The best waistline exercises typically include resistance, cardio, and core exercises. A person who adopts any of these exercises into her weekly exercise routine, focusing on the waistline, should start to see improvement over time. The length of time it takes for a person to see results from waistline exercises varies depending on how often a person works out and how much fat he has accumulated on his waistline. When muscles start building up in the abdominal region, fat will typically begin to diminish and a person's waistline will gradually get smaller as a result.
Resistance exercises are considered some of the best for reducing the size of the waistline. There are a variety of ways in which these can be done, but Pilates is a popular choice for many people. Pilates helps to build up lean muscle in a person's body. One of the best Pilates workouts for reducing the waistline focuses on the oblique muscles, which are located on either side of the waist. A person can lie on her back with her hands behind her head and slowly lift her knees and shoulders up off the floor. Then the right elbow and leg are extended outward and held in position for a few seconds before the process is repeated with the left elbow and leg.
In addition to resistance exercises, waistline exercises involving cardio also tend to be effective. In general, all types of cardio get the heart rate going faster, which boosts metabolism and helps a person to burn off calories quickly. The metabolism-boosting effects may last for most of an entire day if a person does cardio for just 30 minutes. There are many different types of aerobic cardio exercises that may benefit the waistline, but almost any cardio done regularly will help to lessen the amount of fat all over the entire body. Swimming, power walking, and running are just a few examples of beneficial cardio exercises.
A person can also do some core waistline exercises to help tone up and reduce the size of his waistline. Many types of core exercises are done with an exercise ball, which may be purchased at almost any store that sells exercise equipment. Ball crunches to tone up the waist can be done by lying face up on top of an exercise ball. The ball should be positioned underneath a person's lower back. The crunches are done by raising up off the ball at a 30-degree angle and holding that position for at least 10 seconds before repeating.