Waist trainers have a place throughout history as a little extra shape when needed. The waist shapers and corsets of days gone were burdensome, mechanical, and often tight enough to make breathing difficult.
Elegant new luxury waist trainers use the best materials and fabrics available to provide you with soft, comfortable, and powerful body shaping abilities! Don’t be fooled though—many waist trainers are simple marketing ploys that offer little else than discomfort.
The Best Waist Trainers
Knowing the different types of waist trainers can help understand which waist trainer is best for you. If you’re looking for a temporary hourglass shape for parties and social events, a steel-boned, lace-up corset is likely your best option. Waist trainers with flexible boning are a better option to address your body structure and lower back issues over time.
Ann Cherry Faja Deportiva
The Faja Deportive Workout Waist Trainer by Ann Cherry is built for long-term comfort and is suitable for mild physical exercise use as well. It’s not designed to be a fat-burner per-se, but its breathable high-compression design allows for lower back support during exercise, while still being suitable for long-term shaping goals. This is one of the best ‘all-around’ waist trainers on the market.
Charmian Long Hourglass Corset
Charmian has made some serious splashes in the corset and waist trainer market in the past few years. They have established a huge presence on certain retailers like Amazon, and offer a wide selection of options at very affordable pricing. The most popular body shaper they offer is a 26 steel-boned lace-up corset.
This corset features a rear-laced design but also has a unique front-hook design as well. This high degree of versatility allows for quick and easy use, as well as adjustable shaping from the rear lacing. This waist trainer falls firmly into the category of corsets, and wouldn’t be appropriate for use at the gym or during exercise. Regardless of its isolated use-cases; the Chairmen Long is one of the top-rated waist trainers out there.
Sweet Sweat Waist Trimmer from Sports Research
Athletic use of waist trainers falls into two categories—those used for lower back support, and those used to help lose fat. The Sweet Sweat Waist Trimmer from Sports Research falls into the second category. This waist trainer is a simple slip-resistant neoprene band that wraps around your waist and Velcros into place. This provides compression and promotes extra heat production for your belly area during exercise.
What Are Waist Trainers & Body Shapers
Waist trainers, body shapers, butt lifters, corsets, waist shapers—these are all words used to describe very similar products. Waist trainers are generally regarded as being softer more comfortable garments that are meant to be worn over a longer period of time.
These may be used in combination with a diet and exercise program to help ‘train’ your body’s waistline—promoting the hourglass figure. Corsets, on the other hand, are typically used sparingly as a part of overall attire. These garments are usually made with steel boning to reinforce a rigid hourglass shape about the waist, hips, and upper torso.
Corsets are most commonly laced up in the back, while waist trainers have front-facing eye that looks like a bra. Truthfully, the terms corset and waist trainer are used interchangeably. The best corset or waist trainer will be a personal choice, usually defined by your own personal goals and desire for comfort.
Do Waist Trainers Work?
If you’re trying to decide whether or not a waist trainer or body shaping product is best for you, you’re likely wondering whether they even work. This question is hard to answer and comes in many ranges of responses. For the sake of discussion, we’ll break it into three separate areas; temporary figure-shaping, long-term structural changing, and promotion of losing fat.
Corsets for Temporary Use
Waist trainers absolutely work for temporary hourglass figures. If you want your figure to look like that of Kim Kardashian—lacing up a corset (steel boned) is a really effective way to do so. This will compress your abdominal area from your pelvis to under your breast, and will result in the appearance of a slimmer waist, larger breast, and more acutely defined hips.
These are great for going out on the town, formal events, or other short-term (think 1-3 days) kinds of use. These products aren’t the most comfortable and aren’t typically designed to be worn for the long term.
One notable exception to this thought is the effect long-term corset use can have on lower back pain. Actual scientific research has shown that corset use can help reduce lower back pain, likely as a side effect of improved posture.
Waist Trainers for Body Shaping
Waist trainers are effectively the same as corsets, though most of these products seem to be designed with comfort in mind. They are made of soft flexible natural latex materials and feature easy hook-eye attaching on the front. There isn’t as much overall support for the hourglass shape from these garments, and they make use of flexible plastic ribs rather than the steel boning of corsets.
Waist trainers are much better suited for long-term comfort and are best suited if you are trying to promote structural changes. If you are using waist trainers and body shapers to address lower back pain, this is likely a better option for you than steel-boned corsets. You’ll be able to wear this more comfortably over the long term. Remember, you can still use a corset if you’re going out, or just want to accentuate your hourglass figure a little more in the short term.
Waist Trainers for Weight Loss
There are types of weight trainers that are meant to be used during exercise only. These are usually made of neoprene materials, wrap around your waist a few times, and are secured by velcro. These products are often referred to as waist trimmers and are typically only worn during workouts or physical exercise. These types of waist trainers help to increase your abdominal core temperature during a workout.
This is believed to help increase sweating and metabolism of that area—effectively fueling fat loss. Keep in mind; these products are designed to be worn during exercise and don’t really ‘shape’ your waist. These types of waist-shaping products aren’t built for looks. Waist trimmers have been known to help promote additional fat loss when added to any effective diet and exercise routine. Just remember, you have to sweat to make them work!
This type of product is a powerful means of detoxifying and losing weight fast. Make no mistake—you still have to work your butt off, but products like the Sweet Sweat Waist Trimmer can help the effort you put in produce better results. While not advertised as such, this waist trainer would also likely offer mild lower back support. Its flexible materials make it great for traveling and everyday use. Nonetheless, this is a strong candidate for the best waist trainer.
Review
The waist trainers here offer powerful targeted support for helping you get an hourglass shape. Corsets offer great shaping ability, but are often too rigid and constricting for longer-term use. Waist trainers with flexible boning structures are ideal for everyday use, and can even be used comfortably at the gym.
Other specialized products such as sweatbands and waist trimmers offer great support for metabolic support and fat-burning action—but aren’t really great for shaping. All of these products may be referred to as waist trimmer, waist cincher, waist shaper, or even as corsets. Knowing the differences between the different types of waist trainers can help you make the best decision for you.
