Waist Trainers: Fact Or Fiction?

You’ve probably wondered how waist training works. All you need is to do a Google or Instagram search for the hashtag #WaistTraining and you’ll find hundreds of posts about it, with different brands promising to give you that hourglass shape simply by wearing a shaper for a certain amount of hours a day.

Some contend that waist trainers make you eat less because a waist trainer applies pressure to your abdominal area. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll stay in a caloric deficit. When you take it off, your appetite may make you overcompensate for the calories you missed earlier.

Photo: Beautyz

It’s a myth that waist trainers make you lose weight, as your body needs to be operating in a calorie deficit in order for weight loss to occur. Simply wearing a waist trainer cannot translate to fat loss.

Another belief is that it trains your waist to be a smaller size. This is false! If you tightly wrap any part of your body that has a soft tissue for a period of time, you’re going to have an indentation when you unwrap it. But, it’s not going to be permanent. An hour later, it is going to look normal again. So, by the same process, any waist slimming is going to be temporary.

If you research on fat loss and spot reduction, you’ll find that there’s no such thing as spot reducing. Your body gains and loses fat systemically. Even if it were possible to micro-manage the process, there’s no reason to think that squeezing one section of your anatomy will reduce its size.

Photo Ali Express

To lose fat, you have to burn more calories than you eat, creating a calorie deficit that causes your body to steal more energy from your cells. When that energy is taken, those cells get smaller and smaller, leading to what is, hopefully, a smaller body with more muscle and less fat.

Here are a few things you can do to get a slimmer frame and smaller waist:

• Follow a proper nutritional plan built for your body and your goals. There is really no ‘one size fits all’ approach to weight loss. Find what works for you and stick with it. If you are having issues deciding what exactly you need to do, find a coach or personal trainer who can help you determine your proper macronutrient levels and develop a nutritional and exercise plan customised to you.
• Add strength training to your exercise regimen. If all you’re doing is cardio, you’re not going to get the results you want.  Lifting heavy weights is not going to make you bulkier if you’re a woman. Instead, you’ll achieve a leaner frame.
• Stay consistent. With consistency at the right levels, you’ll achieve success. You’re not going to transform overnight, so be patient with yourself, stick to it and the results will come.

Like most things in life, quick fixes rarely work. If they did, everyone would walk around looking like they came off the cover of a fitness magazine. Keep putting in the work.