Does Waist Training Work? Did Kim Kardashian really loss seven pounds by waist training? If so, how did she do it? How does wearing a tight cincher make you lose weight? It’s highly doubtful that simply wearing an apparel that tightens your midsection would translate to weight loss. Weight loss does not work like that. There ain’t any easy or instant solution to getting thin. You gotta workout if you wanna shed the pounds.
Don’t believe us? Here’s what medical professionals are saying about waist training dangers and the ineffectiveness of waist cinchers.
Michele Olson, PhD, FITNESS advisory board member and core-training expert (via fitnessmagazine.com): A corset won’t dissolve fat, and belly fat can lead to heart disease, the number one cause of death in women. The compression corset hampers breathing, blood circulation, and digestion, all of which are poor for your body’s organs. You need to lose fat from diet and calorie-burning exercise.
Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., clinical professor of ob-gyn at Yale School of Medicine (via Women’s Health Magazine): Medically, it doesn’t make sense that cinching your waist tightly will make it permanently smaller. Once you take the garment off, your body will return to its usual shape. It’s also uncomfortable, restricts your movements, and if you wear it really tight, it can even make it difficult to breathe and theoretically could cause rib damage.
Jennifer Ashton, MD, ob-gyn from Englewood, New Jersey (via fitnessmagazine.com): Anything worn superficially doesn’t come close to penetrating the multiple deep layers of your abdomen. It’s possible that fat can be shifted, but it doesn’t disappear.
Abdominal binders are great for women to wear after delivery to provide support for the stretched muscles, but it’s more for comfort and function than for cosmetic effect.
Brittany Kohn, R.D, nutritionist from NYC (via shape.com): The corset physically restricts your stomach, and that can make it impossible to overeat. Cinching your waist also redistributes fat from your middle, so you look slimmer. But once the corset comes off, your body will quickly return to its usual weight and shape.
Being compressed makes it hard to breathe. And with so much pressure on your middle, it can lead to bruising and even organ damage.
Sue Decotiis, weight loss doctor from NYC (via Daily Mail): Wearing such a tight garment could compress organs and cause painful muscle spasms. It could also make it difficult to take a deep breath- and what if one had to sneeze or cough?
Leslie Heinberg, MD, Director of Behavioral Sciences for the Bariatric (weight loss) and Metabolic Institute at Cleveland Clinic (via ebony.com): There’s misinformation that body shape and body weight can be easily changeable to society’s standards. But we come in all different shapes and sizes and some of us aren’t meant to have a tiny waist. If a woman wants to wear Spanx to get a smoother look, that’s understandable, but wearing a corset isn’t a good choice for weight loss intervention or even physiologically.
Sunil Sharma, MD, Director of Bariatric Surgery at the University of Florida Health Jacksonville (via ebony.com): All you’re doing is compressing your stomach and pushing the fat around instead of getting rid of it. It’s a very temporary thing. Would you be able to obtain fat loss after taking it off? I doubt it.
If you really want to achieve that look permanently then you’re best bet would be to do it surgically. The corset won’t allow you to breathe properly and will only deteriorate your health instead of helping it.
Nicole Florence, MD, Co-Director of Memorial Weight Loss and Wellness Center at Memorial Medical Center (via ebony.com): Some people who want a quick fix fall prey to diet trends. And it can absolutely impact your health in a negative way.
Corset training can restrict any type of movement in your midsection. It can restrict your lungs, which can cause lung infections and other lung problems, as well as restrict your bowels, which can cause constipation. It can also cause bruising and rib pain.
Some people might compare it to a non-surgical lap band, thinking that the band, along with eating smaller meals, will help lose the weight, but it’s not the same. Women who go through bariatric treatment have medical support, are taught how to eat the right foods and how to be healthy.
I think it’s okay if you want to wear a corset on a Friday night out. But even then it should only be worn for a couple of hours.
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Here’s the TLDR (too long, didn’t read) for you: Waist trainers does not work as a weight loss device. Kim K is full of bull. Would you rather believe her than these health professionals?