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Gone are the days when thigh gaps and the wild 'bikini bridge' trend ruled the internet. Now, the spotlight is on banishing hip dips, another body image craze taking the web by storm. Thanks to the flawlessly smooth, and let's be honest, photoshopped 'centaur hips' flaunted by the Kardashians and countless 'insta-baddies', everyone's talking about hip dips. But what are they exactly, and more importantly, can we (and should we) get rid of them? Keep reading to find out…
What Is A Hip Dip?
Violin hips, shelf hips, high hips, hip dents or in its anatomical terminology, ‘tronchanteric depression’, is the indentation on either side of your body between your hip and your thigh - and it’s completely normal! Most women have them and they are nothing to be ashamed of. Having hip dips does not mean you are fat, ugly or deformed. Whether you have them or not comes down to your bone structure.
Why Do You Have Hip Dips?
1. The Anatomy Of Hip Dips
Alright, let's dive into a quick anatomy lesson:
Think of your skeleton as this amazing framework. It's what lets you stand, run, jump, squat, and do all the cool things we humans love to do. Now, the shape of your bones, especially around your hips, plays a big role in whether you have hip dips or not.
Here's the scoop: It's all about how your hip bone, or pelvis, compares in size to your thigh bone, the femur.
Got a wider and higher pelvis? Chances are, your femur angles more, creating a noticeable gap between the top of your pelvis (the ilium) and the top of your femur (the greater trochanter). This gap is what gives you a pronounced hip dip. This is why curvier figures more often tend to have hip dips.
On the flip side, if your pelvis is narrower and shorter, your femur won't angle as much. Less angle means less gap and, you guessed it, less of a hip dip. That's why gals with an athletic build or a straighter figure often have little to no hip dip indentation.
So, you see, hip dips are a totally normal feature of your bone structure and if you have them, you shouldn't be ashamed of them!
2. High Vs Low Body Fat Levels
Let's talk about body fat and its role in hip dips. Just like your bone structure, where your body naturally stores fat is all down to genetics - and it's something you can't really change.
Imagine this: a woman with the bone structure for wider and higher hips, but she also has more body fat around her glutes and thighs, spread out evenly. In her case, the body fat might actually cover up the hip dips, making it seem like they aren't there at all. It's like the fat 'fills in' the dips.
On the other hand, some women have less body fat, or it's not spread out as evenly. It might gather in specific spots like the 'muffin top' area - that's the fat right above the hips and below the belly, or the 'saddle bags' - the fat that sits at the top of the thighs and just under the glutes.
It's super normal and healthy to have body fat in these areas. But, if you've got wider and higher hips, these fat distributions can make your hip dips more noticeable. And hey, a quick reminder: we're constantly seeing photoshopped images of women who've had surgery to enhance their hips. It's crucial not to compare yourself to these unrealistic standards!
How To Get Rid Of Hip Dips
First things first, let's set the record straight: you can't completely get rid of hip dips - and that's absolutely fine! No matter how much you exercise, you can't change your bone structure. Beware of the confusing misinformation out there. Some self-proclaimed 'fitness gurus' might suggest exercises that, honestly, won't help with hip dips. In fact, they might even make them stand out more!
One camp swears by exercises that focus on the gluteus medius (that's upper outer part of your booty muscles) and the quadriceps (thigh muscles). Then, there's the other side that believes you should zero in on one of the key hip muscles, the tensor fasciae latae, or 'TFL' for short. But here's my take: they've all got it wrong. The pelvis and all the complex muscles around the hip area aren't that simple. So, before you jump on the hip dip fixing bandwagon, let's get the facts straight!
Here's some good news: there are ways to minimize the look of those indentations and give your hips a rounder, fuller appearance. Let's dive in...
