As we get into our barre work next week, I’d love to clear the air about hip dips, as I’ve been getting so many hip dip workout requests and questions about reducing them (I’m against it!).
What are hip dips? The human pelvis is shaped like a violin and hip dips are the trochanteric depressions or inward curve just below the hip and above the thigh that is entirely caused by the shape of your pelvis and genetics.
And they are totally normal. When someone has hip dips (you can see that I do, above), this means that their hip bone is located higher than their femur, which causes their muscles and fat to curve inwards. No matter how lean or muscular my body gets, I will always have the indentation due to my bone structure and dominant quads. Many women who have hip dips also tend to have "saddlebags," which are fat pockets just below the hip dip, toward the backside of our legs. I personally love them, and feel that the extra curves are beautiful, strong and powerful.
If you work with me you can rest assured that you’re going to see results. We work the full and lower body as a whole unit by integrating compound sequencing that works multiple lower body muscle groups (like squats, curtseys and lunges) and add in isolation work (like fold-over) where necessary. Certain exercises, like bridges and lunges, can reduce the appearance of hip dips, so you can technically minimize the appearance of a "hip dip" by avoiding exercises that work the quads and hip flexors but only working the glutes and ignoring the quads and can shorten the lumbar spine musculature and lead to muscle imbalances. I don’t recommend it.
If you are insecure about the layer of fat that is covering the indentation (I understand and totally get it), you can decrease that layer by dialing in your nutrition by consuming fewer calories than you expend each day which will reduce the fat that’s on top of the muscle. Keep in mind though: No matter how lean that layer gets, the indentation will still be there, because it’s your bone structure and it’s beautiful. It’s YOU.