Yesterday I read something about waist cinching and rectal prolapse. Rectal prolapse.The info wasn’t posted by a doctor, and I didn’t see any research to support the statement. But think about it. The mere risk of rectal prolapse would be enough for most women to change their minds about using it.
Having a teeny waist won’t make you feel any sexier when your colon is falling out of your anus.
Broadly speaking: I do think most of these things fall into the “crazy” category, but any time you have a competition for elite status or prize money in an activity, people looking for an edge is, sadly, just going to be a reality. It would be wonderful if athletic competitions of all sorts (track and field, weightlifting, bodybuilding) were decided based solely on what a person can do with some degree of “normal” activity, but exactly where the line for “normal” is drawn will always be subject to debate.
I think we should strive to be our best selves without mutilating ourselves for the sake of winning a competition, but that’s not for me to decide for the rest of the world. This sort of goes in line with your post about your legs, Dani; you won the figure competition, but ended up hating your legs as a result. It seems that you’ve decided that the coaches’ recommendation to atrophy your legs for the sake of the competition left you unsatisfied, and (I think) you deserve kudos for saying @#$% that and deciding to train for the figure that you want, not necessarily what’s best for the competition.
The same can be applied here. You may have a slightly better chance of winning a competition by using one of these shenanigans. If that’s the cost of winning, though, is winning actually worth it?
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Broadly speaking: I do think most of these things fall into the “crazy” category, but any time you have a competition for elite status or prize money in an activity, people looking for an edge is, sadly, just going to be a reality. It would be wonderful if athletic competitions of all sorts (track and field, weightlifting, bodybuilding) were decided based solely on what a person can do with some degree of “normal” activity, but exactly where the line for “normal” is drawn will always be subject to debate.
I think we should strive to be our best selves without mutilating ourselves for the sake of winning a competition, but that’s not for me to decide for the rest of the world. This sort of goes in line with your post about your legs, Dani; you won the figure competition, but ended up hating your legs as a result. It seems that you’ve decided that the coaches’ recommendation to atrophy your legs for the sake of the competition left you unsatisfied, and (I think) you deserve kudos for saying @#$% that and deciding to train for the figure that you want, not necessarily what’s best for the competition.
The same can be applied here. You may have a slightly better chance of winning a competition by using one of these shenanigans. If that’s the cost of winning, though, is winning actually worth it?[/quote]
Wow. Thank you for this perspective. You’re right about the shenanigans and the cost of winning. I’ll have to re-read this next time I prepare to compete. 
[quote]Dani Shugart wrote:
Wow. Thank you for this perspective. You’re right about the shenanigans and the cost of winning. I’ll have to re-read this next time I prepare to compete. ;-)[/quote]
That’s very easy for me to say because I never approached a truly “Elite” level in anything. I played Division III college football and had a nice career, but all of the drugs in the world wouldn’t have turned me into a Division I athlete, much less an NFL athlete, so it was very easy to decide that I was just going to be the best I could with hard training and a good diet. Had I been a borderline NFL prospect, the choice (may) have been much harder.
Nonetheless, with something like figure, physique, or bodybuilding, I think personal satisfaction with your appearance ought to matter more than winning the competition…but if you’re getting rich from it, maybe that’s a tougher choice.
Layne Norton has some videos on his Youtube channel bashing some of the contest prep coaches in the industry for doing real, long lasting harm to their clients.
I’m not a competitor and don’t plan to be, but I’m pretty sure if someone I was paying “ordered” me to live on less than 1,000 calories per day, wear one of those god-awful corsets, and do 2-3 hours of cardio per day, I would not respond politely.
My qualifications to talk about this: I was a professional corsetier (I made & fit corsets) for over a decade, and spent a lot of time with women and men who tight-laced. Myself included. That being said, the below is anecdotal.
Out of the hundreds of people I worked with and knew, the only ones who had any measurable changes to their waist via corsetry were the ones who tight laced continually for years on end. And that only was with people with long rib cages, where the lower ribs were highly compressed. Other than that, tight lacing tended to -increase- waist size on most people, and made their midsections softer. I put it down to atrophy.
Tight lacing also messes with your breathing patterns, especially if you are accustomed to breathing from your diaphragm. Try doing hill sprints in a corset. You will hate life, your body will ache (in a bad way), and you cannot even vomit because your stomach is too compressed. shifty look No, I never did it for training purposes, but some times it happened anyways.
Finally I know what those corset-like things are that I’m girls in my gym wearing!! I’ve seen a couple strap them on before they hop on the stair mill for an hour. One girl will literally put it on, do a couple sets of seated rows and then leave the gym; and another girl will only put it on after her workout. I was totally confused because not one of them is using them in the same manner or consistently. For 1 second I was thinking maybe I should try one of these…1 second.
All of the above comments make so much sense! I used to wear a corset (back before I had all 4 of my children) when going out on a fancy date. Forget about breathing, forget about eating, and the amount of discomfort in my lower abdomen was unbearable (I’m sure my intestines were getting squished). The price we pay for looking a certain way (and not always how God intended) is craziness! Rectal prolapse, incontinence, asymmetric rib cage, displaced organs, muscle atrophy…not worth it!
Love what ActivitiesGuy said: “I think we should strive to be our best selves without mutilating ourselves for the sake of winning a competition, but that’s not for me to decide for the rest of the world.”
*And I’m so excited…after years of ready T-Nation article I’ve finally hopped on these message boards! First post ever!