You’ve probably seen the photos. Influencers posing at just the right angle to create a perfectly rounded, "shelf-like" hip line, only for a candid shot to reveal a slight inward curve between the pelvis and the thigh. That little indentation? That's it. If you've ever looked in the mirror and wondered why your hips don't make a perfect "C" shape, you're basically looking at your own skeletal structure. It’s called a trochanteric depression. But most of us just know it as a hip dip.
It’s funny how a standard anatomical feature suddenly becomes a "flaw" because of a viral TikTok trend or a specific fitness aesthetic. For years, people didn't even have a name for this. Then, around 2017, the term exploded online, and suddenly, thousands of people were searching for "how to get rid of hip dips" as if they were a disease or a result of laziness. They aren't. Honestly, most of the "fixes" you see online—the targeted donkey kicks or the "miracle" creams—are total nonsense.
Biology doesn't care about your Instagram feed.
The Science of the Dip
To understand what is hip dip, you have to look past the skin and the fat. You have to look at the bones. Your hip bone (the pelvis) and your femur (the thigh bone) are the primary architects here. Specifically, the gap between the top of your pelvis—the ilium—and the "knob" at the top of your femur, known as the greater trochanter, determines whether you have a visible dip.
If those two bones are spaced further apart, the skin and muscle in between will naturally cave inward. It’s a literal depression in the side of your body.
Wait. Let’s get more specific.
The height of your hip bone matters a lot. People with higher, wider pelvises are significantly more likely to have prominent hip dips because the distance the soft tissue has to bridge is greater. It's like a suspension bridge; the further apart the pillars are, the more the middle tends to sag unless there's an incredible amount of tension. But in the human body, that "sag" is just your anatomy following the contours of your skeleton.
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Muscle mass plays a role, too, but not in the way you might think. The gluteus medius and gluteus minimus sit in that area. While building these muscles can fill out the hip slightly, it rarely "erases" the dip because you can't change where the muscle attaches to the bone. You can't workout your way out of a skeletal gap. Dr. Joshua Zeichner, a dermatologist in New York, has often pointed out that while fat distribution affects the appearance, the underlying "dip" is structural.
Why Some People Have Them and Others Don't
It's a lottery. Pure and simple.
Some people have a pelvis that sits lower and narrower. This means the ilium and the greater trochanter are closer together, allowing the fat and muscle to create a smoother, more continuous line. Others have a wider "flare" to their hip bones.
Then there's the fat factor. We all store fat differently. Subcutaneous fat—the stuff right under your skin—can sometimes fill in that trochanteric depression, making the hip look rounder. However, if you naturally store more fat on your "love handles" (the area above the dip) and on your outer thighs (the area below the dip), the indentation in the middle will actually look deeper.
This is why losing weight often makes hip dips more noticeable, not less. When you lose the padding around the bones, the skeleton's true shape starts to peek through. It’s one of the biggest myths in fitness: that "burning hip fat" will give you a rounder silhouette. Usually, the opposite happens.
The Fitness Industry's Great Lie
If you search for what is hip dip on YouTube, you’ll be bombarded with titles like "7 Days to Rounder Hips" or "Kill Your Hip Dips Forever."
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Let's be real: these creators are selling you a dream that contradicts basic kinesiology. You cannot "spot reduce" fat, and you cannot "spot grow" a skeleton. The gluteus maximus is the big, meaty muscle that gives the butt its "pop" from the side. But the muscles on the side—the glute medius—are relatively thin. You can strengthen them, which is great for hip stability and preventing knee pain, but they aren't going to swell up like a bicep to the point of altering your entire body shape.
Actually, many high-level athletes, especially runners and cross-fitters, have very pronounced hip dips. Why? Because they have low body fat and high muscle definition. Their bodies are efficient machines, not molded pieces of clay.
The Mental Toll of the "Ideal" Silhouette
It’s exhausting. Truly.
The "BBL" (Brazilian Butt Lift) era of the 2020s pushed a specific look: a tiny waist that flows into a perfectly spherical hip. Because this look is often achieved through surgery—where fat is literally sucked out of one area and injected directly into the trochanteric depression—it has set an impossible standard for natural bodies.
When you see a celebrity with zero hip dips, you aren't always looking at "good genetics" or "hard work." You're often looking at fat grafting or very clever shapewear. In fact, many padded underwear brands specifically market "hip pads" to create the illusion of a smooth line. If the people we're comparing ourselves to are using foam inserts to hide their dips, what does that say about the "standard" we're trying to meet?
How to Actually Support Your Hips
Since we’ve established that the dip itself isn't a problem to be solved, we should focus on what actually matters: hip health. Your hips are the powerhouse of your movement. Instead of worrying about the "dent," worry about the "drive."
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Focusing on hip abductor strength is vital for longevity. If your glute medius is weak, your knees might cave in when you squat, or you might develop lower back pain. Exercises like clamshells, side-lying leg raises, and lateral lunges are fantastic—not because they'll "fill in" the dip, but because they keep your joints functional.
Actionable Insights for Moving Forward
Stop checking the mirror from the side. Seriously. Most of the time, hip dips are only visible from a very specific straight-on angle in certain lighting. Nobody walking past you in the grocery store is noticing the centimeter of inward curve on your lateral thigh.
If you want to feel better about your hip area, shift your focus from aesthetics to these tangible steps:
- Prioritize Lateral Stability: Incorporate "Monster Walks" with a resistance band around your ankles. This builds functional strength in the outer hip which helps with balance and posture.
- Check Your Shapewear: If the "smooth" look is something you genuinely want for a specific outfit, look for high-waisted compression shorts that emphasize the natural curve rather than trying to flatten everything.
- Diversify Your Feed: Follow athletes and body-neutral creators who don't edit their photos. Seeing what is hip dip on a variety of body types—from lean runners to plus-size models—removes the "flaw" stigma.
- Focus on the Glute Maximus: If you want a "fuller" look, focus on the back of the hip (the butt) through heavy squats and deadlifts. Building the back of the hip provides a more three-dimensional shape that often makes the side view feel more balanced.
- Acknowledge Your Anatomy: Touch your hip bone. Feel the top of your femur. Realize that your skin is just a "cover" for a complex, strong mechanical system. You wouldn't get mad at a house for having a corner; don't get mad at your skeleton for having joints.
The reality is that hip dips are a sign that you have a pelvis and legs that work. They are a marker of human variation, much like having a high arch in your foot or a specific shape of earlobe. Once you stop viewing them as a "problem," they just become another part of the landscape of your body.
Invest in your strength. Ignore the "miracle" workouts. Your bones aren't going anywhere, so you might as well get comfortable with the shape they make.