Snatching Your Waist—No, It’s Not a Thing

Lindsay unpacks the trending and controversial topic of 'snatching your waist', highlighting her concerns with the misinformation and toxic culture prevalent in the fitness industry. She critiques fitness influencers and educators who react to videos by shaming and bullying, rather than correcting misinformation constructively. Lindsay explains that achieving a snatched waist involves much more than specific exercises, discussing the roles of genetics, body fat percentage, and calorie deficit in influencing body shape. She emphasizes the impossibility of spot reduction and cautions against unrealistic body goals perpetuated by misleading fitness advice on social media. The episode is a call for a more informed and compassionate approach to fitness, urging listeners to focus on their genetics and health rather than unattainable standards.

Topics:
0:00 No, It’s not a thing
00:54 My love hate relationship with snatching your waist
03:06 What does snatching your waist mean?
07:54 What contributes to the snatched waist?
11:16 Your genetics are your own
14:02 Let's talk about abs
16:58 Following goal people vs information people

Creators & Guests

Host

Lindsay

Wife and mother of three. I have a deep passion for learning and teaching. I also really love lifting weights and fitness.

What is LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness?

Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.

Lindsay: Welcome to the
Lifting Lindsay podcast.

Today we are gonna be having i, I
can't call it fast fit Tip Friday.

'cause you just don't know with me
how short or long this is going to be.

Right.

A lot of times I'm like, oh, this
will take me 15 minutes and then

15 minutes later I'm like, man,
I really need to wrap this up.

Earlier today I was recording an
episode on decision Fatigue and

it was so funny to me because, um.

I thought for sure it'd be like a
15 minute episode, and it wasn't

until my cat walked in and was like
whining for attention and meowing and

purring that I had to like wrap it up.

But, um, I do want to talk today about
this idea of snatching your waist.

So.

I have this love hate relationship
with the new trend that we're seeing.

Well, it's not new.

It's, it's, it's existed for a
while, but I feel like everybody

is now seeing how well it does.

And so they're all hopping on board.

Um, and that is this trend of
you take somebody's video and

then you give a reaction to it.

Oftentimes what fitness influencers
will do is they, or even

fitness educators, they will.

Watch this video of somebody giving
really bad advice and then they,

will kind of give a reaction to it.

Now, I have a love-hate relationship
with these types of posts because

I think that it can be done well.

I think that it's important for us to
talk about misinformation out there.

I also think it's really important that we
don't become a part of a toxic environment

that oftentimes these can create.

So oftentimes I will see influencers
who, are, in my opinion, rather

childish in their approach.

They're very emotional.

Uh, they bully and they shame people.

So it's no longer about the information.

They discuss the information, but
then they start shaming the person.

I can't stand that actually.

It's not my cup of tea.

I feel like.

It's important that we take an
opportunity to correct misinformation

but not at the expense of others.

And some people are like, well,
they have millions of followers,

they can deal with it, or whatever.

I'm like, you know, maybe
it's 'cause I'm a mom.

Maybe it's because, I have like
this belief in goodness and kindness,

but I just don't wanna spread that.

I just don't.

So.

Today I'm going to, this is, this is my
attempt to kind of counter some of that,

um, and talk about the information and
not the person, because I was really

shocked the other day when I looked
around Instagram and saw so many women,

uh, talking about this is how you snatch
your waist, so snatching your waist.

For those of you who don't know what
that is, a snatched waist is when

you have this like really tiny waist.

So it's this idea of giving
yourself an hourglass look.

We're gonna actually dive a
little bit deeper into this.

I kind of wish it was a YouTube video.

I.

I kind of wish I did YouTube, but it
just takes so much time to, and, and I

can't like, dress in my pajamas for that.

So that's usually why
I stick to podcasting.

How somebody looks this hourglass
waist, there's so many things that.

Need to line up for this and in like
a good part of it too is genetics.

And so we're just gonna talk about this.

So if you look up snatching your
waist, oftentimes you will get somebody

who has beautiful, this beautiful
hourglass look with really low body

fat percentage, and they'll be teaching
like, these are the two, three exercises

that quote unquote snatched my waist.

And that's not a thing.

So we know that we can't
spot reduce, right?

But a lot of times what they're referring
to is deeper than spot reduction.

So.

It's usually they actually believe if I
work my abs in such a way, then even when

I'm not consciously contracting them and
squeezing them in that I've worked them in

in such this magical fairy dust way that.

