From abdominal breathing to posture corrections, here are five ways to define your waistline.
If there’s one thing about my body I’ve been working on lately, it’s my fitness. Diabetes and high cholesterol run rampant in my family, and so I’ve been trying to do everything in my power not to resign myself to that fate. Part of my fitness journey, too, is an attempt to return to my pre-pandemic body. For your reference, the benchmark is a 26-inch waist and defined abs, and while I’m not at my goal yet, I think I am getting there! Maybe one day I’ll turn to the side and my waist will disappear altogether… but for now, I’m just going to share what I have learned and what I have found has been helpful or effective to me.
I’m not really disciplined enough to abide by a waist trainer, a strict diet or a crazy workout regimen, so don’t expect a drastic 24-inch waist cinching from this guide. Instead, you’ll find easy, sustainable ways to define your waist through small lifestyle changes. From my experience with the consultants at Yinee Posture to the simple exercises I keep coming back to, find the full guide below:
Tip #1: Eat well
Unfortunately, in my experience, 90 percent of waist snatching comes down to diet. Losing weight obviously helps loads to define your waist—and, in fact, I am still trying to get ahead on this front—but I’ve actually found that the easiest way to make the biggest difference in the appearance of your waist is to keep the bloat at bay.
Whether it’s avoiding trigger foods, doubling down on fibre, or popping a couple of Moom Health Digestive Relief debloating pills, relieving your belly of gas and bloat will do wonders to visually slim your waist.
Tip #2: Work out (and smart)
While working out can help you lose weight overall, if you’re looking to really cinch in your waist, you’ll want to be smart about the types of workouts you’re doing. For instance, if your workouts focus too heavily on the wrong muscle groups (i.e. your obliques as opposed to your abs), that can bulk out your waist. Personally, I’ve found that the exercises that have worked best for me are bicycle crunches, Russian twists, and planks. You don’t really need any fancy equipment either—just as long as you’re consistent, you’ll notice a difference over time.
You can also cheat a smaller waist by working proportionally, focusing on weighted squats and pullups to build the upper back and glutes! This way, your waist will look smaller in comparison, and therefore smaller overall.
Tip #3: Fix your posture at Yinee Posture
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Perhaps it isn’t you or your body—it’s your posture! The way you sit, stand and position yourself could be making your waist appear broader than it actually is. If this is the case, a few simple adjustments to your daily routine and a trip to a posture specialist could resolve your issues for good!
As a general rule, you’ll want to make sure you’re keeping your posture upright and aligned as much as possible—no popping your booty out and no slouching! Of course, some bad posture habits are subconsciously done and can be hard to stop, so in that case, it can be worth paying a visit to a posture specialist.
I stopped by Yinee Posture in Publika with no expectations, and I left with a hyper-awareness of the imbalances in my body. The experience began with a full-body assessment, during which I learned that my bad posture was causing misalignments in my body like rounded shoulders, anterior pelvic tilt and, most relevantly, an expanded ribcage. Essentially, my waist was looking broader because all the little bad habits I’ve adopted over the years have caused my ribs to stick out more than they should. It’s not just a cosmetic concern either—these bad habits have taken their toll on my body, causing difficulty breathing, back pain and more!
To address this issue (and snatch my waist), I opted to get the rib flare treatment at the centre. Essentially, it entailed an hour of manual corrections from my therapist Sara, targeting my waist and ribs. I wouldn’t say it was painful, but it wasn’t completely discomfort-free, either! I honestly wasn’t expecting to see much improvement, especially just from one session, but I have to say that I do think it made a visible difference! No, I’m not suddenly 10KG lighter and snatched to the high heavens, but my waist does look more defined, and I noticed that not only was breathing a bit easier, but my bra felt a little looser, too!
Tip #4: Incorporate anti-rib-flare exercises into your daily routine
Getting one posture correction will help for a little while, but if you’re consistently falling back into bad habits, you’ll be dragged back to square one. That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re doing the right stretches and exercises to strengthen your body and enforce good posture.
Doing simple exercises and stretches daily can help to draw the ribs together and back. This includes pelvic tilts, which involve tilting your pelvis backwards to put your hips right below your ribs, in addition to core-strengthening exercises.
Tip #5: Focus on abdominal breathing
My therapist at Yinee Posture explained that incorrect breathing mechanics can also cause rib flare over time. Rather than drawing breath into your chest, inhale into your belly and breathe out fully. This allows you to avoid pushing your ribs out unnecessarily and also helps to engage your core.
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