Chinese Man Climbs Up Utility Pole & Does Sit-Ups 30 Feet Above Ground

Man does sit-ups on 30-ft pole, causing power outage

Malaysians are no strangers to bouts of boredom, having taken up interesting stay-at-home activities when the Movement Control Order (MCO) in March 2020 had us staying at home for longer periods than we were used to. But nothing quite takes the cake like this man in China, who got caught by local authorities there after he was found doing sit-ups atop a 30-foot telephone pole – about the height of 2 full-grown giraffes stacked on each other – for no particular reason.

Power outage for 10,000 over gravity-defying act

The viral story of the man climbing up a telephone pole and “exercising” had been circulating on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform akin to Twitter, before it was picked up by international news outlets and local Chinese media in Malaysia.

Man causes power outage by doing sit-ups on telephone pole
Image adapted from: YouTube

According to South China Morning Post, a news media platform, the viral incident took place in Chengdu, Sichuan in China on 21st February 2021. While it’s not strange to find various birds perching on power lines, locals there found an anonymous man sitting on the highest point of the telephone pole.

He was subsequently arrested by authorities for his gravity-defying act. But to get him down from the lengthy telephone pole, an emergency power cut was called – which inconvenienced 10,000 residents living nearby with a blackout lasting a whopping 2 hours.

Exercise routine atop telephone pole

It can be presumed that the man had climbed up the telephone pole by rungs usually found on poles for authorised individuals to use and perform maintenance works at the top of these poles where power lines are found. But a 27-second video circulating online of the unusual ordeal shows the man performing what looks instead to be an exercise routine atop the pole.

It first appears that the man is lying on his back on the top bars of the telephone pole amidst a busy road in the vicinity of apartments like it’s no big deal. But then he proceeds to sit up, lie down with his back straight, and sit up again in a routine many of us may be familiar with as sit-ups, or crunches.

Man causes power outage by doing sit-ups on telephone pole - video
Video credit: YouTube

In the same article by South China Morning Post, residents living in the area were reported to have been tickled by the unusual act, but also annoyed by the blackout the incident caused.

Man in China causes power outage after climbing up utility pole and doing sit-ups there

No doubt, many of us have been adding random household things to our workout routines while keeping safe at home and fit during the pandemic. But we don’t think we’ve seen someone performing sit-ups on a telephone pole like this man in China. If the power had not been cut, it might have been disastrous. So let’s all just agree to keep our ab-building routines to parks, gyms and homes.

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Cover image adapted from: YouTube