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The viral chair challenge that 'only women can do' has people baffled

A Tik Tok video featuring a woman beating a man at a ‘chair challenge’ trick has gone viral

Krystyna Sorrentino, 32, and her fiancé, Devin, 29, were bored on November 25 and watched a video of what has been called the ‘chair challenge’, before deciding to give it a go themselves.

The challenge involves standing three feet away from a wall and bending over with your head against the wall.

A chair is then placed under you and and then you must try to stand up whilst carrying it.

In the video, Krystna easily steps and bends with ease to collect the chair, before standing up fully on her first attempt.

Krystyna Sorrentino chair challenge
Viral chair challenge

However, Devin doesn’t find the challenge as straightforward. After completing the setup, he struggles to maintain his balance and can’t stand straight up.

“We saw this challenge on TikTok randomly when we were just hanging out late one night trying to figure out how to use the app so we decided to try it,” Krystyna said.

“We woke up the next morning with one million views!”

Other social media users discovered the trick isn’t as simple as it looks.

Women can seemingly do the challenge, while men struggle to stand upright while holding the chair.

Scientists have tried to explain why men are unable to complete it.

One theory blames our centre of gravity, or mass, which is the point where a person’s total weight is concentrated.

Interestingly, men and women are thought to have different centres of gravity; for women it’s located in their waist-to-hip area, and for men it’s in their chest.

However, Professor Brian Ford at Cambridge University told The Sun: "It is true that women have a lower centre of gravity than men, by several centimeters, but that has no bearing on this crafty little trick.

"Men have longer feet than women. Two paces back for a man would be some 60cm, for a woman it's more like 50cm.

"So to begin with, the man is forced further away from the wall.

"The man's larger feet mean he is farther away from the wall than the woman, and is thus leaning forward.

"The woman's legs are closer to the wall, and are thus leaning back."

So, it’s either our feet, or centre of gravity, which makes the difference. Are you convinced?

Words by Charlie Duffield

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