Difference between Waist Trainers and Corsets

It's no surprise that waist training has become so popular over the past decade, especially with celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Jessica Alba swearing by it.
 
Waist training is basically shrinking your natural waist size and accentuate your curves.
Whether it works or creates problems is debatable. So we decided to do the research for you.
 

Waist Trainers

Waist training is simple. You wear a waist trainer for a specific period of time. This constant constriction around your waist eventually works to reduce your natural waist size over time.
The best results, however, can be achieved when you wear your shaper to the gym/ during a workout, any cardio activities or simply running errands. This way it induces your thermogenesis and makes you sweat, resulting in burning more water and eventually fat cells around your midsection and losing inches much faster. Without doing the above, you won't see any groundbreaking results. 
Let’s first have a look at the advantages of using waist trainers.

Achieving Hourglass Figure

Many women start waist training because they want an hourglass figure or get rid of love handles. 
Waist training helps achieve an hourglass shape by cinching your waist and
accentuating the curves of your hips and bustline. It improves our water retention and makes us sweat, which helps to reduce the love handles.
If you waist train correctly, you will see first results in a couple of weeks. If an hourglass figure is what you want, then waist training might be right for you.

Weight Control
If you wear a waist shaper all the time, you will realise that it is challenging to
consume large portions of food.
That said, the thing to remember about waist trainers is that they cannot help you
losing weight on their own. They only restrict the amount of food you eat. They
do not burn any fat in your body.
Professor of Fitness at the California State University – Long Beach, Dr Jan
Schroeder, explains, “Corsets do not cause you to lose fat in the midsection
permanently; they cause a redistribution of the fats and organs in the trunk to
give you an hourglass shape.”
Reconsider your decision if you want to use waist trainers to lose weight.

Improves Posture and Confidence
Waist trainers help you maintain proper posture while standing and sitting
because the metal bones in waist trainers make it impossible for you to slouch.
They improve your position by providing the necessary support to your back.
As a result, many women claim they feel more confident when they see the
changes in their waistline after using waist trainers.
When you wear waist trainers under your clothes, they make you look slimmer –
which boosts your confidence even more.

Postpartum Waist Tightening and Diastasis Recti

Lots of women want to go back to their natural waist size or abs after giving birth. Wearing waist trainers help new moms recover their firm abs
– Jessica Alba and Kim Kardashian swear by it. It also helps to close the muscle gap otherwise known as Diastasis Recti, which is so common after giving birth. 
Leah Keller, the CEO and Co-Founder of The Dia Method, shares, “Corsets,
when worn correctly, act as a splint to physically approximate the two halves of
the rectus abdominis. While corsets do not strengthen the abs or heal a separated abdominal wall on their own, they can support and speed up the healing process”.

Back Support
Apart from accentuating your bustline, waist trainers also offer some support to your back and help reducing back pain.
This property of waist trainers is beneficial, especially for women with large
breasts, because it helps reduce back pain and pressure.

Using Corsets

For thousands of years, women have used corsets as a mechanism to train their waist. While waist trainers certainly have benefits, they also have some side effects worth noting. Numerous experts criticise the use of waist trainers and think they cause more harm than good. These are also some of the things that we can experience when we wear corsets.

Feeling Discomfort
Wearing a corset is bound to be uncomfortable because it is a garment that is
tied tightly around your waist. Go easy on how tightly you wear it because if you
are too aggressive, it will cause a whole host of problems.
Beware of signs such as bruising, shallow breathing, downward pressure, and
restricted movements. If you have ever started experiencing any of these
symptoms, then wearing a corset might not be your option.

Acid Reflux
Inside your abdomen, there is a complex network of your intestines, oesophagus,
and stomach. When you use corset to reduce your waist size, it puts extreme
pressure on these organs.
If you are wearing your corset during meals, not only will it hamper proper
digestion, but it may also cause acid reflux. The way you can prevent this is by
removing your corset during meal times.

Muscle Atrophy and Weakness
Who would not want a perfect waistline? However, there are people out there
who go overboard trying to achieve this goal.
A word of caution, if you are wearing corset regularly and for long periods, it
can cause muscle weakness and may even lead to muscle atrophy. Training
your waist using corset in an unhealthy manner may result in many other
complications.

Breathing Troubles
If you think wearing a corset too tight will give you faster results, think again.
When your corset is excessively tight, it can and will constrict your diaphragm.
The effect is reduced breathing capacity with you restricted to taking shallow
breaths.
Therefore, it is vital to ensure that you can breathe adequately. Lack of oxygen to
your body can cause fainting, dizzy spells, and other hazards to your health.

Decreased Core Strength
When you wear a corset that is too tight for extended periods, it can reduce
your core strength.
The abdominal core muscles become lazy because they depend too much on the
corset to support them. When you are using a corset, there is no need for your
abdominal muscles to do any work.

Over a period of time, they become inactive and act as if they are switched off.
Decreased core strength due to the prolonged use of corset increases the
chances of pelvic floor problems, poor posture, and back problems.

Bones Reshaped
Corset can reshape your bones if worn continuously. Take a look at Catherine
Jung, the Guinness World Record holder for the smallest waist (15 inches). Her
pictures show reshaped bones from wearing a corset all of her life, throughout
most of the day.
Although corset production has come a long way since the 1940s, reshaped
bones are a risk when taken to the extreme.
Be wary of corsets that put too much pressure on your shape. Ensure you are
comfortable in your corset and don't wear it for continuous periods.

If you're undecided on full-blown waist training there is a halfway house in
shapewear. 
 

If you are looking for a simple and effective solution, we recommend you to check our NUDE SHAPES collection to see what will work best for you and help you to start getting results today!

 

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