Waist trainers? Get them in the BIN
Lets talk about waist trainers and why you should stay away from them and I would recommend not getting your pregnancy or postnatal advice from anyone who does sell them.
Why do you want one?
Before we get started talking about waist trainers I would like for you to take a minute to check in with why you would like to wear a waist trainer? This is not coming from a place of judgement as I am well aware of the pressures put on mums to ‘snap back’ or get their pre baby body back (Have I mentioned how much I hate this message?). Instead I would like for you to really think about the reasons behind this. Are you looking for a way to connect with your core again after being diagnosed with Diastasis Recti and you believe this will be the answer? Or are you feeling uncomfortable or even stronger feelings about your tummy after having a baby.
As I mentioned above that there is immense pressure on mums to show no evidence of ever having a baby, so is there any wonder that so many mums are turning to extreme measures like that of waist trainers? But the whole ethos of my business is that I believe that women should be making informed choices about their bodies, in fact I wrote a blog about waist trainers and informed decisions before here if you want to read it. So with that in mind…..
Lets look at the anatomy of the core
When we talk about the core most people are thinking of their abdominal muscles. But there is so much more to your core than your abs. It has a huge role to play in all of your movements and a strong core will help keep you safe from injury.
Our core is more our central stability system made up of 4 parts, our pelvic floor, transverse abdominis, multifidus and our diaphragm. These muscles all work together to create a stable foundation for movements. They work together with your back extensor muscles and your glute muscles (one of the reasons why my programs heavily feature glute exercises for mums)
These muscles work together to help us in our daily movements and in exercise programs at the gym. Our Diaphragm mostly controls our breathing and working in sync with our pelvic floor is essential to maintaining continence, supporting our spine and keeping us safe while lifting heavy weights.
If you picture your abdominal cavity you will know there are load of internal organs, the small and large intestines, liver, kidneys, stomach, uterus and the bladder which are all protected by our ribs and our pelvis. Our lungs are higher up in the core section of our body and are also protected by our ribs.
So what is the problem with waist trainers?
So why are waist trainers doing more damage than good? I would like you to visualise a tube of toothpaste for me and think about what happens when you squeeze that tube in the middle. Some of the toothpaste gets pushed to the top and some to the bottom.
Now with the above anatomy of your core in your mind I want you to picture the same thing happening with a waist trainer. The pressure that is being displaced from your core is going to go somewhere. Immense pressure is put on your pelvic floor, and what happens to your organs in this shrinking space for them.
There can be many issues that arise from wearing a waist trainer.
Here a few examples:
It can be very difficult to take a proper full breath, meaning we can’t get adequate oxygen to our brains and bodies. This cannot be good for anyone.
It can make eating hard - as new mums you need to be able to eat to cope with life as a mum. You need energy to deal with sleepless nights, toddlers running around and all the other activities that comes with having children.
It can put a serious amount of pressure on your pelvic floor. The pressure needs to go somewhere and that is most likely down. This can make any issues with pelvic floor dysfunction or prolapse worse. This is the big one that makes me so annoyed when I see them marketed to new mums. In fact any mums, once you are postnatal you are always postnatal
Many of these websites and businesses proclaim to help your muscles get their strength back but in fact what is happening is these waist trainers are actually doing the work for your abdominals so what happens when you don’t wear one?
Postnatal recovery shorts from SRC Recovery
But my physio suggested I wear one?
I hear you and I understand why this would be confusing. Many physiotherapists will suggest abdominal binding after birth if you have had a c-section or a struggling with Diastasis Recti. This is not the same thing as a waist trainer. A good physio will suggest you wear one as extra support coupled with rehab exercises to ensure your core and back feel supported and reduce the risk of injury. They would not suggest you wear one and forget about exercise rehab and TA DA! your muscles are fine again. I even wore one for a while after my last birth as I had a significant separation and no tension in my connective tissue whatsoever. It aided my return to exercise and allowed me to reduce the back pain I was feeling in the early days until I was able to get some tension in my connective tissue again.
Waist trainers are not your friend even if you have heard of some people that they have done wonders for. These are the lucky people that have used them without consequence but they are not a suitable option for any postnatal woman or any woman for that matter.
If you have any questions about this please feel free to comment below or connect with me on facebook or Instagram