Will Compound and Abdominal Exercises Thicken My Waist? by Asha Menon

Most fitness and bodybuilding buffs will agree that compound movements build mass and really hit the muscle fibers hard. Just look at the difference in fatigue levels between doing squats versus leg extensions. Compound movements involve at least two joints and two muscles. Taxing these tissues maximally is a very efficient way to train for size. But are there any downfalls?

In a word, yes. Typically speaking, the heavier you're lifting in a compound exercise, the more involvement of your core. This can eventually lead to a thickening of the waist. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in order to be a successful competitor, the waist has to be lean and defined but not too thick.

Let's examine some of the guilty exercises.
1. Back Squats: This is the big one. The heavier you squat, the more work your core will do to stabilize your body: which equals waist thickening. Not only that, but if you're regularly squatting heavy, you're prone to develop wider hips as well. So what to do? If you're looking for back and leg mass, the squat is the way to go. But if your waistline is expanding, try some of these:
- Leg Press
- Leg extension
- Ham curl
- Lunges

2. Power lifts: if you're looking at getting on stage, avoid these lifts, as they'll really thicken you up:
- Power clean
- Clean and jerk
- Clean and press

3. Good mornings / Heavy Deadlifts
While these exercises are targeting the low/mid back and hamstrings, if you're lifting heavy, you're prone to increased waist thickness. Stick with back extensions, rowing movements and hamstring curls.

So what about abdominal training? Will that thicken the waist, too? Well, it certainly can. In order to develop a ripped mid-section, you need to effectively train your abs, as well as eating a clean diet and doing sufficient cardiovascular exercise.

But how you train your abs makes all the difference. Weighted ab exercises for the rectus abdominus and the transverse abdominus will help to develop your abdominal wall. However, you have to pay attention to your progress, as you don't want to add too much thickness.

As for the oblique muscles (internal and external), I recommend staying away from weighted exercises altogether, as working against resistance will certainly cause these muscles to grow, thereby widening your waist. This will take away from the often sought-after V-taper!

Non-weighted side bends or broomstick twists will help to tighten you up through the obliques without adding size.

So, when it comes to training methodologies, it's clear that there are many different ways to train, depending upon your ultimate goal. For physique-type competitions, your mid-section makes all the difference. Follow the above tips and work your way to a body to contend with!!

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