Hailey, yes, that was what I was told initially.... IME it hasn't been the case. What I suspect is that it's the sheet of muscles over your ribs and diaphragm that strengthens up nicely (maybe because having a steel-boned corset wrapped round 'em improves your posture even when you're not wearing the thing, maybe strengthening what in Pilates they call your core muscles?)
I always used to find after taking mine off that those muscles ached like I'd had a workout lol which is the nearest I ever get to working out I can tell you!
On the other hand, the muscles down at the bottom - the ones that weren't quite so rigidly supported - aren't anything like so toned.
Put it this way I'm just over 8 months expecting and it's only within the last 2-3 weeks that I've had a visible bump, and I am not by any stretch of the imagination a gym bunny or a fitness goddess....
OK, I've just had a look at the Meschantes website. I have a feeling that you may be looking at the same answer to both issues - not to cinch the waist too much to begin with but to lace tightly enough to "hug" yourself (ie not slip up or down!) and then let the laces rest and stretch for a while before you give it the final tightening. I'm just wondering if that might help with things skewing and rucking up. (Pondering whether part of the problem might be that as you're tightening there's more "give" in some parts of the laces than others with them being new?)
*EDIT* Having given this further thought overnight, I wonder if as well the fact that you're lacing it yourself might be causing some of the problem, and that maybe you're twisting a little bit or pulling harder on one side or the other when you're tightening it? (Apologies for stating the patently obvious here...) Are you tightening the laces to the sides or in front of you? - ie do you bring the lace ends round to your front before pulling, or are you taking them out to the sides?
I always used to find after taking mine off that those muscles ached like I'd had a workout lol which is the nearest I ever get to working out I can tell you!
On the other hand, the muscles down at the bottom - the ones that weren't quite so rigidly supported - aren't anything like so toned.
Put it this way I'm just over 8 months expecting and it's only within the last 2-3 weeks that I've had a visible bump, and I am not by any stretch of the imagination a gym bunny or a fitness goddess....
OK, I've just had a look at the Meschantes website. I have a feeling that you may be looking at the same answer to both issues - not to cinch the waist too much to begin with but to lace tightly enough to "hug" yourself (ie not slip up or down!) and then let the laces rest and stretch for a while before you give it the final tightening. I'm just wondering if that might help with things skewing and rucking up. (Pondering whether part of the problem might be that as you're tightening there's more "give" in some parts of the laces than others with them being new?)
*EDIT* Having given this further thought overnight, I wonder if as well the fact that you're lacing it yourself might be causing some of the problem, and that maybe you're twisting a little bit or pulling harder on one side or the other when you're tightening it? (Apologies for stating the patently obvious here...) Are you tightening the laces to the sides or in front of you? - ie do you bring the lace ends round to your front before pulling, or are you taking them out to the sides?