With a Master of Science in Dietetics and Exercise Science, 11 years of experience in fitness, and 5 years in nutrition, Hollee Mohni is a professional dedicated to improving individuals' health and confidence through sustainable habits.
Hip dips, also known as violain hips or high cut hips, refer to the inward curve on the side of your body below your hip bone and above your thigh bone. These indentations can be more prominent on some people than others, leading to a variety of shapes and figures.
Many people are self-conscious about their hip dips and wonder if there is a way to fix them. One popular solution that has gained attention in recent years is the hip dips workout.
The truth is, exercise can only do so much when it comes to changing the shape of your body, especially in specific areas like hip dips. However, by incorporating a targeted workout into your fitness routine, you can improve muscle tone and overall appearance.
Here’s what you need to know about hip dips and whether or not a workout can fix them.
Hip dips can’t be “fixed” because they are a natural part of your body shape. The indentations occur due to the shape and placement of your hip bones, which is determined by a few factors:
While exercise can’t change your bone structure, genetics or tone just one area, it can help with muscle development and fat loss (3), which may improve the look of your hip dips.
In a previous blog: Calisthenics for Women, we discussed how targeted exercises can help tone specific areas of the body. The same principle applies to hip dips.
Yes, you can grow or build muscle in the area of your hip dips, potentially reducing the appearance of your hip dips. You can work on improving muscle tone and definition in that area by targeted exercises.
Let’s take a closer look at the anatomy of your hips to understand whether it’s possible to “grow” hip dips.
How noticeable your hip dips are depends on your skeletal structure, particularly:
If your hips are naturally wider, the indentations may be less noticeable than someone with narrower hips. This is why many believe that putting on fat around the hips will reduce hip dips, but this is not an effective solution. You have no control over where your body stores fat and so trying to target a specific area is not possible.
The greater trochanter is a bony prominence on the femur bone, just below your hip joint. When you look in the mirror, this is what you see as your hip bone. The size and shape of the greater trochanter can vary from person to person, affecting the appearance of hip dips.
You can’t change the size of your greater trochanter.
Your ilium (pelvis), hip socket, and greater trochanter form the area referred to in the hip dip. Like every other body part, pelvis size and shape can vary from person to person, determining the depth of your hip dips.
You can’t change the size or shape of your pelvis.
The muscles surrounding your hip bones play a significant role in the appearance of your hip dips. For example, well-developed glutes can create a smoother curve from your waist to your hips, minimizing the visibility of hip dips.
Therefore, while you can’t change the size or shape of your bones, you can work on strengthening and developing the surrounding muscles to create a more balanced and toned look.
In a previous blog: Exercises to Strengthen Hips we discussed some effective exercises that can target these specific muscles.
People with any body shape can have prominent hip dips especially if they have wider or higher hips. Hip dips on women are a natural part of your skeletal structure, which can vary regardless of your body shape.
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The best way for improving hip health is by doing exercises that improve the strength, functionality, and muscle tone of your hips, glutes, and thighs (2). This may also help minimize the appearance of hip dips, to some extent.
Targeted Muscles: Lateral lunges primarily target your glutes and inner thigh muscles (adductors) in a major way. They also engage your quadriceps and hamstrings.
Benefits for Hip Health: By engaging and strengthening the muscles around your hips and thighs, lateral lunges help by enhancing hip strength and mobility. This improvement in functional strength can lead to better support for your pelvic region, reducing the risk of imbalance-induced strains that could exacerbate hip dips.
How to Perform:
This exercise can easily be included in your hip dips workout at home routine, requiring no equipment and minimal space.
Targeted Muscles: Curtsy lunges focus on the gluteus medius and minimus in your outer hip area as the primary targets. They also work the quadriceps and hamstrings.
Benefits for Hip Health: This exercise emphasizes the lateral (side) movement of the hips, which is crucial for lateral hip strength and symmetry. Strengthening these muscles can help smooth out the silhouette of your hips, making hip dips workout no equipment routines more effective.
How to Perform:
Adding curtsy lunges to your hip dips workout gym routine can provide a comprehensive lower body workout, enhancing the overall shape and strength of the glutes and legs.
Targeted Muscles: Clamshells target the hip abductors, mainly the gluteus medius and minimus, with minor engagement of the pelvic muscles.
