What It Really Means When You Have Hip Dips

Hip dips seem to be a trending topic these days. Women's Health tells us that Google searches for hip dips, also known as violin hips, doubled around spring 2020 (via Google Trends). So what are they? It's not a way to describe the decreasing popularity of something cool, and don't confuse hip dips with the hip tap exercises you can do in plank pose (via Health). Hip dips are the indentations that can found below your hips and above your thighs. Some are more pronounced than others and not all people have visible dips. If you yourself are sporting the dips currently surging in search popularity, or you have noticed them on others, here is what we can tell you about them.

While the internet is filled with threads on "how to fix hips dips," there is also a trend of people proudly showing off their both subtle or more pronounced hips dips, USA Today reported. And we're all about it! No one said that round hips were necessary for a beautiful or healthy figure.

Why do some of us have them? David Wiener, a training specialist for the Freeletics fitness app, told Women's Health that hip dips are naturally occurring. Wiener goes into detail explaining, "Hip dips are caused by the shape of your pelvis. Although, not everyone will have noticeable hip dips, if reduced to a skeleton, all of us would have an indentation where the hip bone meets the top of the thigh." In other words, they are completely normal.

Now that we know they are a part of the body's make-up, is it possible to change them? Personal trainer Kelly Petch-Saunders wrote on Instagram, via USA Today, that it is possible — to a degree. Petch-Saunders emphasized that exercises don't always work because the gluteus medius muscle in that area is hard to build, but "if the dip is from excess fat then exercise may help, but again, fat storage can be genetic. It's mostly down to high wide hips," she shares.

The bottom line is that there is nothing wrong with hip dips as they are in connection to the shape of your bones. So whether you have a hip dip, dad bod, love handles, or any of the other fun terms used to describe beautiful body types, we think it is awesome that body positivity is always on-trend.