Center of Gravity Challenge

Submission 10,299

Part of a series on TikTok. [View Related Entries]

About

The Center of Gravity Challenge is a viral internet challenge started on TikTok in which a male and female lean on their elbows and knees side-by-side on the ground, followed by both participants moving their elbows behind their back. The female participant will usually remain balanced while the male falls due to their different centers of gravity. A similar challenge demonstrating differences in center of gravity went viral in 2019 as the Chair Challenge, while the Center of Gravity Challenge trended in early 2021.

Origin

On November 15th, 2019, the Chair Challenge went viral on social media where participants step heel-to-toe back three steps from a wall, tip over until their head touches the wall, then lift a chair up from under themselves and stand (example shown below).^[1] Typically, only females can successfully complete the challenge due to the differences in men's and women's center of gravity.

On February 12th, 2021, a number of videos were uploaded to TikTok in which a man and woman get on their elbows and knees and then try to move their arms behind their back, resulting in the men falling on their faces and the women remaining balanced (similar to the Chair Challenge). It is unknown who uploaded the first video performing the challenge.

For example, on that date, TikToker^[2] @jen_ant_1107 posted a video with the on-screen caption, "We hear girls can Do this but guys can't. Different centers of Gravity …," where she and her boyfriend perform the challenge (shown below). The video gained over 446,000 views in five days. That same day, TikToker^[3] @needyp uploaded a video performing the trend with her boyfriend, garnering over 2.7 million views in the same span of time (shown below, right).

According to scientist Jeremy Johnson, who spoke to The Sun^[11] in 2019, the center of mass for most women is near the hips but is significantly higher for men, which is why they usually fall when attempting the challenge.

Spread

The challenge quickly spread across TikTok over the course of the next week, with numerous videos of the challenge gaining significant attention.

On February 12th, 2021, TikToker^[4] @skylarkreske uploaded a video performing the challenge with her boyfriend, garnering over 3.1 million views in five days (shown below, left). On February 13th, TikToker^[5] @drumrightdentalcenter performed the challenge in their dental office, garnering over 1.3 million views in four days (shown below, right).

On that day, UNILAD^[6] published an article detailing the challenge. The Center of Gravity Challenge received considerable media attention as it continued to spread, including articles from HITC,^[7] The Tab,^[8] Daily Mail^[9] and LAD Bible.^[10]

The challenge has also seen significant popularity on Instagram. For example, on February 17th, @simonnrj and @chaisplay uploaded videos performing the challenge to the platform, garnering over 77,000 and 97,000 views respectively in under 24 hours (shown below, left and right).^[12]^[13]

On February 18th, the challenge hit TikTok's trending page under the collected hashtag, "GravityTest."^[14]