How to get an hourglass figure: a set of exercises, recommendations

Today, every girl and woman dreams of a beautiful and slim figure. Indeed, a beautiful body attracts attention and makes a woman attractive. Naturally, not every girl has an ideal figure from birth. Many people only dream about how they will walk along the beach and receive compliments. Why dream when you can act?

There are 5 types of female figures:

• "Pear".
• "Apple".
• "Rectangle".
• "Inverted Triangle"
• "Hourglass".

Most often, the term “ideal body” refers to an hourglass figure. This is the most attractive type of female beauty. Obviously, the question arises, how to create an hourglass figure? Let's look at it in more detail.

Is it possible to get an hourglass figure?

First, you need to understand what a figure is. This is a kind of proportion between nutrition and stress (physical or mental).

This leads to two conclusions:

1. If you are over- or under-nourished, it will be impossible to get the body of your dreams.
2. If you have insufficient or excessive exercise, then it is also impossible to achieve an ideal physique.

Therefore, to create an hourglass figure, it is enough to maintain proportionality between nutrition and exercise.

What happens when there is no proportionality? In this situation, the following unpleasant consequences arise:

• Excess (obesity) or insufficient (dystrophy) weight.
• Formation of other body types (“apple”, “pear”, “triangle”).

In order for proportionality to be maintained, it is important to understand 2 basic principles:

• To gain weight, you need to take in more calories than you burn.
• To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in.

It turns out that any ideal figure is just a proportionality between nutrition and exercise. Next, we will look at other reasons for not having the figure of your dreams.

The whole truth about how to reduce your waist

The waist is one of the most problematic areas of the body for girls, where fat accumulates very easily and an increase in volume occurs. At the same time, the waist and sides area is one of those very areas of the body that is very difficult to correct and which cannot simply be “pumped up” with numerous exercises. Moreover, there is an opinion that it is better not to exercise at all and avoid strength exercises, so as not to make your waist “square”.

As weight increases, the waist is often one of the first to begin to “float”; the sides and so-called “ears” appear. Of course, there are girls who maintain their waist even when they gain weight. Usually these are the owners of a “pear” and “hourglass” figure (or magical Photoshop):

But most often, with an increase in the percentage of body fat, the waist greatly increases in volume, and beautiful curves disappear:

Therefore, the first rule for those who want to get a narrow waist is to reduce the overall percentage of body fat. How to do it? Very simple. Start eating a balanced diet, reduce the amount of fast carbohydrates and fast food, increase activity and physical activity. In other words, force the body to burn fat rather than store it.

But how can you make your body begin to lose weight specifically in the waist area? It is very difficult to burn fat reserves in a certain “problem” area. Whatever exercises you do, prepare for your entire body to lose weight. Fat will melt gradually in all parts of your body, somewhere slower, somewhere faster. It is almost impossible to force the body to reduce specifically the waist area.

So, how to reduce your waist and remove your sides:

• Eat in a calorie deficit and stick to proper nutrition so that the body begins to break down fat.
• Perform cardio exercises to speed up fat burning.
• Perform core (muscle corset) exercises to tighten your muscles and sculpt beautiful body lines.

But for most people, this approach to waist reduction may seem too commonplace. Moreover, when the Internet is replete with such convenient advice as: “a magic corset for the waist - just wear it and lose weight”, “a special diet for the waist for 10 days”, “twist the hoop for 5 minutes a day, and in a week you will reduce your waist by 10 cm". But we will immediately say that there are no magical methods or magical exercises for the waist. Most of the quick methods that are offered on the Internet are absolutely useless in the matter of reducing the waist and eliminating the sides.

What methods will NOT help in reducing your waist:

1. Wraps and massages. They will not help you reduce your waistline. This is a useless event that does not affect the fat burning process, so you should not waste time on it. It's better to spend 30 minutes walking or walking at home if you want to speed up the fat burning process.

2. Hoop. Contrary to popular belief, a hoop is not particularly effective if you want to trim your sides and slim your waist. Of course, twirling a hula hoop is better than doing nothing and lying on the couch. But if you have a little time for sports, then it is better to get in a quality cardio workout than to twirl a hula hoop.

3. Corsets and waist belts. Another useless thing that not only will not help you reduce your waistline, but will also be harmful to your health. Corsets and belts restrict breathing, reduce blood flow to the heart, put pressure on the intestines and impair digestion. At the same time, you will not reduce your waist with the help of a corset; you will only visually hide imperfections in clothes.

4. Special diets to reduce your waistline. There are no special diets or magic foods or drinks to reduce your waistline. If you read about some unique combination of products that will help you reduce your waistline, then remember, this is not true.

5. Wrapping with films and thermal belts during training. This is another unhealthy thing and absolutely useless activity for those who want to reduce their waistline. You won't lose weight, but you may well get dehydrated and seriously strain your heart.

6. Special exercises for the waist. There are no such exercises for the waist. There are exercises that help work the oblique abdominal muscles and strengthen the muscle corset. And there are cardio exercises that help speed up fat burning. Together they can give the desired result. But it doesn’t work in such a way that you do conditional bending and twisting for a week and thereby reduce your waist.

