Do Waist-Twist Machines Work?

Work your entire body to get a trim waistline.
i Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images

Television and the Internet are full of ads showing you how easy it is to lose unwanted belly fat. Claims of a toned and trimmed waist accompany waist-twisting machines that you can buy to use at home, or the commercial-grade machines that every fitness center or gym has. Before you send in your payments for the home device or rush off to join the local gym, ask yourself if these twisting machines really work.

Torso-Twisting Machines

According to Dr. Nina Cherie, the commercial torso-twisting machines where you sit on a seat with v-shaped pads between your legs, and rotate side to side causing the weights in front of you to move up and down, will not reduce your waistline. Contrary to popular belief, these machines actually increase the thickness of your waist because they bulk up the obliques. Unless your goal is to achieve the appearance of an upside-down triangle, you should skip the commercial-grade waist-twisting machines at the gym.

Discs

The inexpensive disc-shaped twist boards that are advertised all over the Internet and on TV offer conflicting information regarding their effectiveness. Some consumers love them, while others hate them. Twisting your waist while maintaining balance on the disc platform may increase the strength of your waist muscles and it may increase your balance as well. These twist boards will neither help you lose weight nor give you a cardio workout.

Abdominal Rotation Machine

The abdominal rotation machine is a common machine at many fitness centers. You sit with your back pressed against padded chair and use arm grips to rotate your upper body back and forth while your lower body remains still. Spinal biomechanics expert Stuart McGill researched the effects of this machine on the human body. His study found this type of twisting machine to be one of the most dangerous pieces of exercise equipment because of the shearing force exerted on the spine. Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon agreed with these findings. Dr. Dixon also believes that twisting should come from the hips and not the waist.

The Bottom Line

Whether you are at the gym using a torso-twisting machine or an abdominal rotation machine, you may be able to tighten up your obliques, but you will not lose the fat on top of them and you may injure your back by putting too much stress on your spine. Additionally, you will increase the bulk around your waistline as the muscles get bigger. Using a disc that has handrails, resistance cords or just the twisting board to twist your waist without other intensive exercise will not give you a smaller waist. Experts agree that you cannot isolate a particular body part and reduce only that part. When your body loses fat, it loses fat all over -- not only your waist. While the waist-twisting machines may work up to a point, you will not see the type of results that are hyped in advertisements unless you adopt an intensive full-body workout routine.

the nest

×