Advertiser disclosure
Waist trainers: Pros and cons, and do they really work?
Waist trainers are like a modern corset. They are meant to squeeze and “train” your waist. People are attracted to waist trainers for a few reasons. But do they work, or is it just a trend promoted by famous individuals and social media?
What is a waist trainer?
A waist trainer is typically made from stretchy, durable material, like neoprene and nylon. The ends will consist of velcro, so you can wrap the trainer around your waist and secure it.
The concept of a waist trainer isn’t anything new. They are very similar to corsets, which have been around for centuries. Corsets were originally designed so women could easily achieve an hourglass figure.
But the corset popularity slowly but surely evaporated. Mainly because they were very tight and uncomfortable. Additionally, women have grown more confident, regardless of their size or figure, which is great!
While waist trainers have been around for years, their popularity is on the rise. Why is that? Let’s find out.
What does a waist trainer do?
A waist trainer can help you instantly look thinner and feel more confident. It can also help you lose weight and have you feel full faster, reducing your eating habits.
Slimming Hourglass Figure
Losing weight can be tough and require a lot of determination. The idea of instantly achieving a thinner waist is something many women like. And when well-known individuals like Kim Kardashian promote waist trainers, it makes it all more appealing.
A waist trainer can help you achieve a thinner or hourglass figure instantly. But the American Board of Cosmetic says that that effect is likely to vanish once you take the waist trainer off.
Regardless, though, many women are perfectly fine with that. If you can achieve a look that you find beautiful instantly, does it really matter if it’s long-term or not?
Losing weight
Achieving an instantly thinner look is one thing, but actually losing weight is a totally different story. So can a waist trainer help you lose weight?
Yes! But, you should know how a waist trainer works. It should go hand in hand with diet and exercise. A waist trainer is not a magic item that will have you shed weight. Instead, a waist trainer will help achieve bigger and faster results when exercising. When you wear a waist trainer, it causes you to sweat around your midsection. This is especially beneficial during workouts.
See our favorite plus-size waist trainers.
Additionally to burning more sweat in your core, it can reduce your appetite to help you lose weight—more about that next.
Decrease appetite
One part of maintaining or gaining weight is due to hunger. The more you’ve been eating, the larger your stomach gets. This is why people undergo Gastric bypass surgery. It reduces the stomach size, making you feel fuller faster, in addition to feeling less hungry overall.
Since the waist trainer compresses your core, your stomach is compressed as well. As a result, you will feel fuller with less food. And you may not feel as hungry as usual.
Additional support
If you have back problems, a waist trainer can actually help by compressing the area. This allows you to move or even exercise more easily. When I hurt my back last year, I had actually bought a waist trainer for this exact purpose, and it truly helped me. That being said, it’s important not to overdo it. Just because the pain is numbed doesn’t mean it’s gone.
If you don’t suffer from back pain, a waist trainer can still help with support. This is especially so when you’re hitting up the gym. Various exercises strain your core and back. A waist trainer will help with compressing this area.
Do waist trainers work?
Experts agree that a waist trainer can help you lose weight, with an emphasis on help. This is because of two important parts:
- You feel less hungry and full faster if you wear a waist trainer throughout the day.
- Your belly area sweats more when exercising.
However, you must maintain a healthy diet. Just because your appetite is lower doesn’t mean that eating 2 slices of pizza than 3 is healthier. Instead, the focus should remain on eating healthier foods.
As far as the increase of sweat, it’s often considered water weight. So if you lose 2lbs by sweating 2lbs, in theory, you would gain those 2lbs back once you consume enough water.
That being said, the simple aspect of sweating means you are burning calories. And burning calories will help you lose weight. Even if you gain those 2lbs of water weight back, you should still burn calories in the process.
But where a waist trainer really shines is how it can make you feel. If you feel more confident and energized, simply because you instantly slim down a few inches by wearing a waist trainer, that alone is worth every penny.
Additionally, finally fitting into a large rather than an extra-large can be motivating enough to get you on the right track.
Summary
By simply wearing a waist trainer and not changing your daily habits, it’s likely the benefits will be minimal. You must focus on eating healthy and exercise, with or without a waist trainer.
The negatives and risks of waist trainers
As simple as a waist trainer may seem, there are risks involved, and it’s important you weigh the risks and rewards.
Can cause digestive system issues
When you wear a waist trainer, you’re not only squeezing skin and fat; you’re crushing your insides, too. Parts of your digestive system, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines, can be affected.
People who suffer from heartburn, or gastroesophageal reflux, may experience worse symptoms.
It will affect your breathing
If you ever experienced someone sitting on your belly or back, you’ll notice your breathing is heavily affected. The same goes for a waist trainer. In fact, it may impact your breathing upwards of 50 or 60 percent, according to the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery.
Impairing your breathing during strenuous exercise will increase lactic acid buildup. Lactic acid causes you to feel the “burn” during exercise. Increased lactic acid can lead to painful, sore muscles. But this is usually temporary and not cause for a lot of concern.
However, if you feel light-headed when exercising with a waist trainer, remove it immediately. You are probably wearing it too tight or overdoing it, causing more harm than good to your body.
Is it safe to wear a waist trainer?
As long as you wear a waist trainer comfortably, yes. While the compression may affect your breathing and internal organs, that’s mainly so if you overtighten it.
If wearing your waist trainer is uncomfortable, or it’s affecting your breathing, you’re simply wearing it too tight. In that case, loosen it, or remove it.
Additionally, you shouldn’t wear it too often. Some programs promote wearing a waist trainer 8 hours a day to get the most benefits. But given the risks, it may be better to limit yourself to a few hours a day. For example, when you walk and eat lunch afterward. This combines exercise and eating within a 1 or 2-hour window.
Experts agree that wearing a waist trainer daily, or even at night while you sleep, carries more risks than benefits.
The bottom line
A waist trainer can be a wonderful tool to slim down your appearance and feel more confident instantly. It also offers benefits like increased sweat and feeling fuller faster when eating. But there are risks involved as well.
If you overtighten your waist trainer or wear it too often, the damage could far surpass the benefits.
There is nothing wrong with wearing a waist trainer occasionally, say for a night out. And if it helps you eat less and exercise more, it’s great to wear part of a “reboot” program.
But long-term, it’s likely that you’ll benefit more from improving your lifestyle by eating healthier and exercising more.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!