Terrifying moment man narrowly escapes being crushed by 145kg bar during bench press

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 10:11, 24 May 2026 | Updated: 10:16, 24 May 2026 A gym-goer cheated death as he escaped being crushed by a 145kg barbell during a work out gone wrong. The man wearing a black tank-top, pink trousers and an orange weight belt attempted to bench press the heavy bar at a gym in Guangdong, China, on May 5. But instead of setting a new personal record, he came dangerously close to being injured. In the heart-stopping moment - captured on CCTV - the man lost his strength mid-lift as he attempted to bench press the barbell upwards.  With his arms trembling and fatigue setting in, the weights began to drop perilously close to his chest. Unable to hold 145kg away from his body any longer, the barbell began to crush the man's neck as his face turned red under the strain. His only hope was to slide out from beneath the bar to avoid being crushed. In a matter of life and death, the man spun on to his side and then his stomach frantically kicking his legs in the air as he wriggled free from underneath the 145kg barbell.  A gym-goer in Guangdong, China, narrowly escaped being crushed by a 145kg barbell on May 5 CCTV footage captured the moment the man lost his strength and the barbell dropped down onto him In a matter of life and death, the man wriggled free narrowly avoiding a potentially fatal gym accident After escaping, the man holds his hand to his neck and then stands with his hands on his knees in a state of shock. Fellow gym-goers were none-the-wiser that the man came so close to being crushed.  One man on the weights bench next to him continued his workout as he wriggled for his life, while another man sat through the whole ordeal on his phone with earphones in.  Fortunately, the only casualty was the drink cup the man kicked over as he made a narrow escape from what could have been a fatal gym accident. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.