The ‘Invisible Step’ Challenge Is A Lot Harder Than It Looks

Wow this is a pretty crazy optical illusion! Do you think you could do it?

Remember when everyone was “planking“? Well, that’s old news. Now it’s all about the “invisible step challenge.”

Huh? This new move makes it look like you’re stepping over a mount or box — only there’s actually nothing there.

This party trick is sweeping the world after Texas cheerleader Ariel Olivar posted a video of herself on Dec. 2 pulling off the seemingly gravity-defying move.

Olivar is a junior at Manvel High School, which is located in a suburb south of Houston. She told the Houston Chronicle that she’s been cheering for six years.

https://twitter.com/arielo1220/status/936825731371241473

People were super-impressed by Olivar’s skills, and the video soon went viral. It has now been re-tweeted more than 150,000 times.

“When I posted it to my Snap story and then later on at night to Twitter … it exploded and went everywhere,” Olivar told ABC News, adding that she “did not expect it to do that.”

“I was up all night because of the notifications would not stop coming and it’s unbelievable how a six-second video got to this where we are now,” she added.

Olivar even appeared on “Good Morning America” to teach viewers how to copy her move:

Pretty cool!

If you want to learn how to do it yourself, check out this video compilation of people executing the “invisible step challenge,” along with some how-to instructions:

If you can’t quite get there on your first try, don’t worry. Despite how easy these guys make it look, it’s actually a challenging athletic move that requires considerable strength and balance. Remember, Olivar is a cheerleader!

“It’s something most people would need to train for,” fitness coach Scott Laidler told the Telegraph. “You need really strong and developed hip flexers to be able to hold your leg in position. You also need a really strong core and lower abs.”

People are making jokes online about how hard it is to pull off.

Like this woman who simply walked around the box.

Melissa doing the #InvisibleBoxChallenge pic.twitter.com/vJNeOU5NHr

— Gary Johns (@gratefuljohns) December 5, 2017

And this guy who tripped over the box (ouch!).

https://twitter.com/PhornSean/status/939345072029450240

Even Olivar made a video as if the box was kicked out from under her!

https://twitter.com/arielo1220/status/936846174597783552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

And if you want to get super-nerdy about Olivar’s cool move, here’s Wired.com breaking down the physics of how she managed to keep her foot stationary in the air as she propelled herself forward. (Hot tip: Jump as high as possible.)