Although we can still recommend one easy way to visually reduce your waist. This is shapewear. It won't reduce body fat or waist size, but it will still help hide imperfections when you're wearing clothes. True, this method will not work on the beach.

Why can't I reduce my waist?

But even proper nutrition and regular exercise may not help reduce your waistline. Why is this happening? Let's look at all the possible reasons why you can't reduce your waist.

1. Your body type is rectangle . With this type of figure, there is either no waist at all, or it is barely pronounced. Body type is determined by genetic factors, and this is almost impossible to change. The most pronounced waist is found in “hourglass” and “pear” shapes. The “apple” and the “reverse triangle” were less fortunate.

2. You do not follow a diet . Even regular workouts will not help you use up your subcutaneous fat reserves. The process of fat burning occurs only with a calorie deficit, when you eat less than the body can process into energy. All unspent calories are stored in fat, which hides your waist.

3. You have rectus diastasis , which often happens after childbirth. As a result, the waist area may “float” a little. For diastasis, it is useful to practice the vacuum exercise, which helps eliminate muscle discrepancy.

4. The reason may be the peculiarity of the shape of the chest , which makes the waist a little voluminous. Regular exercise and proper nutrition will improve your body composition, but it doesn't mean you'll end up with a thin waist.

5. You pay a lot of attention to the oblique abdominal muscles . In general, planks, crunches, bends, and twists without weights will not have a negative impact on your waist and will not increase muscle size (unless you do these exercises for an hour every day, of course). But bending and turning with dumbbells, barbells, and weights can tone your muscles and add volume to your waist.

6. You do strength training with heavy weights. Even if you don't do exercises specifically for the obliques, they are involved in many strength exercises for the arms, back, legs, and buttocks. Regular strength training makes your body fit and toned, but your waistline may suffer.

Each person has their own special unique shape. And there are no people who are 100% satisfied with their body. If you don’t have a naturally narrow waist, that’s okay. To improve contours and achieve a feminine hourglass shape, you can work on the muscles of your shoulders, hips and buttocks. This will help improve your overall body composition.

Exercises for an ideal figure

In order to get an hourglass figure, you will need special exercises.

For a quick and guaranteed effect, you need to use two types of exercises:

• Targeted exercises are exercises that directly affect the waist and abdomen. The result of regularly performing these exercises will be a toned and flat stomach.

• Complementary exercises are exercises that work other muscle groups. The purpose of additional exercises is to increase other muscle groups and, due to their size, visually reduce the waist.

If you do both types of exercises, you will achieve maximum results.

Targeted exercises

1. "Vacuum". Feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, hands on hips. Inhale slowly through your nose, your goal is to draw in as much air as possible. Exhale all the air and press your stomach towards your spine as hard as you can. Stay in this position for as long as possible.

This exercise must be performed daily – 3 times a day for 3 approaches. In addition, before the exercise you cannot eat for 2 hours, i.e. the stomach must be empty. Attention, be careful, you may get dizzy!

Progress in performing the exercise will be an increase in the delay time of the position. Results should be monitored using a diary.

2. “Twisting.” Lie down on any hard surface, bend your knees. Raise your body towards your knees and return to a horizontal position.

It is important to feel how the abdominal muscles contract (you can put your hand on your stomach). You cannot help yourself with your hands; exhalation is performed at the top point of the amplitude.

You need to perform crunches every other day - 3 times a day, 3 sets in a row with a rest of 60 seconds between sets. Twisting can be done after the “Vacuum”.

3. "Bridge". Lie down, bend your elbows and place them behind your head. Bend your knees, lean on your hands and lift your pelvis up. This exercise stretches the muscles and tones them.

It is important to fully arch your back and fully straighten your arms. You need to feel how the abdominal muscles stretch, this is very important. The bridge must be done after the “Twisting”. The goal is to stand for as long as possible while feeling the tension in your abdominal muscles.

Additional exercises

These exercises are needed to visually narrow your waist. They are aimed at increasing muscles such as:

• gluteal;
• femoral;
• deltoids (shoulders).

The question may arise, why are these exercises necessary? Due to the increase in the above muscles, the contour of the figure seems to stretch. Your waist visually becomes thinner. This will make the figure very similar to an hourglass.

Let's move on to the exercises:

1. Squats.
2. "Gluteal bridge."
3. "Military" overhead press.
4. Running or any other long-term activity.

This is what a set of additional exercises looks like. Correct execution will add another 25% to your result. We will talk in more detail about the technique below, and we will also look at how to train in the gym and at home.

Duration of the gymnastics course

It is better to complete the course for 30 days. Then the results will be noticeable - minus 2-3 sizes in the problem area. However, even 2 weeks can give results. Although bending over for weight loss on the abdomen and sides for women has shown to be highly effective, doing them every day for several years is not recommended. Use the system for 1 month if you find that fat begins to accumulate in these areas.

