TL;DR: Hip dips are caused by the shape of your pelvis and thigh bones, so no workout removes them completely. What exercise can do is strengthen the gluteus medius, the muscle around your hip, which may improve tone and the overall look of your hip line. Below is a simple, science-backed hip dip workout built around the exercises research shows actually activate that muscle.
If you've searched "hip dip workout," you've probably run into two totally different answers online. Some accounts promise a routine that erases hip dips for good. Others say nothing works because hip dips are genetic. The second answer is closer to the truth, but it's not the whole story.
Hip dips (also called violin hips or hip valleys) are the inward curve some people have between the hip bone and the top of the thigh. They're normal anatomy, not a flaw. But building strength around your hips can genuinely help with how they look and function, even if it can't change your bone structure. Let's break down what's actually happening and what a hip dip workout can realistically do for you.
What Are Hip Dips, and What Causes Them?
Answer Capsule: Hip dips are the space between your iliac crest (the top curve of your hip bone) and the greater trochanter (a bony bump on your upper thigh bone). How deep that space looks depends mostly on your skeleton, not your fitness level.
Your pelvis and femur (thigh bone) don't sit in a straight line. The top of your femur juts outward from your hip socket, and just above it sits the iliac crest, the wide part of your pelvis you can feel when you put your hands on your waist. Between those two points is a natural gap. If that gap is more pronounced, or if your femoral neck (the connector between your hip joint and thigh bone) sits at a different angle, the dip looks more visible from the outside.
An exercise physiologist at Cleveland Clinic put it simply: it's literally how you're born; it's anatomical. Muscle and body fat sit on top of that bone structure, which is why how pronounced hip dips look depends on your bone structure, muscle size, and how much fat sits in the area, but the bones underneath are the real starting point.
Can a Hip Dip Workout Actually Get Rid of Them?
Answer Capsule: No. Since hip dips come from bone shape, no exercise, diet, or workout program can remove them completely. What exercise can do is build muscle around your hips, which may soften how the dip looks, but it won't erase the underlying anatomy.
This is the part that's easy to feel disappointed about, so let's be straight about it. You cannot decide where your body builds muscle or stores fat, and you definitely cannot reshape a bone through exercise. According to fitness research, bone structure is the main reason hip dips exist, and the shape of your hips and thigh bones matters more than any exercise or diet trick.
The "spot reduction" idea (that working one area burns fat specifically from that spot) doesn't hold up either. A review of research on the topic found no meaningful difference in fat loss between trained and untrained limbs across more than a thousand participants, meaning targeted exercise doesn't pull fat from one specific area. Separate research on fat distribution notes that genetics can account for 60% of where your body stores and loses fat, which is largely out of your control.
So what's the point of a hip dip workout, then? It's simple: building glute strength supports better hip stability, can improve muscle tone around the area, and helps some people feel stronger in day-to-day movement, even though the bone shape stays the same. If your goal includes general fat loss too, our guide on foods that support a flatter stomach covers the nutrition side of that equation.
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The Best Hip Dip Workout: 6 Moves to Strengthen Your Glute Medius
The muscle most relevant to the look of your hips is the gluteus medius, the muscle on the side of your hip. It's responsible for moving your leg away from your body and keeping your pelvis stable when you walk or stand on one leg. Building this muscle is the closest thing to a real "hip dip workout," even though it changes tone and stability, not bone shape.
Here are six moves worth including, chosen based on how much they actually activate the glute medius:
- Side-lying hip abduction
- Clamshells
- Side plank with leg lift
- Fire hydrants
- Sumo squats
- Single-leg glute bridges
Not all of these work equally well, and the research on this is more specific than most people expect. A study published in the Journal of Athletic Training found that a simple straight-leg hip abduction raise activated the gluteus medius more effectively than the clamshell exercise. A separate breakdown of muscle activation levels found that sidelying hip abduction produced the strongest glute medius activation of common exercises tested, followed by the single-limb squat, while the traditional clamshell activated less than half as much.
That doesn't mean skip the clamshell. It means treat sidelying hip abduction as your priority move, and use the rest to round out the routine. Sumo squats deserve a spot here too, since a wider stance creates increased activation in the glute medius muscles compared to a regular squat. If you want more squat variety, our glute and leg strength workout covers other squat and hinge options that pair well with this routine.
