At the age of 17, while I was restricting calories and working out a ton, I remember looking in the mirror while getting ready for a party and realizing, oh my god, those indentations between my hips and my thighs (called “hip dips”) don’t seem to be there anymore! I was elated. I felt hot.
I’ve come back to this moment countless times over the years while looking in the mirror and noticing my hip dips (not having them was a fleeting moment in my life). If I just had the discipline of my second semester senior year self, I could get back to that body—right?
The truth is, I’d had hip dips for the entirety of my adolescence before that moment, and I’ve had hip dips for the entirety of my adulthood after those couple of months—when I was a teenager with a teenager’s metabolism and close to zero responsibilities. Hip dips were and are a part of my post-pubescent body.
It turns out there are probably physiological reasons I (or anyone) have hip dips, and it has nothing to do with how “fit” you are.
“In today’s fitness culture, there’s a lot of pressure to conform to certain aesthetic ideals, but true health and fitness are about how your body feels and functions, not about eliminating natural features like hip dips,” says Ingrid Clay, CPT, NASM-certified personal trainer on Chris Hemsworth’s Centr fitness and wellness platform. “It’s essential to embrace your body’s unique shape and not focus on ‘fixing’ things that are completely normal. Hip dips are not a flaw—they’re simply part of your body’s anatomy.”
“Hip dips are not a flaw—they’re simply part of your body’s anatomy.”—Ingrid Clay, CPT
What are hip dips?
Hip dips have become the target of fitfluencer promises on social media, with workout programs and diets promising to eliminate or fill them in. What are people talking about when they refer to hip dips?
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“This refers to the area just below the hips, the upper most part of your legs, when there is a more pronounced indentation,” says exercise physiologist Angie Asche, MS, RD, CSSD, a nutrition and fitness expert with Centr.
Clay describes hip dips as “the natural inward curves found between your hip bones and upper thighs, creating a slight indentation on the sides of the hips.”
What causes a person to have hip dips?
Hip dips, or lack thereof, are a consequence of your musculoskeletal makeup. Your muscle and fat distribution and the length and width of your bones all play a role.
“Hip dips are caused by the shape and structure of the pelvis and femur,” Clay says. “Specifically, where the top of the thigh bone (greater trochanter) meets the hip bone (iliac crest), the bone structure creates a dip. Muscle and fat distribution around this area also affect how noticeable the dips are, but the main factor is the individual’s skeletal structure.”
So yeah, ever look at a picture or model of a skeleton and notice a concavity where the hip meets the pelvis? That’s where hip dips come from.
Why do some people have them, and others don’t?
Our bodies are all unique—but society tells us that some literal bone structures and genetics are more ideal than others.
“The cause and reason why some have them and others don’t is really a combination of genetics and the general structure of the individual’s anatomy and body composition,” Asche says. “There’s nothing wrong with having them, for many it’s just a natural part of our anatomy.”
To get into the nitty gritty, the bone structure of your hips, pelvis, and femur may play a role in hip dip visibility. Then, if you’re genetically predisposed to have more muscle and fat around your hips, that natural indentation may be more or less visible.
“People with wider hips or a more pronounced distance between their pelvis and femur may have more noticeable hip dips,” Clay says. “Those with more muscle or fat in the hips and thighs might have a smoother curve. It’s primarily genetic—some people are just naturally more prone to have visible hip dips, while others are not.”
What if you want to “get rid of” hip dips?
Are workout or diet programs on social media playing a role in this inkling you’re having? First off, remember that those promises are full of it, because “spot reduction has not been shown to be effective, meaning one exercise or exercise program won’t necessarily result in fat loss in that specific area,” Asche says.
It’s also worth taking some time to assess whether hip dips are just a natural feature of your body. At various weights or states of physical fitness, does your body seem to have hip dips more often than it does not?
“Much of the focus on hip dips in modern culture is due to social media and beauty standards, which often highlight an idealized and unattainable body shape.”—Clay
Next, if hip dips seem to be a part of your body, spend some time asking yourself why you want to target them.
“In no way is it harmful to have them or something you need to aim to get rid of, but rather a very natural part of many people’s anatomy,” Asche says. Where did the desire to change this benign part of your body come from? Does that motivation line up with your values?
“Much of the focus on hip dips in modern culture is due to social media and beauty standards, which often highlight an idealized and unattainable body shape,” Clay says. “Instead of aiming to get rid of them, the goal should be to improve strength and confidence in your body as it is.”
