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What’s Up With Waist Training?
Apr 22

What’s Up With Waist Training?

Summer is right around the corner and I fully admit that I’m not different from the next woman, that’s kicking in gear her health and fitness routine, in hopes that there will be a little less of me to fit into this season’s itty bitty outfits. But one of my good friends and I were talking about how we were going to get our sexy back this year, and she asked me what I thought about waist training. I had to stop for a minute… I don’t really KNOW what I think about waist training.

Waist Training from Pinterest

This is what it promises… we need to check this out!

I’ve had a couple of friends that have tried it, but I never really followed up to see what it did for them. So when the question was posed, I decided to ask a couple of different people about it.

Ask the experts

I reached out to 3 of my personal trainer friends to see what they thought about waist training. It was a great question actually, because the responses were different from each one. Here’s the low down from our fitness experts on what they think about waist training in general.

Brandon Cheeks, 3R Personal Training: When I talked to Brandon, who’s actually MY personal trainer in San Diego… I already knew the answer. He’s never about gimmicks or trying to get results without doing the work. He was from the thought that you should just keep it simple: Eat right and workout. But he also offered some great workout tips on how to waist train through more natural means.

  • LEARN – how to contract the bodies natural corset, the Transverse Abdominis (TVA) using the drawing-in-maneuver (don’t worry… check out this short post on how to do a proper plank from Brandon!)
  • FOLLOW – a nutrition plan designed for fat loss. Exercise regularly and include a strict core regimen to help slim down the waistline. Proper nutrition and hydration will play a key role in overall body composition and utilization of fat storage.
  • DO – Quadruped with opposite arm/leg raise, prone planks, side planks, and reverse crunches. These exercises will help strengthen core stabilizers including the TVA, internal oblique and pelvic floor muscles that help tighten the waistline.

To keep up with Brandon and 3R Personal Training, make sure you pop over to his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/3RPersonalTraining.

Brandon Cheeks

Jenifer McKee, THE GRIND: Jenifer runs crazy boot camps out in the LA area, and knows all about the desire clients have to have that amazing Hollywood body. I loved the fact that she had a different perspective, because she actually thought it was a good option for body sculpting, if… and I emphasize IF, you pair it with a good diet plan. But if you aren’t dieting with the waist training, then you could probably do some damage to your organs (yea… my liver doesn’t need any assistance with that). Jenifer also offered some great ways to help cinch that waist through some core exercises. She gives all her boot camp participants this 8 min. ab video!

You can check out Jen and The Grind at her website www.thegrindmethod.com and get fitness and diet tips by liking her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jens-daily-grind. Rumor has it, she’s even launching a Waist Training Challenge soon! If you’re gonna do it, you might as well do it in the safest environment you can.

Jen McKee

Silvia Giamanco, Vai Fitness: Silvia Giamanco from Vai Fitness is a Pilates instructor and core expert (she’s also a triathlete and a bikini competitor, but we’re not gonna call anyone out for being a overacheiver). She really had some strong opinions about not using the corset to train your core, which she actually broke all the way down in this post. She goes on to explain the whole history of the corset, but she really does raise concerns about a non-customized, restrictive garment that can restrict your lungs, bowels, and cause bruising and rib pain. She even has a horror story about a friend that waist trained in excess and had some unpleasant results. You can read the whole article here. Silvia had some great reminders to add-on to the previous 2 recommendations when doing ab workouts:

  • Abdominal exercises are obviously going to help you produce a more defined waist, but it’s important to remember that this will only work if you shed residual body fat first.
  • Metabolic training and high-intensity interval training fat-burning exercises should always be used in conjunction to diminish measurements.

You can keep up with Silvia and Vai Fitness by visiting her website at www.VaiFitness.com and by liking her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vaifitness.

Silvia Giamanco

Let’s ask some waist trainers

So I actually talked to 3 women that tried the waist training, and got some very cool information from them on how they liked it or not. I left out their names, because we really were just having casual conversation about the whole thing.

Hayley Herms, Plus Size Model: “In my opinion, I love/loved waist training! I did it constantly for a few months and lost a few inches and 15 pounds but of course that was also due to eating better and working out like recommended and I also got their slim cream to put on under when you work out. All together I’ve had pretty permanent results, but I also wear corsets often too so when I’m not waist training I’m still kind of waist training if that makes sense, but everything works because you can see your waist. Right now I only waist train 2x a week for , but when I’m doing it regularly I do it  4-5 x a week for 2-4 hrs.” In her latest FB post, she announced that she was down 38 lbs. Now I’ve seen this girl, and she definitely works out and has changed the way she eats.

Short Term User: One of my friends, had me dying explaining her experience with the waist trainer. “Girl… I wore that thing one time. Almost died!! For me I was too sucked in. And because my tatas are big they were pushed up to my chin damn near. It was very uncomfortable.” Needless to say, she’s moved on to more traditional means of body sculpting.

Waist Training Walker: I do like it and the results are slow but they show, especially when you wear it working out or walking. I love waist training as a way to teach you to engage your core muscles while working out. That’s what I love it for. I like to wear a layer of plastic wrap underneath when power walking to really bring out the sweat.” That’s some awesome committment, but I love the fact that she admits the results are slow.

Is there a Dr. in the house?

Just to kind of bring this whole thing home, I reached out to a doctor friend of mine, to get any medical feedback she may have had on waist training. She pretty much said what every health warning on anything says… use caution and moderation. Here were some of her observations:

  • Women should purchase the waist trainers that are made for working out, and that are made out of stretchy material. Don’t try to workout with a corset with boning or laces… those will definitely cause bruising to your esophagus. Here are some I found on Amazon.com: Waist Training Corsets
  • If you do it, do it in short times during the day. Don’t live in your corset.
  • Make sure you get the right size for your body, so you don’t restrict your lungs and reduce your oxygen intake during a workout. Passing out trying to be cute is not a good look… neither is trying to squeeze into something that’s already created to be restrictive.
  • Lastly, don’t use waist training as a long-term solution, and definitely not as a replacement for healthy eating and regular exercise.

What’s the final verdict?

Brandon would never let me use it… but I personally can’t do gimmicky things on my weight loss journey. I feel like my life depends on me learning how to live a healthier lifestyle, and teach my son how to do the same (I will not be responsible for him waist training in the future). But I just ask that if you do try it, please listen to your body. Let me know about your experiences waist training!

See you on the sexier side of the Summer,

Courtney

#BeautyBoss

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