Hip Dip Exercises and More - The Hippest Guide Around!

Ever noticed that uneven shape or the little indentations on the sides of your hips? If so, you may be one of those people who hate them.

Looking in the mirror, they just don’t look right, and they’re visible when wearing tight-fitting clothes.

Right? They’re so-called hip dips - or, as some call them, “violin hips.” There are other terms used by others for these, but we won’t make a long list of them. What’s important is understanding what hip dips are and how to minimize their visibility.

Watch: Hip Dips + Resistance Band Workouts That Transforms Them!

image/svg+xml

Over 250 Glowing Reviews!

Sculpt Your Body with our Waist Trainers

We help women shed that stubborn belly fat by using body contouring garments that help support and shape the waistline so you can look fabulous and feel confident!

What Are Hip Dips?

Hip dips are the slight depression you see mostly in women at the sides of their hips. Hip dips occur when your hip bone is slightly longer than your femur causing muscle and fat to cave in.

It’s more visible for some women because they have a higher hip bone or wider hips. However, don’t confuse hip dips with a muffin top. Muffin tops are caused by excess fat, and to get rid of that, all you need to do is start reducing that excess fat. Nonetheless, doing this will only help to minimize your hip dips to a certain extent, depending on your body type and fat distribution.

Does Everyone Have Hip Dips?

Yes, everyone has hip dips. They vary from person to person based on the anatomical structure of their skeleton. Your skeletal structure has a big say in whether or not you have pronounced hip dips or whether you don’t have any visible hip dips at all.

Are they normal? Yes!

Are they natural? Absolutely!

So don’t feel like there’s something not normal with you just because of hip dips. Don’t feel like there’s something you need to correct because you have hip dips, either.

Hip dips are formed when the distance between the ilium and hip socket is comparatively long. The longer the length, the deeper the depression. However, if the space between your ilium and the hip socket is short, your hip dips are not as pronounced. They may not even appear at all. You’re going to have a rounded appearance around your hip region.

Because of this, you cannot shorten or lengthen the distance between your ilium and hip socket through exercising. You simply cannot change your bone or skeleton through exercise.

So, what can you do about it? You can manipulate the way that area looks by gaining body fat.

How Can I Get Rid Of Hip Dips?

Since you can’t change your bone and skeletal structure through any kind of exercise, you can instead manipulate the area around it. Gaining fat is one of those options. If you gain fat, you’ll have to achieve this by gaining it all over the body, as you can’t choose where your body decides to store fat.

Women naturally tend to hold their fat around their midsection area, but of course, when you gain full-body fat, some will be stored around your hips as well.

You could also choose to build lean muscle around that area by either enhancing your glutes or your abductors, which are the muscles found at the sides of your hip region. However, this isn’t going to be to the extent where you gain something like 5-10 inches. It’s just going to be enough to make this area appear a little bit more defined and rounded. Remember, this is only tissue and mass. It will come and go, as does body fat - it’s just that your bone structure will be there to hold onto your natural hip shape.

Luxx Curves Waist Trainer

Hip dips are natural and so many people have them - there's nothing that’s not beautiful about hip dips. However, if you wish to do something about them, you can. Wearing a waist trainer can help to manipulate the appearance of hip dips. Since there's no other way to ‘fix’ them other than having surgery, creating an illusion around some parts of your body might help. The purpose of a waist trainer is to make your waist smaller and push your fat either up or down, depending on if you’re upper or lower body-heavy.

Diet

If you’re naturally skinny, your hip dips will look more pronounced. Eating the right and nutritious foods will help your overall health and add healthy fat to your hip dip area, as well as help the integral muscles around your butt, like the gluteus maximus minimus and gluteus medius, to grow muscle. Sufficient protein intake plays a vital role here. You may be wondering how to know whether you’re getting enough protein and how much is just enough. According to studies, the average adult needs 1 gram per kilogram of body weight.

Exercise

Incorporating the right workouts into your routine for more defined hip dips helps to create the illusion of a more rounded butt, including exercises like fire hydrants, leg raises, side-lying leg lifts, and the like. There are many more hip dip exercises with different variations that you can do at home to build muscle. You can also add a resistance band to some of these to intensify your glute exercises. Not only will a good exercise routine aid in fixing your hip dip problem, but it can also cut down on love handles, a similar problem.

Surgery

Let’s admit it - hip dips (or the lack thereof) are just a kind of trend, the same as thigh gaps, and it’s not going anywhere soon. Still, some people are bothered by their hip dips and start to feel insecure about their body, and one of the remedies to get your hip dips taken care of is surgery. The procedure is similar to liposuction, where fat from other parts of your body is redistributed. In the case of hip dips, the fat will be redistributed to your hips to create a more rounded appearance, contributing to the overall aesthetic of your hips and creating an hourglass shape.

What Specific Exercises Can I Do?

Gaining fuller hips might not be as easy as you think, but you can achieve the appearance of this in different ways. One of the ways you can do so is through some specific exercises for your lower body.

Side Hip Openers (Fire Hydrants)

Come down to the ground and stack your limbs, making sure that your knees are underneath your hips and hands underneath your shoulders. Bring your knees slightly inward and your arms aligned with your shoulders. Flex your feet so that they’re nice and neutral. Take your leg out as you exhale and inhale when bringing it back. Squeeze in the main glute and do the same routine for the other side.

