A quick-thinking gym goer ‘saved a man’s life’ with an instinctive catch to stop a falling barbell from hitting his head.

Incredible CCTV footage captured in New Age Fitness, Delhi, India, in August showed the moment a barbell plunged to the floor as it became top heavy on one side.

The video – which has been viewed more than 27 million times – shows a bare-footed man in a black vest walking past at the exact time the weights toppled.

As the plates hit the floor, the barbell – believed to weigh 20kg – whiplashed towards the head of another man, seated on a bench.

Amazingly, the barefooted lifter instinctively thrust his hand out and caught the bar in one hand, just as it was about to crash into the other man’s head.

Commenters were quick to praise the man in the black vest, while berating the man who dropped the weights.

One person said: “He owes the other guy his first child for saving his life.”

Another commenter wrote: “God sent him, what a guy.”

One person commented: “Ok man has the reflexes of a god, no wonder he doesn’t wear shoes, he’s too powerful for them.”