- Netflix's viral survival show "Physical: 100" pits its contestants against one another regardless of gender.
- The show started off with 23 female contestants.
Warning: Major spoilers below if you haven't seen "Physical: 100".
In the quarter-finals of Netflix's top survival show "Physical: 100", three women made it into the top 20.
The show topped Netflix's Global Top 10 Non-English chart on Wednesday, and it started off with 23 female contestants, all of who were eliminated by the semi-finals.
But to even make it to the semi-finals is not an easy feat, as it meant beating 80 other highly trained contestants in various physically demanding challenges that required immense body strength and endurance.
Shin Bomire, a 28-year-old boxer, is among the three to survive the strenuous rounds. In the semi-finals, Shin was eliminated after unwittingly bumping into another contestant and dropping the large rock she had to hold up in the "Punishment of Atlas" round.
The other two women were eliminated next. In the "Wings of Icarus" round, contestants had to keep climbing up a rope that was continuously being lowered. Stunt actor Kim Da-young and bodybuilder Song A-reum both failed to outlast their opponent Kim Min-Cheol, who is both a mountain-rescuer and ice-climber.
The missions were designed to test various physical abilities including muscular strength, balance, endurance, agility, and strong willpower, Netflix told Insider.
According to producer Jang Ho-gi, who created the show, the aim of "Physical: 100" is to find the world's peak physique, regardless of gender. Both men and women were thus pit against one another in the same challenges despite any biological differences that may unlevel the playing field.
Still, contestants in the show frequently acknowledged that several of the games are undeniably skewed against women, particularly in challenges where a larger physique serves as a significant advantage.
So, did the women even stand a chance? A few trainers shared the types of challenges they think women could outperform men.
Certified personal trainer Javier Tan told Insider that women may have an advantage in challenges that rely heavily on endurance or a lighter body weight. Tan added that in games such as the "hanging challenge" in the first episode, he felt that female contestants could hang onto the bar better as they were lighter and had a higher pain tolerance.
Particularly in challenges that test strength proportionate to body weight, female athletes tend to perform better, certified personal trainer and swim coach Shao Wei told Insider. Many other trainers Insider reached out to also noted that there are significant advantages to women being more nimble and flexible in general.
"Brute strength is nothing compared to the ability to combine other fine physical skills like agility, flexibility, and psychological ability to critically think under pressure," suggests Zaafarani Chomaat, a Singapore-based female health and performance coach who is also currently purusing her Bachelor's in Sports and Exercise Science.
These insights may explain why Shim Eu-ddeum, one of the female contestants eliminated in the quarter-finals, effortlessly beat several of her male counterparts in the consolation round, where they had to endure holding onto a rope connected to a model of their torso. The ceramic torso weighed 40% of each contestant's body weight.
The final episode will be available on Netflix on February 21, where eager watchers will find out who will walk away with the $234,000 prize money.