Suck it in, don’t breath, don’t move, try to look cute and not die! SMH, all in the name of trying to get a flat belly. Look good or die trying, is that it ladies??? I like the idea that the statement implies – be relentless and pursue your goals no matter what! But how far are you willing to go for success??? Yes, I totally understand the perception of beauty this society puts on us, especially women, and the stress it creates to achieve this aesthetic success, even if it is an optical illusion.
One of the most popular optical illusions are waist trainers. They have existed for YEARS!!! Back in the days know as a corset. Now in recent times, some celebrities and social media accounts have made it a go for immediate results. Hhhhhhhmmmm immediate gratification, when has that ever worked out in our favor for a sustained period of time. Well, forget it, I digress! Waist trainers, just like all the other quick fixes also doesn’t work the way we all wish. In actuality they are a complete waste of money, time and can even cause health risk.
Thus far I have been taking it easy on waist trainers but I’m about to open a page of kick butt on those funky worn out waist trainers! Professionally speaking I think they are one of the worst gimmicks used in current times for an aesthetic change. Now, let me slightly backtrack a little bit because there are two types of waist trainers and I want to be clear with which ones I’m dismissing! First, we have the corset waist trainer that women wear under their clothing to give them a slimmer look in the midsection. These are designed to be worn temporarily up to 2 to 10 hours at a time. Then there are the waist cinchers that people use during exercise to sweat away water weight from their belly area.
Waist training corsets have the ability to get extremely tight because they usually have strings in the back to tighten them and make the unshapeliest figures look like a vavavavoom, Oooh lala and all that mind blowing stuff! Then there are the waist cinchers that people wear in the gym to help them focus on sweating around their belly to get a flat stomach. Basically, a sweaty belly! The waist cinchers people wear in the gym are the ones I despise the most!!! And the reason is not because I don’t feel having assistance in your weight loss endeavor is a bad thing and you have to always gruel it out. But because it just doesn’t work!!! It is a gimmick and also can be dangerous!
If squishing your abdominal organs, such as your liver, kidneys and intestines which also leads decreasing to their blood flow and function is worth a temporary and I mean very temporary adjustment, then you should discontinue reading this blog because you are too far gone in the need to satisfy your vanity with immediate gratification. Also your organs are also pushed upward, reducing lung capacity while making breathing more difficult and certainly unsafe for exercise. If the ultimate reason to exercise is to improve cardiovascular function and burn as many calories as possible then this doesn’t even sound supplemental to a fitness regimen but actually a hindrance. What part about shifting organs, reducing blood flow and hindering breathing sound like a good idea to shed belly fat??? Hhhhmmm I hope you are starting to wake up a little bit but if not let me continue, it gets worst!
Another huge common problem is decreased abdominal muscle tone, visceral displacement and atrophy of the abdominal walls. Lets not forget the decreased toning of the muscles in the lower back as well because the waist cincher/trainer does wrap around those muscles also. Attempting to achieve a flat belly while making muscles weaker in the process sounds like you hustlin’ backwards folks! SMDH! Now for all of those that say, “but how it makes my muscles weakah if it’s supposed to give me support?”” *In my neck twisting, seashell weave twirling straight ghetto voice! 😉 Well, here is a very simple analogy, when you wear a cast and it is time to remove, have you ever noticed either on yourself or someone else the area of the body that had the cast is smaller in comparison to prior the cast went on or other non cast wearing limb??? That is because when a muscle is being supported over a period of time it atrophies as to it isn’t being utilized. Where a wrap all day, everyday and the same effect occurs…
So I feel like I have driven my message home but there is gonna be some friend out there that was sold at some network marketing meeting that they should sell wraps and get there friends to do the same. So here are some more eye opening and hopefully discouraging facts why waist cinchers need to be torched! There are also reports of putting on these tight fitting garments to control mindless eating. As great of an idea this may sound like to create discomfort in your stomach to avoid eating too much it can also cause some serious health ramifications. An individual can bruise their ribs or develop rib pain. All this increased abdominal pressure can also give you a digestive disorder, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
Ok I’m done! I really don’t think I need to go any further. Do I? If you aren’t ready to torch your waist trainer or call the person that sold this crap to you and curse them out, then you need help!