Lunges

Start with your legs hip-width apart, with your hands on your sides or on your waist to maintain balance. With one leg, either left or right, whichever is convenient for you, take a step forward and bend like you’re doing a squat. The only difference is that you’re using just one of your legs to step forward. Both of your knees must be at approximately 90 degrees.

Lunge your leg one at a time, your thigh parallel to the floor. Your other leg must be stretched back just enough to provide sufficient balance to bring you back to a neutral standing position. When you make your lunge, make sure your knee is behind your toes and your posture is maintained.

image/svg+xml

Over 250 Glowing Reviews!

Sculpt Your Body with our Waist Trainers

We help women shed that stubborn belly fat by using body contouring garments that help support and shape the waistline so you can look fabulous and feel confident!

Side Leg Lifts

Lie down on your side with your legs extended straight out. Your lower arm can rest under your head, while your top arm can rest on your upper hip. Raise the top leg while keeping your hips steady and facing forward. Do not rotate forward or backward. Then, bring your leg down and do the same for your other leg after completing your reps.

Squats

Start with your legs about shoulder-width apart. Lift your arms in front of you. For balance, make sure your back is absolutely straight - you shouldn’t arch your back inward or outward. Your back and neck must be in one straight line. Push your hips back as though you’re sitting on an imaginary chair. Your hips and thighs must be parallel to the floor while maintaining your form. Then, come back to a neutral standing position. Make sure that when you sit down in a squat position, your knees do not collapse. Don’t forget to inhale and exhale - don’t attempt to stop your breathing.

Glute Bridges

Come down to the floor and make sure your knees will be right above your ankles when you come up. A good way to do this is to try to reach your hands down, side by side, to graze the backs of your heels. From there, make sure that your lower back is pressing into the mat, which forces your core to engage. Your hands can go to your sides, palms either up or down. Start lifting your hips, ensuring that your core stays engaged, your glutes fire up, and that you’re not overarching your back. Then, lower yourself back down.

Side Planks

If you’re familiar with how to do the elbow plank, this one should be easy. Go down to the floor but instead of lying on your back, lie on your side. Your right elbow has to be completely under your shoulder to make sure your alignment is always intact. Keep your arms flat and your palm facing down. Your other arm can be on your waist to help keep your balance. Keep your knees on the ground this time. Start to lift from your hips and squeeze your form. Make sure that your hips are lifted and your core is engaged. Hold this position for thirty seconds.

Consider Your Fashion Choices

Aside from surgery, food choices, and workouts, one of the best ways to hide your hip dips is using your clothes to good effect. Choosing the right clothes will help you create an illusion that your hip dips aren’t there. It’s a quick fix without needing too much effort aside from mixing and matching the right tops and bottoms.

Dresses that are cinched in at the waist

Highlighting the difference between your waist and your hips will do the trick to hide your hip dips. Any dress you wear that’s focused more on your waist and widens out down to your hips can help make your body look more traditionally hourglass. Wearing high-waisted pants or dresses is not just only flattering but also the most practical option.

Belts higher up on the waist

Again, anything that focuses on the waist section can help create the illusion of an hourglass shape. Wearing a belt as high as your waist is definitely recommended.

Longline cardigans

One of the best options to hide your hip dips is to wear a long cardigan that reaches your hips. This works best with high-waisted pants and tucked-in tops.

A-line skirts

When it comes to body-flattering shapes, an a-line skirt has all the abilities to cover your hip area. It will hug you at the waist and then come down into a wider shape. Nothing that’s going on below that will really show. For this reason, A-line skirts are almost everyone’s favorite cut. As with everything, more structured pieces made of thicker fabrics work a little better than anything too slippery. However, some thinner fabrics can also work well. For example, wrap dresses are super flattering because they provide that cinch at the waist, really accentuating the waistline. From there, they simply go straight down or a little bit out, helping to continue that shape from the widest point of your hips down.

Peplum tops

These are pretty hard to come by right now because they’re not considered especially trendy at the moment, but if you have a few from some years ago when they were still super trendy, hang on to them. Peplum tops are amazing and make your hips look a little wider. This gives the illusion of a more hourglass figure if you’re wearing something tighter and more form-hugging underneath. Peplums are also super flattering for many body shapes in general.

Panties with padding on the side

Since hip dips are now a big deal, some companies have created a solution for this. As crazy as it sounds, some panties or cycling shorts contain padding on the side specifically to hide hip dips. There are tons of online shopping websites where you can purchase these. Just remember to buy them at your own risk.

image/svg+xml

Over 250 Glowing Reviews!

Sculpt Your Body with our Waist Trainers

We help women shed that stubborn belly fat by using body contouring garments that help support and shape the waistline so you can look fabulous and feel confident!

Summary

Finally, remember that you need to stop comparing your body to someone else’s. Your body is the way it is naturally, and you can’t change genetics, although some opt for surgery in order to alter their appearance. However, it’s still important that you accept and appreciate your body, including its ‘flaws’. If you feel like hip dips are bothering you that much, try as many of the recommended tips as possible that we mentioned above before resorting to drastic measures such as surgery. They may not entirely get rid of your hip dips, but you can at least minimize their appearance to a certain extent. Remember, try not to be too hard on yourself just because of your hip dips - everyone has them, but there’s nothing wrong with them, and they certainly won’t cause any health problems or issues.

Back to blog