by William Menna

Created on: April 10, 2009   Last Updated: October 26, 2009

In order to make your waist smaller, you need to address two issues: exercise and diet. When you exercise, you burn fat throughout the body, but certain exercises are better at toning the muscles of the midsection. If you combine a low-calorie balanced diet with a few workouts that focus on the waist, you will be able to make your waist smaller.

Most exercises that focus on the legs also give a good workout to the midsection. As you perform these exercises regularly, you will burn fat throughout the body, and the muscles in your midsection will become more toned, giving you a smaller better-looking midsection.

Some of the simplest and most common exercises help to tone the muscles around the waist. Walking and running, among other areas, exercises the hips, waist, and thighs. Covering a mile or two a day four or five times a week can promote fat burning throughout the body and muscle toning in the midsection and legs. Biking and elliptical exercise also target the same muscle groups with without putting as much stress on the knees.

Certain competitive sports also have a great effect on the waist and midsection. These include sports that incorporate a lot of lateral movement such as basketball, football, and soccer, as well as activities that put a great deal of focus on balance like skiing and martial arts.

Leg lifts, as the name would indicate, are an exercise that involves lifting your legs, but they are performed in a way such that the abdominal muscles actually propel them. Leg lifts are performed from a lying position, flat on your back. Using your core muscles, lift one leg from the floor to a full 90 degree bend, and then slowly ease your leg back down. Alternate legs and repeat this process for as many repetitions as you are comfortable with.

Crunches and sit-ups have long been the icons of abdominal exercises, and for good reason - they are simple to perform, they require no equipment, and they are fully fueled by the core muscles. Just make sure you do them right - don't try to make it easier by using your arms to lift yourself as this can strain your neck. Lift with your abdominal muscles and stop when you can no longer maintain good form.

Finally, your diet can make or break your weight loss plan. Depending on a few factors including your weight, metabolism, and activity level, you should be eating between 1,500 and 2,000 calories per day to make your waist smaller. Only about 30 percent or fewer of these calories should be from fat. Maintaining a balanced diet can be the most difficult part of any weight loss plan, but if you are serious about making your waist smaller, it is critical.

If you combine effective calorie-burning exercise, abdominal workouts, and a balanced diet, over time you can take inches off your waist.

Learn more about this author, William Menna.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.