My waist will just always be small,
even if I haven't lost body fat, even if

I'm not consciously contracting my abs.

So yeah, so that's not a thing.

That is not a thing.

And when people say that either
they think that causation, they've

misconstrued causation and correlation.

So a woman decides she
wants to snatch her waist.

So she sees these exercises that these
other women with quote unquote snatched

waists have, and they say you need to do.

So she simultaneously, because
this other account also says, you

know, you need to lose body fat.

So simultaneously she starts into
a calorie deficit and at the same

time she starts these new exercises.

Well, at the bottom of her cut,
she's like, wow, I have this

quote unquote snatched waist.

Those exercises worked.

Little did she know that it wasn't
necessarily those exercises,

it was the calorie deficit that
reduced the body fat on her.

So now she can actually, she looks
leaner, uh, quote unquote toned more it.

And that was from the reduction
that was from the calorie deficit,

the reduction in body fat.

Not from those specific exercises,
but if you don't know very

much, you can mis correlate.

You can say, oh, it's
because of those exercises.

And then if, if you decide you
wanna start an Instagram account,

what are you gonna teach?

You're going, look at what happened to me.

This is how I snatched my waist,
and you're gonna really believe it.

So there's those people
that really believe it.

Then there are those
people who know better.

They know it was the calorie
deficit that got 'em there.

They know it wasn't this magical exercise.

But they also know through trial
and error that if they post

that it was the calorie deficit.

That's not gonna get as many likes
as if they say snatch your waist

in 14 days with this exercise.

I mean, I can tell you from personal
experience of spending my time staying

away from those types of trendy
and misleading, uh, sales pitches.

You are not going to get as many likes.

You're not gonna get as many views.

Realness usually doesn't.

It's not sexy, it's not fast,
it's not easy, but it's real.

Right?

So it, it's just unfortunate.

So then what, what does
contribute to this snatched waste?

We talked about body fat percentage,
but I do think it's also important

that we talk about the genetics
of the individual as well.

Um, some individuals, they have
that hourglass figure because they

actually have, um, wider hips too.

And then if you couple that with
larger breasts, you are going

to have an hourglass figure.

And when you drop body fat, it's
going to be more and more prominent.

But, but there are individuals
who their pelvis is far narrower.

Mine is that way.

It's, it's narrow.

I can't just drop body fat and
look like I have this hourglass.

, This is where genetics really comes in.

I'm just not gonna have that look to the
degree that others who are promising.

I'll get you that.

Look.

Let's just, um, you know, do.

More like lateral leg raises,
not understanding that this

isn't a matter of muscle, this
is a matter of bone structure.

So they're like, well, you can
have that hourglass if you just

do more lateral leg, leg raises.

Plus we'll snatch your waist.

No, that's not a thing.

There's still bone
structure, body fat deposit.

Even the, the size of our muscle and
there's there, yes, we can control

the size of our muscle to a degree.

We can control how much body fat
we lose, but there are things

that are beyond our control.

So this is why two women doing
the same exact training program.

Who even if they lose the exact same
amount of body fat and put on the same

exact amount of muscle, will still have
vastly different looks as far as what that

looks on them and their bone structure.

'cause like I said, we have bone
structure and we also have even just

origin and attachment sites, and that
can change the way the muscle looks.

So I've talked about this extensively
on, uh, Instagram and I give some really,

really good examples of, look, even
if I, I can't actually physically get

a 24 inch waist even at my smallest.

Well, I actually think I, my smallest
was like a 24 and a half, but next to

somebody with really wide hips and a
24 and a half, or even a 25 or 26 inch

waist, they will still look like they
have this hourglass far more than me.

And that has to do with bone structure.

So I, I really wanted to do this episode
because I wanna remind you that your

genetics are your own and you literally
cannot compare to other people.

I also wanna remind you that for those
of you who don't know, educate you, for

those of you do know and need a reminder
that you can't snatch your waist.

Okay?

So there really are not these
exercises that as soon as you do

them, they just naturally, um.

Change and without any contraction
or squeezing your abs, you just

have this now smaller waist.

It, it, it actually doesn't work that way.

Even those, uh, bikini competitors,
when they step up on stage, talk to

'em afterwards, they spend extensive
amounts of time working on flexing

and posing, and it's exhausting.

It is work up there.

They're not just standing there
relaxed, being like, look at me.

