Home Gym Systems from Powertec
Get a “Smaller Looking Waist” Fast
By: Ian Lauer CSCS
Possibly the most sought after change in a guy’s physique is an improved V-Taper (that is guy speak for, "we want a small waist too"). Unfortunately, for many the waist can look thick and wide thus destroying a good taper. One way to correct this would be to shrink the waist. However as we know “spot reduction” of fat doesn’t work. Additionally BONE STRUCTURE and OBLIQUE MUSCLE play a large role in the size of a person’s waist. Even when some people are extremely lean, they may still suffer from a “wide waist.” The solutions would be to somehow reduce “bone structure” (not possible) or let the oblique muscle atrophy (waste away, no pun intended). With the former being impossible and the latter leading to reductions in both strength and athletic performance, it makes sense to look at another possible solution. The other solution is to use your home gym to ADD SIZE WHERE NEEDED to give the appearance of a SMALLER WAIST.
From the Back
The fastest way to make your waist LOOK smaller is to put in the time on your home gym to ADD SIZE TO YOUR LATS! This is one of the main components of the V-Taper and just looks plain awesome when the lats (latissimus dorsi) are developed. You’ll notice that some people have lats that run farther down their side and others are a bit shorter, no biggie. All that matters is that you develop whatever kind of muscle you have been blessed with. Longer lats will make you look like you have a genuine “V” taper whereas shorter lats will make your torso look longer and leaner improving your taper as well.
The best way to increase your lat size is via pulldowns, pull-ups, and rows, which are all readily available in any good home gym (if you are building your home gym, this is a great place to start http://www.powertecfitness.com/Products.aspx). All of these movements incorporate the back muscles to a large degree. When you focus on doing these exercises to temporary exhaustion 1-2 times per week and fuel your muscle properly, YOUR LATS WILL GROW! Your Taper will become more pronounced. The end result is that your waist will look smaller.
Here is a good video to get you started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtyUAw5lXnA&feature=share&list=PL18539C5970B34632
From the Front
When it comes to making the waist look smaller from the front, the lats do play a role. When the arms are out or hands are on hips the lats can show that nice V; however, there is an even more effective way to make the waist look smaller from the front. Increase your SHOULDER SIZE to SHRINK YOUR WAIST’s appearance from the front. It’s much easier to add 1” or 2” across the shoulders (1/2”-1” each) to give the appearance for which we are looking.
Another video to check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNdeye5x6SY&feature=share&list=PL18539C5970B34632
Let’s take a look at some rough math:
If we add 1” to the total width of the shoulders, that gives us an improvement in the difference between waist width and shoulder width of 1”. This is accomplished by adding just ½” to each shoulder. We can do this because we CAN SPOT BUILD easily on a home gym. On the flip side if we wanted to get this same change in difference between shoulder and waist width ratio by reducing the waist width we would have to lose OVER 3” off the waist circumference. Since we CAN’T SPOT REDUCE areas on the waist it is necessary to lose it all the way around the waist (unless you are a fan of wearing corsettes). Now the rough math….
C=2pR where 2R=D
C=pD
Circumference (Distance around the waist)= 3.14 x Waist Width
Circumference / 3.14 = Waist Width
This being accepted as rough truth means that to get a change in Waist Width of 1” would have to lose 3.14” of waist circumference.
This is of course an estimate because no person is a perfect cylinder at the waste or anywhere else on their body for that matter. The point here is to drive home the idea that it is easier to spot build than it is to go for a total reduction whereas spot reduction is not possible. So how do you get the most from your home gym to spot build the shoulders to improve the taper’s appearance.
To build the shoulders you want to start with compound movements such as Shoulder Presses and Upright Rows and move into Raises such as Side, Front and Rear to round them off. When you focus on doing these exercises to temporary exhaustion 1-2 times per week and fuel your muscle properly, YOUR SHOULDERS WILL GROW! Your shoulder to hip ratio will look better. The end result is that your waist will look smaller.
Here is a good shoulder workout video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMzXi7LgxgA&feature=share&list=PL18539C5970B34632
Hopefully at this point you are wondering how to maximize your Back and Shoulder workouts for your best results! There are a number of things you can do to make this happen. First, I would recommend PRIORITIZING the SHOULDER AND BACK workouts in your training. If you are only hitting them once per week try starting the week with a Massive shoulder Blast workout while your muscles are fresh from a couple days off. Then on the next day Light-Up the Lats before the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in the shoulders sets in! If you are doing them twice per week then you can Start AND Finish the week with them so long as you have a couple days of rest between the end and beginning of your training weeks (this is good if you take the weekend off.)
Now that you know the concept behind shrinking the appearance of your waist by INCREASING YOUR LAT and SHOULDER size, let’s take a look at some sample home gym workouts on some of my favorite Powertec home gym equipment. I have included a variety of Powertec home gym items to allow you to pick the home gym system you have. All of these programs and each piece of home gym equipment is designed to give you maximum results.
SHOULDER BLAST on the POWERTEC LEVERGYM:
http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-29-workbench-levergymtrade-wb-ls11.aspx
Shoulder Press: 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Upright Row (low cable): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Side Raises (single arm): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Front Raises (low cable): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Cable Rear Delt Raise (single arm): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
SHOULDER BLAST with the POWERTEC POWER RACK (Lat Tower Option):
http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-31-workbench-power-rack-wb-pr11.aspx
http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-32-workbench-lat-tower-option-wb-lto13.aspx
Barbell Shoulder Press: 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Barbell Upright Row: 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Low Cable Side Raises (single arm): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Cable Front Raises (single arm): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Cable Rear Delt Raise (single arm): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
The BACK BLAST with the POWERTEC Roller Smith (Lat Tower Option)
http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-43-powertec-rollersmith-with-lat-tower-option-p-rs-lto11.aspx
Lat Pulldown (Overhand wide): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Barbell Row: 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Lat Pulldown (Underhand close): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Low Cable Row: 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Bodyweight Rows (in supine position): 4x MAX Reps
The BACK BLAST with the POWERTEC Multisystem
http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-12-workbench-multi-system-wb-ms13.aspx
Lat Pulldown (Overhand wide): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Bent Over Machine Row (using pressing station): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Lat Pulldown (Underhand close): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Row (Preacher curl/row accessory): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
Single arm Row neutral grip (using pressing station): 5 x 15, 12, 10, 8, 6-10
There you go! Now you have two different workouts for each of the two body parts we are looking to SPOT BUILD. You can see how they work on a variety of the pieces of POWERTEC home gym equipment. As you can see, these workouts are relatively easily adapted from one machine to the next.
Now get on your piece of POWERTEC Equipment and create the physique you deserve today!
To view all Powertec Products, visit: http://www.powertecfitness.com/home.aspx
