks and cannot bend his knee.
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He has also been told to do physiotherapy based around electrical stimulation therapy as part of his recovery.
Lopes Filho has been warned it will be several months before he will be able to walk properly and he should not expect to start light training again until the end of the year.
Well-wishers posted messages of support on social media after the bodybuilder published footage of the horror moment.
Lopes Filho wrote in a message alongside the video: “Although each experience is unique, it’s the decisions we make that guide the meaning of our existence.
“Thus, life presents numerous challenges whose consequences reveal both the weight of decisions and the false alternatives that offer us only the illusion of freedom.”
He admitted overnight: “It was an indescribable pain, but along with it came the frustration of knowing that all the planning to compete in May had gone down the drain.
“The post-surgery pain was even worse than that of the accident.”
Orthopaedic surgeon Anisio Castelo Branco, who treated Lopes Filho, said the rare tendon rupture was caused by an eccentric contraction, when a muscle contracts while lengthening.
He told Brazilian media: “In about three weeks, he will be able to walk with the use of a brace keeping his knee extended.
“And from the sixth to the eighth week we will remove the brace, allowing him to walk and gain muscle strength.”
Well-wisher Gregory Ferraz told Lopes Filho in a message: “Get better soon. I’m sending you good energy to help you recover as soon as possible.”
Another said: “Have faith and stay strong. Every day is a step towards total recovery.
“Feel our affection and receive a lot of positive energy.”
Quadricep tendon tears are not common and most often occur among middle-aged people who play running or jumping sports.
The quadriceps tendon is the most important tendon involved in straightening the knee from a bent position. It connects the quadriceps muscle to the top of the kneecap.
With a complete tear, the muscle is no longer attached to the kneecap. They occur in about one in 100,000 people.
