President Obama secretly filmed working out at Polish gym

The Secret Service has insisted the incident was not a security breach

President Obama flexing some muscle at the gym (YouTube )

Video footage has emerged of the US President Barack Obama pumping some iron after he was secretly filmed working out at the gym.

A clip of Mr Obama exercising in the gym at the Marriott Hotel Warsaw in Poland surfaced on Wednesday, providing a rare glimpse of the president flexing some physical as opposed to political muscle for a change.

Mr Obama was staying in Warsaw ahead of a meeting with Ukraine President-Elect Petro Poroshenko, before flying out to Brussels.

In the video, Mr Obama can be seen lifting weights and lunging as he works through his exercise routine. The footage was initially posted on Facebook, before being distributed by a Polish news agency and quickly going viral.

US security officials have since verified the video’s authenticity, and are understood to be investigating the incident. They have insisted it was not a security breach.

"Guests were not asked to refrain from taking pictures," Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan explained. The Secret Service, whose officers are expected to accompany the president everywhere, did not consider the Warsaw hotel incident a security violation, he added.

He described the situation as "no different than if the President visited a restaurant off the record and other diners took pictures of him".

Mr Obama routinely works out at hotel gyms during his travels, according to the Associated Press, and hotel guests are permitted to stay in the gym during his workouts.

However, anyone who stays in a hotel where Mr Obama is spending the night must pass through a metal detector.