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Postpartum Waist Training 101: Corseting After Pregnancy

Posted on by Rachel Barb
Postpartum Waist Training 101: Corseting After Pregnancy
16
Jan

Having a baby changes the shape and size of your body. Where once your belly was smooth and flat, you now have a bump, and likely your waist isn’t as small as it was prior to pregnancy.

You can point to biological anomalies like Heidi Klum, who appears no worse for the wear after birthing four children. Just keep in mind that preserving her image is her job, and she can probably afford an army of personal trainers and gourmet chefs to keep her looking that way while the rest of us are lucky if we can find time to sleep, much less hit the gym.

Never fear, though, there are solutions for regaining the slim silhouette you enjoyed prior to pregnancy. In addition to traditional methods like diet and exercise, you might also consider the benefits to be gained from postpartum waist training (that’s waist, not weight).

You should, of course, speak with your doctor before beginning a postpartum regimen – it could take your body a few weeks to recover from childbirth and you don’t want to add undue pressure when you’re bloated and trying to get on a schedule with your newborn. That said, waist training following pregnancy could help you to look and feel great even as you’re busy losing baby weight, and over time, it can reduce your waist size, as well.

In other words, you stand to gain a lot, so long as you approach waist training in a safe and responsible manner. Here are a few basics to help you get started with postpartum waist training.

Waist Training is Not for Weight Loss

Before you begin a regimen of postpartum waist training, you need to understand the goals. If you simply want to drop baby weight and get your midsection back in shape, proper diet and exercise are the best solution.

Don’t get waist training confused with waist taming, which uses waist cinchers, not corsets, to hide belly fat and enhance the results of workouts. When you hear celebs like Kim Kardashian, Brooke Burke-Charvet, and Snooki and J-Woww espousing the benefits of waist training, they’re actually talking about waist taming.

Waist training is the practice of wearing stiff corsets with steel boning to mold your body into an hourglass shape by shifting the floating ribs inward to reduce your waist size over time. The practice is not designed to help you lose weight or camouflage belly fat.

Safe Progression

You should probably wait until at least six weeks after childbirth to begin the practice of waist training, just to give your body time to heal and your uterus the opportunity to shrink back to normal size after expanding to accommodate your growing baby. Most doctors recommend waiting this long to restart your regular exercise regimen, so it’s a good benchmark for beginning waist training, as well. If you had a C-section, it’s best to wait until you’ve fully healed.

Keep in mind that you could wear a more forgiving corset or waist cincher beforehand for photos, events, or simply to hold everything in and increase your confidence. Once you’re ready to start waist training, though, you need a stiff corset in the proper size. As you progress and lose baby weight, you’ll find yourself tightening your corset and eventually swapping to a smaller size.

Just remember, you should never experience pain or bruising – this is a sign you’re pushing too hard and you don’t want to compromise your ability to hold, feed, bathe, and care for your newborn. Try starting out wearing your corset for just a couple of hours each day, and gradually work your way up to several hours a day as you feel comfortable with it.

If you have additional questions about postpartum waist training, contact us, we’d love to hear from you! To stay up-to-date on our latest news & tips, like us on Facebook & subscribe to our mailing!