April 14, 2026, 3:01 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Alongside a flat stomach, a slim, toned waist is a fitness goal for many women. They often rely on extensive core training sessions and diets to achieve this. The belief persists that losing weight is the key to the desired figure. However, it’s also important to train and define the right muscles. What many forget: To achieve a slim-looking waist, one should not neglect back training.
Core training and weight loss alone often don’t achieve the hourglass figure or slim-looking waist. Those who are overweight need to lose weight to make the underlying muscles visible and give the body a defined appearance. But you can’t consciously control where the pounds disappear and where they stubbornly remain. Therefore, it helps to specifically define certain muscle regions. Sure, core and specific abdominal training shape a beautiful midsection. But there’s more to it! If you want your waist to look slim, you can achieve this by also training the muscles in the back. When this body area becomes more muscular and defined, the waist automatically appears slimmer in comparison.
Target the Latissimus Dorsi
Personal trainer and FITBOOK expert Alina Bock recommends training the latissimus dorsi for this purpose. This muscle starts above the hip and runs laterally up to under the shoulder. Men train it for the often desired pronounced V-shape. Women can train it to improve posture, prevent or counteract back pain—and to make their waist appear visually slimmer. Developing a pronounced V-shape is not expected, simply because women don’t build muscle mass as easily as men due to hormonal reasons.
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Strength Exercises Suitable for This
For back training aimed at a slimmer waist, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Fitness studio classics like lat pulldowns, rowing with dumbbells and cables, and, for more ambitious fitness enthusiasts, pull-ups are ideal for shaping and strengthening the back. Those who want to do something for their back outside the gym are well-advised with activities like swimming, yoga, or climbing. Additionally, training the shoulders to make them more muscular and slightly broader helps achieve the desired body appearance. Exercises like front raises, lateral raises, or overhead presses are optimal for this.
Moving Away from a Single Body Ideal
With back and shoulder training, supportive hip and glute training, and healthy body fat reduction, women can approach their dream waist. However, it’s also clear that every body is different. Women who naturally have broader shoulders and hips often appear visually slimmer in the waist by comparison. They can more easily achieve an hourglass figure like Kim Kardashian with adjusted nutrition and optimal training—simply because they have the physical predisposition for it. On the other hand, those with a body type featuring narrow shoulders and hips will find it harder to achieve the hourglass look. No amount of training and dieting will help. But they can still achieve a slimmer-looking waist within their physical possibilities through back training.