While doing the exercises, you will feel a tightening of the muscles in the abdomen, buttocks, and sides. Visually this area will look slimmer and more toned. After 1 month of classes, you can move on to a general strengthening, weight loss complex - gymnastics for weight loss and prevention of obesity.

Men can resort to bending for 1.5 months in a row, but it is better for them to do exercises with weights, for example, with dumbbells. An expander or elastic band will do. The torso will quickly pump up, the muscles will become prominent.

Let's go to the gym

Here are some recommendations for those who decide to make a sand figure for the hall.

For targets:

• You can do targeted exercises anywhere.

For additional:

• Squats. This exercise targets the muscles of the legs, thighs and buttocks. This is a basic exercise for your lower body. Squats can be performed with or without weights. You need to choose a weight so that the number of repetitions in 1 approach is 12-15. You may increase the weight in the future, but the number of repetitions should remain the same. Do 3 sets, 3 times a week.

• "Gluteal bridge." This is an exercise to build the gluteal muscles. Lie down, bend your knees and place your arms along your body. Lift your body up (as in the picture), then return to the starting position. The exercise can be performed with or without weights. The most important thing is to feel how the gluteal muscles contract! In the gym, you need to increase the weight and exercise in the range of 15 to 20 repetitions, 3 sets, 3 times a week.

• "Army" press. This is the best exercise to increase the deltoid muscles of the shoulder. Stand in a stance, grab the barbell, place it behind your head and, using the movement of your elbows, lift the barbell up. The exercise can be performed standing or sitting. Don't go heavy, start small. You should calmly perform 30 – 40 repetitions. Next, you need to do this exercise in a number of repetitions of 10 - 15. Remember, your goal is not big broad shoulders, but a narrow waist.

Carefully track your progress in all exercises!

Side plank

This exercise is passive, but uses much more muscles than regular running or cardio exercise.

Starting position – lying on your side:

1. Place your legs on top of each other and straighten them.
2. Lean on your lower arm, placing your palms perpendicular to your body. Place your other hand on your waist or raise it up. Direct your gaze forward.
3. Breathe slowly and deeply .
4. To make the position stable, tighten your muscles.
5. As you inhale, lift your body off the floor and try to hold this position for at least 30 seconds.
6. Watch your breathing - it should not be interrupted.
7. As soon as you feel slightly tired, lower your body to the floor.
8. Take a short break.
9. Lie on your other side and get back into plank position.

Side plank

How to get an hourglass figure at home?

What should those who don’t have time to do the “rocking chair” do? In order to get closer to your goal, you don’t have to go to the gym. You can make an hourglass figure at home. The exercises are the same, but you will have to slow down the speed of the exercise in order to simulate the load. In addition, you can use improvised means (bag, backpack, etc.) as a barbell or any other sports equipment.

It is worth noting that the use of additional weight is not necessary. The best option would be to reduce the speed of the exercise and increase the number of approaches.

Nutrition and abs

There is no simple method to pump up your lower abs without adjusting your diet. Although sports and a variety of exercise routines are essential for weight loss, maintaining a healthy diet is key to losing excess fat.

• Control your portions. The easiest way is to use smaller dishes. Research shows that people fill their plates on average 70% full, no matter what size they are. In this way, we can deceive our brain, because for it the visual level of filling of the dishes is more important, and not the actual volume of food on it.
• Eat more foods containing fiber. Vegetables, beans, fruits, mushrooms help remove toxins, regulate cholesterol and blood sugar levels and are responsible for the proper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Limit processed foods and things that contain sugar. We are talking about candies, chips, fast food, sausages, carbonated sweet drinks, etc.
• Eat foods rich in protein. Protein helps keep you feeling full and reduces the likelihood of overeating.

Proper nutrition plays an important role in the formation of abs

From the “pear” we get an “hourglass”

Just like with the “apple”, you can easily make an hourglass figure from the “pear” silhouette. In addition to targeted exercises, you need to focus on the shoulders and chest (i.e., military press or lying down, push-ups).

Pay attention to the fat layer on the hips and buttocks. If it is, you need to stick to your diet and just keep those muscles toned. If you actively train them, the hourglass figure will not work out, because the bottom will not keep up with the top of the body.

What muscles form a thin waist?

These are mainly the abdominal and core muscles. “The abdominal muscles include the rectus abdominis (the notorious six-pack), the external and internal obliques, as well as the transverse abdominis, which is most important in terms of waist formation,” explains Yulia Malenchuk. — Its fibers have a horizontal direction: like a wide belt, this muscle occupies the space between the pelvis and ribs. If she is in good shape, it seems to tighten her stomach. Regular crunches are aimed at training the rectus abdominis muscle (outer layer), while to reduce the waist circumference you need to work on the inner block. These muscles function as stabilizers, so to engage them you need to force the body to seek balance.”

From this point of view, Pilates exercises will be useful for forming a beautiful thin waist. “It is also effective for this to work on unstable supports, where performing even basic movements such as squats, lunges, push-ups will involve more internal muscles,” says Yulia Malenchuk. “And, of course, functional training, which, by involving the whole body in the work, asymmetrical and non-standard movements, forces the stabilizer muscles to work.”