You've seen the "30-day hip dip challenge" on TikTok or Instagram. It’s usually some fitness influencer in color-coordinated spandex doing high-rep fire hydrants. They promise these movements will "fill in" those pesky indentations between your hip bone and your thigh. But if we're being honest, most of what you've heard about a hip dip exercise is probably a lie. Or, at the very least, a misunderstanding of how human anatomy actually works.
Hip dips are just your skeleton. Seriously.
They are the naturally occurring depression where the top of your femur (the trochanter) meets your pelvis. Some people have a wider gap between the ilium and the hip socket. Others have a narrower one. If your skeleton is built with a high ilium, you're going to have dips. No amount of lifting is going to change the distance between your bones. However, that doesn't mean a hip dip exercise is useless. It just means we need to redefine what we're actually trying to accomplish when we hit the gym.
Why a Hip Dip Exercise Won't "Fix" Your Bones
Let's get one thing straight: you cannot spot-reduce fat, and you cannot spot-grow muscle to fill a bone gap. The "dip" is the space between the gluteus maximus and the tensor fasciae latae (TFL). People think they can just pump up the muscle underneath the dip to push the skin out. But the muscle directly under that indentation is the gluteus medius and minimus. These are smaller muscles. They’re functional powerhouses, but they aren't massive "filler" muscles like the gluteus maximus.
If you go into this thinking you’ll emerge with perfectly round, convex hips like a Barbie doll, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Anatomy is stubborn. It’s also perfectly normal. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery notes that the prominence of the greater trochanter and the distribution of subcutaneous fat are the primary drivers of this silhouette. It's mostly genetics and hormones.
So, why bother with a hip dip exercise at all? Because strengthening the lateral glutes—the muscles that live in that region—is the secret to knee stability, back health, and actual athletic power. It might not change the "dent," but it will change how you move and how "tight" the area looks.
The Exercises That Actually Target the Right Muscles
If you want to strengthen the area, you have to move away from the basic squats. Squats are great for the "peach," but they’re sagittal plane movements. They go up and down. To hit the "hip dip" area, you need frontal plane movements—side to side.
The Curtsy Lunge
This is arguably the king of lateral glute work. You step one foot back and across your body, like you’re meeting the Queen. It forces the gluteus medius of the standing leg to stabilize your entire pelvis. It’s hard. Your balance will probably suck at first. But the tension it puts on the outer hip is unmatched.
Side-Lying Leg Raises (The Old School Way)
Don't laugh. Jane Fonda was onto something. When you lie on your side and lift your top leg, you are isolating the abductors. To make this an effective hip dip exercise, you have to keep your toe pointed slightly down toward the floor. This prevents your hip flexors from taking over. If you feel it in the front of your hip, you're doing it wrong. It should burn right on the side of your butt.
Glute Medius Kickbacks
Most people do kickbacks straight behind them. To target the outer hip, kick back at a 45-degree angle. It’s a subtle shift. That diagonal path engages the fibers of the glute medius and minimus much more effectively than a standard straight-back kick.
The "Clamshell" With a Twist
Standard clamshells are okay for beginners. But if you're serious, wrap a heavy resistance band just above your knees. As you open your legs, hold the contraction at the top for three seconds. Feel that? That's the muscle working.
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The Role of Body Fat and "Filling In"
We have to talk about fat. Many people think hip dips are fat. They aren't. In fact, having lower body fat often makes hip dips more visible because there’s less padding to bridge the gap between the bones. Conversely, some people carry fat right above the dip (the "love handle" area) or right below it (the "saddlebag" area), which makes the dip look deeper by comparison.
No hip dip exercise is going to magically move fat from your belly into that dip. That’s just not how biology works. If your goal is a smoother silhouette, your focus should be on overall body composition rather than obsessing over one specific indentation. High-protein diets and heavy lifting—specifically compound movements like deadlifts—create a more athletic frame that carries the dips differently.
Professional Insights: What the Trainers Say
Bret Contreras, often called "The Glute Guy," has spent years debunking the idea that you can "cure" hip dips. He emphasizes that while you can't fill the gap, you can build the surrounding architecture. A thick gluteus maximus (the big muscle in the back) can sometimes create a more "rounded" look from the side and 3/4 view, which minimizes the visual impact of the dip from the front.
It's also worth noting that many fitness "before and after" photos are total scams. Lighting, posing, and high-waisted leggings do 90% of the work. If someone stands with their toes pointed in and their hips pushed back, the dips disappear. If they stand straight, the dips are back. Don't compare your 24/7 reality to someone's curated 1/60th of a second.
Is it Dangerous to Train for Hip Dips?
Not exactly dangerous, but you can definitely overtrain. If you do nothing but lateral leg raises and "abductor" machines at the gym, you risk creating an imbalance. Your IT band can get incredibly tight. This leads to "runner's knee" or hip snapping syndrome.
A well-rounded routine needs to balance these isolation moves with heavy compounds.
- Sunday: Heavy Leg Day (Squats, Deadlifts).
- Tuesday: Upper Body.
- Thursday: Glute Isolation (The "Hip Dip" focus).
- Saturday: Active Recovery (Walking, Swimming).
Stay away from the "daily" challenges. Muscles need 48 hours to repair. If you tear those tiny fibers in your glute medius every single day, they never grow. They just stay inflamed.
Real-World Actionable Steps
Stop looking in the mirror at that one specific spot. It’s a recipe for body dysmorphia. Instead, focus on these three things if you want to improve the health and appearance of your hips:
- Load the Glute Medius: Use cables or heavy bands. Bodyweight reps are fine for a warm-up, but to actually change the shape of a muscle, you need resistance. Aim for the 8-12 rep range where the last two reps feel almost impossible.
- Fix Your Posture: Anterior pelvic tilt (where your butt sticks out and your lower back arches excessively) can make hip dips look more pronounced. Strengthening your core and hamstrings can pull your pelvis into a neutral position, which often smooths out the hip line naturally.
- Prioritize Compound Growth: A bigger glute maximus provides the "shelf" that changes how clothing hangs on your hips. If you have "flat" glutes and hip dips, the dips will look like holes. If you have powerful, muscular glutes, the dips just look like a normal part of a strong, athletic leg.
The most effective hip dip exercise is actually a mental one: accepting that your skeleton isn't a flaw. Focus on being able to lateral lunge with 40-pound dumbbells. Focus on a stable pelvis that doesn't hurt when you run. The aesthetic "smoothness" is mostly a trick of the light, but the strength you build is permanent.
Start by adding Curtsy Lunges to your next leg workout. Do 3 sets of 12 on each leg. Keep your chest up. Don't let your front knee cave in. Feel the burn on the outside of your hip and embrace the fact that you're building a functional, powerful body. Forget the "fill." Aim for the "firm." That’s where the real results live.