The internet is full of challenges. Some of them fun and light-hearted, others... not so much. But the latest challenge to hit social media seriously tests your core strength, and it became popular thanks to a cheerleader in Texas.
Ariel Olivar, a junior at Manvel High School, posted a video of herself "stepping" on an invisible box at a game on Friday. The thing is, it actually looks like she's stepping on a box. It's a seriously trippy optical illusion that clearly requires a lot of strength to accomplish.
Just watch:
challenge accepted pic.twitter.com/QQ1JWbkXx0
— ariel (@arielo1220) December 2, 2017
Olivar wasn't the first to do the invisible box challenge. Some people say it's been around for years, and a student at Anderson University, Dontez Hines, did it back in August. But Olivar's video did baffle a whole new wave of people, and got many of them to try it, too.
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Of course, not everyone was as successful.
Sam the Internet’s Invisible Box Challenge... pic.twitter.com/xJrkgJlqve
— Rita Ballou (@rawhidevelvet) December 5, 2017
5-year-old invisible box challenge accepted pic.twitter.com/a00dW4vepd
— Caleb Gardner (@calebgardner) December 5, 2017
#TuesdayThoughts “Don’t just think outside the box, rather, OVER the invisible box! #InvisibleBoxChallenge @WPBF25News pic.twitter.com/HRAbCJzZSl
— Sandra Shaw (@wpbf_sandra) December 5, 2017
As funny as these videos are, we give props to anyone who's tried it. Although Olivar makes it look easy, the invisible box challenge is anything but — as you can see from her attempt to teach the hosts at the Today Show how to do it.
WATCH: The "invisible box challenge" has taken the internet by storm! We've called in the expert herself to show us how it's done #WhatsTrendingTODAY pic.twitter.com/Tovae34Skd
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 5, 2017
The trick is so difficult that they had to cheat and use an actual invisible box to make it work.
As Savannah Guthrie says, you have to be really strong to accomplish this optical illusion — Olivar has been doing cheerleading for six years, she told the Houston Chronicle. The technique, she says, is to keep your bent leg and foot stationary while you jump the other leg higher in the air to look like you're stepping over the box. She never mentions core strength, but it's pretty clear that you'd have to have strong abdominal muscles to keep your foot in the same spot while it's literally being pulled by the force of gravity.
So go ahead and give it a try, but don't stress too much if you can't do it. You could always work on your abdominal strength and try again.
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