You’ve probably seen them in the mirror. Those subtle inward curves between your hip bone and your thigh. Maybe you noticed them while trying on leggings, or perhaps you fell down a rabbit hole on social media where "influencers" are selling workouts to "fix" them.
Let's get one thing straight immediately: Are hip dips normal? Yes. Completely. Totally. 100%.
They aren't a medical condition. They aren't a sign that you’re out of shape. In fact, they have almost nothing to do with your muscle tone or your body fat percentage. It’s mostly just your bones. Honestly, the obsession with getting rid of them is one of the strangest "beauty" trends to emerge in the last decade, primarily because you can't really train away your skeletal structure.
The Anatomy of a Hip Dip
To understand why these indentations exist, we have to look at the pelvis. Specifically, the relationship between your ilium (the crest of your hip bone) and the greater trochanter of your femur (the top of your thigh bone).
🔗 Read more: Understanding the Blood Alcohol Level Effects Chart and Why Your Body Probably Ignores It
Everyone has a gap there.
How noticeable that gap is depends on your "intertrochanteric distance." If your hip bones are set high and wide, and your femur sits a bit lower, that space—the hip dip—is going to be more pronounced. It’s essentially a valley where there isn't much muscle or fat to fill the void.
Think of it like this: your skin is stretched over a frame. If the frame has a bit of an inward curve, the skin follows.
It’s literally just your skeleton
Dr. Sarah Reilly, a physical therapist specializing in female anatomy, often points out that hip dips are more common in people with wider pelvises. When the pelvis is wider, the distance between the hip bone and the leg bone increases. This creates a larger "dip."
People with narrower hips often find that their bones sit closer together, which fills in that space naturally. It’s luck of the draw. Genetics. You can’t squat your way into a different pelvic width. You just can’t.
The Social Media Myth of "Fixing" Them
Go on TikTok or Instagram. Search for "hip dip workout." You will find thousands of videos promising to "fill in" the dips using side-lying leg raises or fire hydrants.
🔗 Read more: Why The Eddy Troy NY Is Actually The Standard For Local Senior Care
Here is the truth: those exercises target the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. These muscles sit under the area of the hip dip. While you can certainly strengthen them, muscles don't grow in a way that "fills" a skeletal gap like spackle on a wall.
- You can't spot-reduce fat in that area.
- You can't "grow" bone.
- Hypertrophy (muscle growth) happens in the muscle belly, not in the connective tissue or the space between joints.
If you lose body fat, your hip dips might actually become more visible because there is less padding over the bone. If you gain weight, they might fill out, but only if your body is genetically predisposed to storing fat in that specific trochanteric region. Most people aren't.
Why Do We Care Now?
Twenty years ago, nobody talked about this. It wasn't a "thing."
The rise of "Instagram Face" and the "BBL era" created a specific silhouette—a smooth, continuous curve from the waist to the knee. This look is often achieved through high-waisted compression gear, specific posing (popping the hip to close the gap), or surgical intervention like fat grafting.
When people see these curated images, they look at their own bodies and see a "flaw" that isn't actually a flaw. It’s a feature.
Actually, some of the world's most elite athletes have very prominent hip dips. Look at professional sprinters or Olympic weightlifters. Their bodies are built for power and function, and their skeletal structure reflects that. They aren't worried about the dip; they're worried about the force production of their glute max.
The Role of Body Fat and Muscle
While anatomy is the primary driver, body composition does play a minor supporting role.
The gluteus medius is a thick, fan-shaped muscle. When it's well-developed, it can create a more "shelf-like" look at the top of the hip. This might make the dip look deeper by comparison.
Then there’s the "saddlebag" factor. If you store more fat on the outer thigh (the femoral area), the contrast between the dip and the thigh makes the indentation look more dramatic. This is why some people think they've "developed" hip dips after a weight loss journey. They didn't develop them; they just revealed the shape of the bone underneath the tissue.
A Quick Reality Check
- Hip dips are not a deformity.
- They are not a sign of weakness.
- They are present in people of all genders, though they are more discussed in women's fitness.
- Surgical fillers or fat transfers are the only way to "permanently" fill them, and even those come with significant risks and high maintenance.
What You Can Actually Do
If you really hate the look of your hip dips, your best bet isn't a "hip dip workout." It's focusing on overall lower body development and changing your perspective on what a "normal" body looks like.
Focus on the Gluteus Maximus. This is the largest muscle in your body. When you build the glute max through heavy compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and lunges, you create a fuller, rounder posterior. While this won't "fill" the side dip, it changes the overall silhouette of your lower body, making it look more balanced and powerful.
👉 See also: Kroger Hickory Flat Pharmacy: What You Actually Need to Know About Your Local Scripts
Better Movements for Function
Instead of chasing a "smooth hip," chase a strong one. These movements actually matter:
- Clamshells: Great for hip stability, not just aesthetics.
- Curtsy Lunges: These hit the glutes from a different angle.
- Lateral Lunges: These improve your side-to-side mobility, which is crucial for preventing knee injuries.
Actionable Next Steps
Stop looking at "fitspo" photos that have been edited or posed to hide hip dips. Start looking at anatomy charts.
First, stand in front of a mirror and find your hip bone. Now, find the top of your thigh bone (the part that sticks out when you lift your leg). That space in between? That’s where the magic (or the dip) happens. It’s just anatomy.
Second, stop doing 100 fire hydrants a day thinking it will change your skeleton. Use that time for heavy lifting or mobility work that actually improves how your body moves.
Third, if you're buying clothes specifically to hide them, try different fabrics. Thicker, structured fabrics like denim or heavy-weight leggings tend to smooth over the area, whereas thin, shiny materials highlight every contour.
Ultimately, realizing that hip dips are normal is the first step in opting out of a beauty standard that literally asks you to change your bones. You have much more interesting things to do with your time than fighting your own pelvic structure. Focus on being strong, being mobile, and being functional. The rest is just noise.