How to Do Each Move With Good Form
Sidelying hip abduction: Lie on your side with your legs stacked and straight. Keep your bottom leg slightly bent for balance if needed. Lift your top leg straight up toward the ceiling, keeping your hips stacked and your toes pointing forward, not up. Lower with control. This move is quiet and unglamorous, but it's the one doing the most work.
Clamshells: Lie on your side with knees bent to about 45 degrees and heels together. Keeping your feet touching, lift your top knee open like a clamshell, then lower it back down. Watch for your pelvis rolling backward, since that's the most common mistake and it shifts the work away from your glutes. Physical therapy research notes that clamshells can create problems in the hip and pelvis when performed with poor technique, so keep the movement slow and controlled rather than swinging your leg open.
Side plank with leg lift: Prop yourself up on your forearm with legs stacked, hips lifted off the ground in a straight line from shoulders to ankles. Once you're stable, lift your top leg a few inches without letting your hips drop. If a full side plank is too much, drop to your knees to shorten the lever and build up from there.
Fire hydrants: Start on all fours with hands under shoulders and knees under hips. Keeping your knee bent at 90 degrees, lift one leg out to the side like a dog at a fire hydrant. Keep your hips level and avoid rotating your torso to get the leg higher.
Sumo squats: Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width, toes turned out about 45 degrees. Lower straight down like you're sitting into a wide chair, keeping your knees tracking over your toes. Push through your heels to stand.
Single-leg glute bridges: Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat. Extend one leg straight out, then press through your planted heel to lift your hips, squeezing your glute at the top. Lower with control and switch legs.
How Often Should You Do This Workout?
Answer Capsule: Two to three times per week is enough to build strength in the glute medius without overtraining a relatively small muscle group. Give yourself at least one rest day between sessions for this specific routine.
Since these moves are lower intensity than heavy squats or deadlifts, you can pair this hip dip workout with a regular lower body strength day rather than treating it as a separate session. Start with 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per side for each move, and focus on slow, controlled reps over speed.
Progress by adding a resistance band around your thighs once bodyweight starts to feel easy, or by slowing down each rep to increase time under tension. Give it at least 4 to 6 weeks of consistent training before judging whether you feel a difference in hip stability and tone. If you're new to structured training in general, our beginner workout guide is a good place to build a full routine around this.
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Should You Try to "Fix" Your Hip Dips?
Answer Capsule: That's a personal call, but from a medical standpoint, hip dips aren't something that needs fixing. They're a normal variation in human anatomy that shows up in people of every body size and fitness level.
It's worth separating two different goals here: wanting stronger, more stable hips, and wanting to change how your hips look because of pressure from social media trends. The first goal is genuinely worth pursuing with the workout above. The second is worth sitting with for a moment, since hip dips are a normal anatomical feature caused primarily by the shape of your pelvis and femur, meaning they're genetic and cannot be erased through exercise.
Strengthening your hips is a good idea regardless of how you feel about their shape. It supports better balance, can ease certain types of hip and knee strain, and builds functional strength you'll use in everyday movement. That's a better goal to train toward than chasing a smoother silhouette that your skeleton was never going to give you in the first place.
Conclusion
Hip dips are bone structure, not something broken that needs fixing. No workout removes them, and any program that promises otherwise isn't being straight with you. What you can do is strengthen your gluteus medius with moves like sidelying hip abduction, clamshells, and single-leg glute bridges, which build real strength and may improve tone around your hips over time.
Give this routine 4 to 6 weeks of consistent effort, two to three times a week, and judge your results by how strong and stable you feel, not just how you look in a mirror. For a complete lower body plan, pair this with our structured diet plans and a regular strength routine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do hip dips mean I'm overweight? No. Hip dips show up in people at every body size and fitness level, since they're caused by the shape of your pelvis and thigh bones, not your weight.
Will losing weight get rid of my hip dips? Not entirely. Weight loss can change how much fat sits around your hips, which may slightly change the appearance, but it won't remove the bone structure underneath causing the dip.
What's the single best exercise for hip dips? Sidelying hip abduction has the strongest research support for activating the gluteus medius, the muscle most relevant to hip shape and stability.
How long until I see a difference? Most people notice improved hip strength and stability within 4 to 6 weeks of consistent training. Changes in appearance, if any, tend to take longer and vary a lot from person to person.
Are hip dips normal? Yes. They're a common and completely normal part of human anatomy, found in people of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels. They aren't a medical concern unless they come with pain.