Watch: Man does sit-ups atop power pole, causes outage

Shanghai - The man was suspended about 30 feet in the air as he did a stomach crunch off the top of the pylon.

A man in China scaled a utility pole to do sit-ups off the top of it, stunning onlookers and causing a power cut to thousands of homes, media said on Tuesday.

The unnamed man was taken away by police following his antics on Sunday evening on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Chengdu, the People’s Daily said.

It published a video on the Twitter-like Weibo showing the man suspended about 10 metres (30 feet) in the air as he did a stomach crunch off the top of the pylon.

“The local power company initiated an emergency power cut... affecting tens of thousands of households,” the People’s Daily said.

Emergency services, including medical personnel, rushed to the scene, The Paper in Shanghai said.

It was not clear why the man decided to do sit-ups off the pole but state media warned against anyone copying him.

“The man’s behaviour is too dangerous!” said one outlet.