They are up there trying to flex and
move in a way that keeps everything

flexed and their waist tight, and
they are engaging and bringing in

their core as much as they can.

Um, they are not up there
just totally fully relaxed.

A lot of times we think that they are and
we compare to that or we compare to people

who found just the right gym lighting are.

Not only sucking in their waist,
but also engaging their core.

And they have a smile on their face
and they're like, oh, look at me.

You can get this too.

And, and they actually look quite
different when they relax and

they're not under that same lighting.

Or maybe by the end of the day
they've eaten enough and their

waste is now holding more food
and doesn't look like that.

And we compare our worst
to their photo best.

So today's just a reminder to you
that you have your own genetics.

Two people will do the exact same workout
and it will turn out different for both

of them, and you cannot snatch your waist.

A lot of these exercises that
people are doing on apps.

They will strengthen your abs so that
when you flex, you may be able to bring

it in a little bit more when you flex.

Okay?

That's really, really important.

It's not just you walking around, not
flexing and, but yet you have like

two inch smaller waist because you did
these magic exercises that don't exist.,

Another thing too is let's just
talk about ABS for a minute here.

If you really want to build your abs
muscles and hypertrophy them, you have

to remember that at one point you will
have to start putting them under weight.

So that's why we do things like
cable crunches, um, so that we can

start progressing and progressively
overloading them, putting more and

more weight on them to build them.

Now.

Hypertrophy is to make bigger.

So if you want to build out your six
pack so it looks bigger, keep in mind

that is going to increase waist size.

But some people are like, I
don't care about the waist size.

I care just about the look.

I really want the look so.

If you really want to see your six
pack, it still comes down to nutrition.

You still have to drop, uh, into
a calorie deficit to be able

to see a reduction in body fat.

And your body genetically will
just determine what, where it takes

it off from first, whether that's
arms, whether it's butt, whether

it's boobs, whether it's abs.

Your body has this genetic map.

That it just decides where
it's gonna take from first.

That's important to understand because
maybe the level that you want to see of

your abs isn't gonna happen in 12 weeks.

Um, maybe it's after a few rounds, fat
loss rounds, and then you can see it.

Also building out your abs will
allow you to see them better

at higher body fat percentages.

That's really important to understand
is if you don't want to stay as lean

around your stomach, sometimes we can.

Um, and maybe it's a little mix of both.

It's building out the six pack so
it's a little bit more predominant

and you can see it at a little
bit higher body fat percentage.

Okay.

Maybe it's a know you
like the size of your.

Abdominal muscles, and now you just
want to see them more than you're

gonna have to drop your body fat.

Okay?

So there's just kind of these different
elements that oftentimes aren't

fully discussed on social media.

Instead, people pull you in with great
genetics and little information and

falsify information and use words
like snatching your waist without

giving the full context of look.

What might give somebody the
look they want could actually

be just lowering calories.

What could give somebody else
the look they want is no, you

actually have to build and lower.

Uh, so you just have to be more
cautious of the people that you follow.

It is a huge red flag when they're
saying things like snatching your waist.

Now, I used to believe in, well,
I have people that I follow

that they're just like, my goal.

And I have people that I follow, that
I get my information from, and I never

get my information from the goal people.

And it got to a point in my life
where I just like cut out the

goal people because I realized
we don't have the same genetics.

So I'm chasing their body
looking at them as a goal.

There.

I didn't realize it until later that
I was holding myself to a standard

or kind of holding them up as the
standard, but in a way, because they

didn't have the same genetics as
me, it was like I was always chasing

something that, and it was fueling this.

You'll never be satisfied until.

And it, it wasn't until I finally let that
go and unfollowed him and just focused on

me and my genetics that I felt, honestly,
I started having a healthier approach

because I was just focusing on me.

My genetics and what I can do now,
if you, if you can do that while

following these people, that's great.

I, I couldn't, I noticed that it was
sneaking in and I was holding myself to

a standard that it wasn't healthy for me.

So just, just throwing it out
there that, that's something

that you might be aware of.

Anyways, I really hope that this episode
has helped, and if you have any questions,

please don't hesitate to send me a dm.

On Instagram, follow me
there at Lifting Lindsey.

You can also join me in my community
at be Strong dot lifting lindsey.com

where we have training programs,
recipes lives with me, um, and I really

do love getting to know you guys and
helping you all achieve your goals.

You guys have a wonderful week.