1. Don’t Target The Gluteus Medius
I’m a huge advocate of glute training to build a fuller, rounder and stronger butt, so it may come as a shock when I say this, but… targeting the gluteus medius will only make your hip dips look more pronounced! That’s because it is the most upper and outer muscle of your butt and it sits just above your hip dip. If you do exercises that target this muscle to make it develop and grow, it’ll only make the indentation below it look even bigger. Same goes for your thigh muscles. If you concentrate on doing exercises that are only going to isolate and grow your quadriceps, then your hip dip will look deeper because of it. Think of it like an optical illusion.
2. Don’t Target The TFL
This teeny weeny muscle of the hip sits right in the space of the hip dip and that’s why people say that if you target this muscle with exercises that will make it grow, you’ll be able ‘fill out’ the hip dip and make your hips look smoother and rounder. Sounds logical, right?
But there’s one little problem with this. The TFL is not a muscle that you can target and ‘grow’, because it’s primary function is just to stabilise the hips so that you can do things like walk, squat and jump. I mean, you never hear bodybuilders talk about a well-developed TFL, do you? Nope.
However, you do hear physiotherapists talk about it to clients in rehab due to injuries or dysfunction. Trust me, if you just smash your TFL with all sorts of crazy isolation exercises during every gym session you will 1) be severely disappointed when you get ZERO results and 2) probably just irritate the muscle so much that you end up with hip pain or some sort of dysfunction from overuse.
3. Go For Overall Glute Development
Targeting the glutes from all angles and developing the whole hip area is going to give you a much better chance of growing rounder and fuller hips to minimise the appearance of hip dips. The king of all glute exercises that you absolutely must make a staple in your routine is the hip thrust. It has been proven time and time again to be the most superior exercise for glute strength and growth.
The hip thrust primarily hits the gluteus maximus which is the largest of the three butt muscles. But in order to really minimise those hip dips, you need to target the outer part of the gluteus maximus. This is how you truly create the look of rounder and fuller hips. Lucky for you, this hip dip workout is crammed full of exercises that do just that! Click here to watch it now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivRudN0rWIU
4. Eat A Healthy Diet
Lifting weights will tone you up, make you strong and give you an awesome hourglass shape, but the truth is that it can only do so much, because there’s another, even more important part to the equation. Doing all the right exercises will only get you so far, if your diet is appalling! If you want to give yourself the best chance at minimising the appearance of your hip dips, you’ve got to lose any excess body fat in those trouble areas (i.e ‘muffin top’ and ‘saddlebags’) and the only way to truly do that is by optimising your hormones, cleaning up your diet and lowering your stress levels.
Check out the Strong Curves Cookbook and Strong Curves App for healthy recipes to reaching your fat loss goals. But remember: you cannot spot reduce body fat. So wherever you’re genetically predisposed to hold most of it, will also, always, be the last place you see it go!
Embracing Hip Dips: Love Your Unique Shape
Hey there, just a friendly reminder: wanting to look your best is totally okay, and it's fine to want to change things about yourself. But, remember this - having hip dips is completely normal. I have them, and so do millions of other women. It doesn't mean you're fat, ugly, or deformed. It's just the shape of your bones, basically your genetic lottery. Constantly criticizing your body won't bring happiness. Did you know a lot of people find wider hips super attractive? And many athletic ladies with narrower hips might actually envy your curvier shape. It's all about perspective - the grass always seems greener on the other side.
Learn to love your hip dips as a unique aspect of yourself. Focusing on what you love about yourself, rather than what you don't, will make your journey to self-acceptance much happier and help you reach your goals quicker.
How To Get Rid Of Hip Dips In a Nutshell
Hip dips, or 'trochanteric depression', are a normal part of your bone structure.
Wider and higher pelvises tend to create more noticeable hip dips due to the angle of the femur.
Body fat distribution, determined by genetics, also affects the visibility of hip dips.
Overall development of the glutes, especially the gluteus maximus, can minimize the appearance of hip dips.
A healthy diet is essential for reducing body fat in problem areas like the 'muffin top' and 'saddlebags'.
Embracing and loving your hip dips as a unique part of your body is crucial for self-acceptance and happiness.
