Firefighters spent three hours using power tools to free a man with his penis trapped in a gym weight.

The crew used an angle-grinder and a circular saw to prise the 2.5kg dumbbell disc off the unfortunate weight-lifter at a hospital in Worms, Germany.

"One person had a very sensitive part of the body trapped in the hole of a 2.5 kg dumbbell disc," it said on Facebook, describing the call-out as "somewhat different".

Perhaps wisely, the department offered no details on how the man became trapped. But it cautioned: "Please do not imitate such actions."