Exercises For Reducing Women's Waistlines

It's no secret that a growing waistline can pose a weighty risk to your health. The Weight-control Information Network, a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, cautions, "Women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches may have a higher disease risk than people with smaller waist measurements because of where their fat lies." Exercising your abdominal region, however, can help improve your health as it shrinks your waistline, making you feel and look years younger.

Bicycle Maneuver

Ranked the most effective abdominal exercise by the American Council on Exercise for stimulating and strengthening the rectus abdominis -- the muscle that forms the envied "six-pack" -- the bicycle maneuver helps take inches off your waistline and reduces your love handles. Dr. Peter Francis, researcher at the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University, adds that the bicycle maneuver is one of several abs exercises that helps prevent injuries, maintains proper posture and alleviates lower back issues. Lie flat on your back on an exercise mat. Place your hands behind your head. Draw your knees toward your chest to a tabletop-like position. Raise your head and shoulder blades off the mat. Pull your left knee in toward your chest while extending your right leg straight out. Mimic a bicycle-pedaling motion. Perform 20 to 30 repetitions.

Captain's Chair

The captain's chair not only ranked a close second to the bicycle maneuver as the most effective exercise for the rectus abdominis but also topped the American Council's on Exercise list for targeting the obliques -- the muscles located at the sides of your abdomen. Strong obliques are vital for maintaining a slim waist and cinching your belt one notch tighter. Though the captain's chair is named after a piece of gym apparatus, you also can execute it sans equipment. Sit on a stable, armless chair with your feet planted on the floor. Place one hand on each side of the seat, and curl your fingers around the edges. Shifting your body weight onto your palms, lift your buttocks off the seat. Slowly draw your knees toward your chest, and hold this position for two seconds. Slowly lower your knees and your buttocks to the start position. Perform 12 repetitions.

Stability Ball Leg Roll

The closer your waist measurement is to the measurement of your hips, the greater your risk for coronary problems, diabetes and stroke, cautions the American College of Sports Medicine. Exercises that twist your torso, such as the stability ball leg roll, target your obliques to help reduce your waistline. Lie on your back. Spread your arms out to the sides airplane-style with your palms toward the floor. Grasp a stability ball between your ankles, and extend your legs toward the ceiling. Keep your shoulder blades against the floor, and slowly rotate your legs over to the right. Return to the starting position, then rotate your legs to the left. Repeat the exercise 12 times.

Plank With Leg LIft

Proper amounts of both fat and lean tissue are required for optimal health. The plank with leg lift can help you achieve that proper balance by sculpting your waist, shrinking love handles and flattening belly bulge for a shapely bikini body. Start the exercise by taking the start position of a basic pushup. Extend your arms straight down to the floor with your hands beneath your shoulders. Without dropping your hips, raise your right leg as high as possible, then slowly lower it. Switch legs, and complete 12 repetitions.