Hip Dips: What Training Can Change and What Is Just Your Skeleton
Hip dips, the inward curve some people have on the side of the body between the hip bone and the top of the thigh, are mainly determined by bone structure: the width and shape of your pelvis, and where the top of your thigh bone sits beneath it. No exercise moves bone, so no exercise will remove them. What training can do is build the glute muscles that sit over that area, and fat loss can change the outline around it, which together may make the curve softer for some people and barely change it for others. Hip dips are not a sign of weakness or poor fitness. They are anatomy.
That is the honest answer. The more useful one is what to do with it, which is train the hips well for reasons that have nothing to do with the dip.
What actually creates the curve
Look at a skeleton from the front. The top of the pelvis (the iliac crest) flares out at the sides. Lower down, the thigh bone (femur) joins the pelvis and has a bony knob on its outer side called the greater trochanter. The distance between these two points, the angle of the femur’s neck, and how wide the pelvis is all vary from person to person.
When the gap between the hip bone and the trochanter is larger, the skin and soft tissue over it dip inwards. Add in how your body tends to store fat, which is largely genetic and influenced by hormones, and you get the curve. Two people with the same body fat and the same muscle can look very different here simply because their bones are built differently.
What training can change
The gluteus medius and maximus
The gluteus medius sits on the side of the hip, running from the outer pelvis down to the greater trochanter. The upper part of the gluteus maximus overlaps it. Building both adds some fullness to the side and back of the hip. For some people that slightly fills the area above the dip. For others the effect is mostly on the back of the hip, which changes the side profile more than the front view.
The upper thigh
Muscle on the outer thigh, built through squats and lunges, can change the line below the dip. This is one reason some people find the curve becomes more noticeable as they get fitter: the hip and thigh firm up and the dip between them stays.
Body fat, overall
Losing or gaining fat changes the outline, but you cannot choose where it comes off. We explain why in can you spot reduce fat. Some people find hip dips more visible when they get leaner, not less.
A sensible way to train the hips
Train the hips for strength, stability and how they make your back and knees feel. Whatever happens to the dip is a side effect. A balanced lower body session might look like this, all of which can be done with the kit in our basement studio: a squat rack, barbell, dumbbells and a cable station.
| Exercise | Main emphasis | Typical sets x reps |
|---|---|---|
| Barbell hip thrust | Gluteus maximus | 3 x 8-12 |
| Romanian deadlift | Glutes and hamstrings | 3 x 8-10 |
| Bulgarian split squat | Glutes, quads, hip stability | 3 x 8-10 each leg |
| Cable hip abduction | Gluteus medius | 2-3 x 12-15 each leg |
| Side plank with top leg raised | Gluteus medius, trunk | 2-3 x 20-30 seconds each side |
The hip thrust does most of the heavy lifting here, and it is worth learning properly. Our guide to hip thrust form covers the set-up. The Bulgarian split squat is the exercise most people avoid and most people need: it challenges each hip separately, which shows up imbalances quickly.
How to progress it
- Pick a weight you can lift for the bottom of the rep range with good form.
- Add a rep or two each week until you reach the top of the range on all sets.
- Then add a small amount of load and drop back to the bottom of the range.
- Train the lower body two or three times a week, with at least a day between hard sessions.
- Give it months, not weeks. Visible muscle change is slow, and the first few weeks of strength gains are mostly your nervous system learning the movement.
Mistakes worth avoiding
- Hundreds of light side-lying leg raises. They are fine as a warm-up. As a main strategy they provide too little load to build much muscle.
- Chasing one area. Over-focusing on abduction work while skipping squats and hinges leaves you with a weaker, less balanced lower body.
- Judging by daily mirror checks. Lighting, posture and bloating all change how the area looks. Monthly photos in the same spot and the same light are more honest.
- Buying the “hip dip workout”. A programme sold on removing hip dips is selling something it cannot deliver.
Why it is still worth training the hips
Strong glutes support the lower back and knees, help balance and make stairs, running and carrying shopping easier. The NHS physical activity guidelines recommend strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups on at least two days a week, and the hips are some of the biggest muscles you have. Those benefits are real and measurable. The dip is a cosmetic detail that most people notice far more on themselves than on anyone else.
If you would like someone to check your technique and build a lower body plan around your goals, the private personal training page explains how sessions work. We also use the InBody scanner during 1-1 coaching in Highgate to track muscle and fat separately, which is more reliable than judging a single curve in the mirror.
Check with your GP first if you have hip, knee or back pain, are pregnant or postnatal, or are returning to exercise after a long break.
Questions we get asked
Can you get rid of hip dips?
Not completely, because they are mainly caused by bone structure. Building the glutes and changing body fat can soften how they look for some people.
Are hip dips a sign of being unhealthy?
No. They appear on people of every size and fitness level, including elite athletes.
How long until I see changes from glute training?
Strength usually improves within weeks. Visible muscle change tends to take a few months of consistent, progressive training.
Do squats make hip dips worse?
Squats build the thighs and glutes together. For some people that makes the curve a little more defined, but the strength and joint benefits make them worth keeping.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
Visit The Highgate House · Private personal training
The Highgate House, Archway Road, Highgate, London N6.