Benefits for Hip Health: Clamshells are excellent for isolating and strengthening the outer hip muscles, crucial for hip stabilization and reducing the appearance of hip dips. Enhanced stability and strength in this area supports a healthy hip alignment and functionality during movement.
How to Perform:
This is a great hip dips workout at home, as it does not require any equipment and focuses on hip muscle functionality.
Read more: Thigh Workout Guide: 7 Effective Exercises for Building Leg Strength
Targeted Muscles: Fire hydrants primarily work the gluteus medius, which is majorly responsible for abducting the hip. They also engage your core muscles as a secondary target.
Benefits for Hip Health: The rotational movement in fire hydrants increases hip mobility and strength in multiple directions, which can directly contribute to reducing the prominence of hip dips by improving musculature around the hips.
How to Perform:
This exercise can be part of a hip dips workout no equipment program, offering a simple yet effective way to work on your hip muscles.
Targeted Muscles: Lateral leg lifts intensely work on the abductors, particularly the gluteus medius and minimus, and the tensor fasciae latae, with minor engagement of the obliques.
Benefits for Hip Health: Lateral leg lifts enhance hip stability by strengthening the muscles that move your leg away from your body. This can help with creating a more defined hip line and reduce the appearance of hip dips.
How to Perform:
Lateral leg lifts fit well into both hip dips workout gym and home routines, proving that you don’t need fancy equipment to target your hips effectively.
Targeted Muscles: This exercise primarily engages the adductor muscles of the inner thigh. Minor engagement occurs in the core, our balance and stabilizing muscles.
Benefits for Hip Health: Strengthening your adductor muscles supports better hip alignment and reduces strain during physical activities. This helps with maintaining a balanced muscle strength across the hip joint, which is essential for smooth and coordinated movements.
How to Perform:
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Targeted Muscles: The primary focus is on the inner thigh adductors, with minor emphasis on the core and pelvic muscles for stabilization.
Benefits for Hip Health: This exercise enhances inner thigh strength, which is crucial for hip stability. Improved stability aids in reducing unnecessary stress on the hip joint and helps in preventing hip dips and other alignment issues.
How to Perform:
Targeted Muscles: Primarily targets the adductor muscle group in the thighs, with secondary engagement of the core for stabilization.
Benefits for Hip Health: Utilizing the adductor machine helps in evenly strengthening the inner thigh muscles, promoting balanced hip and leg movement. This contributes to a more stable gait and reduces the risk of injuries.
How to Perform:
Targeted Muscles: Focuses on the abductors of the outer thigh, and lightly works the core muscles.
Benefits for Hip Health: This seated variation targets the abductors in a controlled manner, improving muscle tone and function ultimately reducing the appearance of hip dips.
How to Perform:
Targeted Muscles: The primary muscle groups targeted are the quadriceps, glutes, and adductors, with the adductors and gluteus medius engaged in a major way, due to the wide stance. The core muscles are also engaged.
Benefits for Hip Health: Wide stance squats help to build a solid foundation of lower body strength. Improved strength in this area facilitates better hip mobility and alignment, crucial for overall hip health and functionality.
How to Perform:
Read more: Your Flat Tummy Workouts Just Got Better With This Guide
You can reduce the appearance of hip dips by following a regular exercise routine that targets the muscles in your hips and thighs. Hip dips can be challenging to tone and reduce, as they are largely influenced by genetics. However, with consistent exercise and a healthy diet, you can make noticeable improvements in the appearance of your overall physique (8). Yes, hourglass figures can have hip dips; though they may be less apparent than for someone with other figures, including those with wider or higher hips. Since hourglass figures tend to accumulate more fat in the waist and hips, they may have a slightly smoother curve between their waist and outer thighs, reducing the appearance of hip dips. Hip dips and love handles are two different things. Hip dips refer to the inward curve between your hip bone and outer thigh, while love handles are excess fat around your waist and back area. Unlike hip dips that are a result of skeletal structure, love handles can be reduced with proper diet and exercise.FAQs
Can I Ever Get Rid of Hip Dips?
Are Hip Dips Hard To Get Rid Of?
Do Hourglass Figures Have Hip Dips?
Are Hip Dips Love Handles?
A hip dips workout can improve the appearance and function of your hips, helping you feel more confident in your body. However, they won’t change your skeletal structure, and that’s completely normal. Embrace your hip dips as a part of your unique body shape and focus on strengthening the muscles around them for optimal hip health.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
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