TikTok has released another viral challenge called "Center of Gravity," and it is doing rounds on social media. At first glance, the challenge looks simple as it involves you and a member of the opposite gender, kneeling on all fours and slowly switching to rest on your forearms before you move the weight onto your elbows.
The final step in completing this challenge is taking your arms behind your back and resisting falling on the floor.
While there is a 50/50 chance that you will nail it or fail, there is an observation made by netizens that have circulated online. Some say that women are better at this challenge while men have a higher chance to fall.
TikTok's newest challenge
Netizens have come up with a theory after a series of viral videos show that eventually, men face-plant their way through the challenge while women get to complete it.
TikTokers are saying that women excel at this because they have a different center of gravity compared to men. Some netizens claim that women are just better at balancing than men.
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However, there are no studies and scientific facts to back these up. This then leads to some to still speculate why women are nailing this challenge.
What is the center of gravity?
Britannica described the center of gravity as the imaginary point in a body matter, where the body's total weight is concentrated. However, if you ask anyone affiliated with science, they will probably say that the center of gravity determines a person's balance or how they play sports.
Some studies show that women do have a lower center of gravity than men. According to research published in the academic journal Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling, the center of gravity or a woman is 8% to 15% lower than a man's. That is more to help women's bodies stabilize while they are walking during pregnancy.
Mallika Parekh, a health and wellness expert and founder of international barre-based workout chain Physique 57, told in an interview with VICE that due to the generally more curvaceous structure of a woman's hips in proportion to the rest of their body and their average heights, the average location of a person's weight is usually lower in a woman's body, as opposed to men who have even weight distribution.
Parekh said that doing this TikTok challenge shows that when the support is removed from the upper body, a woman is more prepared to support her weight in lower areas of her body like the knees and hips because this is close to where their center of gravity is.
This could also explain why women are more likely to nail the Chair Challenge on TikTok, a 2019 trend that involved people pressing their head against the wall while trying to lift a chair and keep their feet in a steady position.
Parekh stated that since the center of gravity is higher for men, they may find it difficult to remain upright when there is no upper body support, like what is seen in the challenge.
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Written by Sieeka Khan
