Do Waist Training/Corset’s Really Work?

Sekpe sekpe figure 8! Figure 8! Its the dream of most African women. A skinny midriff, backed up with wholesome hips and well proportioned derrière. We spend hours sucking belle to make shirt fine, so if Kim K and Jessica Alba tell us there’s a magic garment that can achieve this in quick time, who wan carry last?

Personally, i swore of slimming aids 4 years ago when my girdle began constricting my ability to both eat and breathe at the same time. I went into the nearest bathroom, quietly slid of the apparel, ate till my hearts content and haven’t looked back since. However, I am well aware I am no one’s fitness role model, so instead I’ve provided a balanced view on the realities of the magic waist cinchers and you can decide!

What the celebs (+waist cincher/wrap retailers) say

Jessica Alba is famously reported to have lost her baby weight through the help of a double corset.  “I wore a double corset day and night for three months,” she  said in a recent interview. “It was sweaty, but worth it.”

Experts believe Alba most likely wore a waist-slimming wrap, like the Almighty Cincher by AMIA, which promises to trim “poochy bellies.” If worn for as many as 10 hours a day, it can reportedly reduce up to four inches in the midsection, thanks to stimulating heat that literally sweats off the pounds.

The concept isn’t new, especially in Latin American where women bind themselves in “fajas,” which are similar to corsets, but the trend is catching on in Hollywood. Even former Playboy playmate Holly

Madison allegedly used similar waist cinchers to help her achieve a smaller midsection six weeks after giving birth.

“Wearing a corset works by drawing in the stretched-out muscles (from childbirth), which provide support and stability around the core,” explains New York City-based nutritionist Franci Cohen. “It does so while also minimizing strain on the ligaments and joints in the lower back, pelvis and glutes. By reducing stress in these areas, your body becomes more efficient at re-aligning itself back to your pre-pregnancy state.”

Pre and postnatal fitness expert Leah Keller is also familiar with wearing supportive apparel to naturally help create a smaller waistline. “For centuries, cultures around the world have recognized the value of binding the post-pregnancy abdomen to facilitate the healing process,” explains Keller. “Somewhere along the line, we’ve forgotten the wisdom of our great-grandmothers who regularly wore girdles and corsets during the months following childbirth.”In the case of Cora Harrington, founder and chief editor of The Lingerie Addict, wearing shapewear prevents consuming too many calories — which is really the secret behind weight loss.

“Any kind of super constricting undergarment is going to compress your internal organs,” she says. “That not only makes eating larger meals uncomfortable, it also makes eating fatty meals or drinking carbonated beverages uncomfortable. It’s that change in diet, particularly if you wear one of these undergarments over a long period as Jessica Alba did, that makes the weight loss happen.”

But what do the doctors (+medical experts) say

 “The problem is that when you constrict your waist, your organs have to go elsewhere,” says Harvard-trained integrative physician and gynaecologist Sarah Gottfried, MD. “(Corsets) push your lungs and liver up, and your intestines down. The result is a smaller waist, but organs are out of their natural placement in your body.”

Wayne Andersen, MD says wearing a tight corset for weight loss does more harm than good. “Tight-fitting attire like corsets can decrease blood flow to the kidneys and compress the abdomen to decrease blood flow to the intestines,” he warns. “They also don’t teach you to eat healthier. You just avoid eating foods that can distend your body.”While Dr. Nason a cardiothoracic surgeon also notes that constricting the abdomen and torso could impair lung function by restricting the amount of space available for the lungs to expand into the abdomen and fill with air. “When the lungs don’t expand…they don’t exchange oxygen or expel carbon dioxide, and the person is short of breath.” It should be noted that none of these doctors have treated such cases in corset or waist cincher-wearers, their thoughts are based on medical opinion which they are qualified to provide.

Also the premise that these garments “spot reduce” fat around the centre of your body an “exercise misconception,” says Dr. Stephen D. Ball, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri. “If you want to lose body fat, you’re going to do that through aerobic exercise and a sensible diet. You’re not ever going to be able to target where you lose fat from,” he says. Jan Schroeder, Ph.D. and Professor of Fitness in the Department of Kinesiology at California State University – Long Beach, also adds that “Corsets do not cause you to permanently lose fat in the midsection; they cause a re-distribution of the fat and organs in the trunk,” to give you an hourglass shape.

Well if this is true, why does the corset make you sweat around the midsection?

Since waist cinchers are made from latex, they also make you sweat…a lot. “When you sweat, you’re shedding water weight, and that’s not fat,” says Francine Delgado, New York City-based certified personal trainer. “People may lose weight initially, but you would have to wear the thing forever in order to keep the weight off and to keep the shape,” she says.

What about wearing a corset during exercise?

If you are wearing a waist trainer while exercising, this could be problematic when your rate of breathing and demand for oxygen is higher. In addition, Dr. Schroeder observes that restricting your lungs may lead to lung disorders, and the lack of oxygenation may even contribute to metabolic syndrome, which can actually result in weight gain. However, more research is needed to determine the long-term impact on the body.

Sandman also notes that these garments are not true corsets and that using a waist cincher isn’t real waist training — the practice of reshaping the body by wearing progressively smaller corsets for two to 10 hours a day. “People get the idea that cinchers work for waist training because they look at themselves in the mirror and they have a smaller waist when all they’ve done is sweated out water weight,” says Sandman.

Even for those who are truly waist training, Sandman says that it’s unnecessary to wear the garment while working out. “The amount of time you spend at the gym is not enough time to backtrack in your waist training,” she says.

Its not all doom and gloom though

 “Wearing a corset for an evening to portray a slimmer waist does not seem to be a problem,” says Dr. Schroeder. Yet, there may be some potential physiological side effects from wearing a waist cincher for prolonged periods of time, according to Dr. Katie Nason, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh.

The solution?

“Keep in mind that our body shape is often determined by genetics,” says Dr. Ball. “If you genetically don’t have an hourglass shape, you can exercise all you want, but you might not end up with an hourglass figure.” Regardless, the best way to initiate positive changes? Exercise and eating right, Dr. Ball says. “If you’re not willing to put in the effort, then anything else is the equivalent of taking the magic pill,” says Delgado. “They’re doing that at a significant risk and it’s not sustainable.” For long-term weight loss, Anderson says monitoring your weight with a proper diet and daily exercise is crucial in losing the pounds and keeping them off. “Rather than using a corset, create a monitoring system with a pair of jeans that fit at your goal weight and use them to check in,” he says. “If you’re finding them a little tight, remind yourself of the healthy habits to help you stay at your goal weight.”

This article has been culled/adapted from Daily burn and Fox News