In the battle of the sexes, women will always win at (at least) one task: the chair challenge. This viral craze first exploded in 2019, and for good reason. Women let the chair challenge look beyond simple, but even the strongest men cannot complete it. What is the explanation?
Essentially, the chair’s challenge is simple: take two steps away from a wall and bend your waist so your head is touching it. Have someone place a chair under your torso, lift it up against your chest, and try to get up. Most women are pros at this. Standing does not bother them at all. You almost wonder why this is a challenge at all.
But then you see a guy trying, and the challenge is immediately apparent. Most men stiffen, bent over and swearing, unable to stand.
Nor is it an act. Men have tried the challenge over and over, but they can’t seem to top it.
There are numerous explanations surrounding why women excel in the chair challenge while men fail. The internet has attributed women’s success to everything from superior core strength to a smaller shoe size to a greater sense of the space their bodies occupy. Most of these theories are downright wrong.
“We think it has a lot more to do with the center of gravity and essentially how big a person’s foot is,” Eric Shadrach, a physical therapist at MetroHealth Medical Center, told WKYC. “People with larger feet place them farther from the wall and extend their center of gravity away from a position where their muscles cannot act as leverage, moving them over the anchor of their center of gravity.”
YouTubers “Math Dad” and “Science Mom” have put this theory to the test. When Math Dad followed classic instructions and took two steps back from the wall to lift the chair, he failed like the rest of his brothers. But when he followed in the footsteps of his wife, he was only as far from the wall as she was, and he got up successfully. Huzzah!
“This exercise is all about your center of gravity,” explains Science Mom. “Being just a few inches further from the wall makes all the difference in the world if this is possible.”
