Logan Steele
While it is impossible to change your bone structure, you can create the appearance of wider hips by building muscle and fat in the area. Exercises that focus on the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus can help to strengthen and widen the hips. This includes squats, lunges, deadlifts, hip thrusts, and glute bridges. To increase muscle mass faster, consider using dumbbells or resistance bands. Additionally, focusing on your diet and core strength can help to shrink your waistline, creating a more defined waist-to-hip ratio.
How to Enlarge Hip Muscles
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Hip abduction exercises | Moving the leg away from the body's centerline |
| External rotation exercises | Turning the thigh bone away from the midline |
| Hip exercises | Squats, lunges, curtsy lunges, deadlifts, glute bridges, hip thrusts, hip raises, squat kicks |
| Hip-opening yoga poses | Happy baby pose, reclining bound angle pose, thread the needle pose, half pigeon and double pigeon poses, camel pose |
| Muscle groups | Gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, glute minimus, tensor fasciae latae (TFL), piriformis, hamstrings, quads, adductors, core muscles |
| Other methods | Using resistance bands, dumbbells, kettlebells |
| Considerations | Bone structure, age, genetics, diet, sleep, body fat storage patterns, natural instincts, health |
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Squats
The basic squat is an excellent place to start for beginners. To perform a basic squat, stand with your feet hip or shoulder-width apart. Keep your chest high and abdominal muscles engaged. Take your hips back as if you are about to sit in a chair, bending both knees and lowering into a squat. Avoid bending your knees too far forward. Stop when your knees are at a 90-degree angle or before you lose the natural arch of your back. Contract your glutes and legs while stabilising your body with a strong torso. Engage your glutes to push down into the ground as you stand up slowly, without locking your knees.
To increase the intensity of the basic squat, you can add resistance by holding a dumbbell, kettlebell, or barbell. For the dumbbell or kettlebell, hold the weight at chest height. For the barbell squat, place the barbell just above the shoulders on the trapezius muscles. When adding weight, it is important to be mindful of your form to avoid injury.
To further challenge your body and target different muscle groups, you can try variations of the basic squat, such as the sumo squat or the single-leg squat. The sumo squat is a powerful exercise that builds strength in your inner thighs. The single-leg squat is another highly effective variation that challenges your balance and provides a unique hip and leg strengthening experience.
Additionally, improving hip mobility can enhance your squat performance and depth. One effective hip-opening exercise is to stand with your feet together and lift one knee and foot towards a wall in front of you. Hold this position for 30 seconds, then repeat on the other side. This improves hip mobility and helps maintain proper posture for squatting.
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Hip abduction exercises
To enlarge your hip muscles, you can perform hip abduction exercises, which involve moving the leg away from the body's center line. These exercises target the gluteal muscles, including the maximus, minimus, and medius, as well as the tensor fasciae latae (TFL) and the piriformis.
One hip abduction exercise is the side lunge with dumbbells. This involves standing with your feet more than two feet apart and turning your toes outward slightly. You then bend your right knee to lower yourself into a lunge position. You can add dumbbells to increase the resistance and potential for muscle growth.
Another exercise is the classic squat. To do this, you shift your body weight to your lower body and bend both knees, moving your hips toward the floor. You then straighten both legs back to the starting position. You can add a mini band around your thighs to increase the intensity of this exercise.
You can also try a half-squat position with a resistance band. Place a resistance band around your lower thighs and engage your hip muscles as you take small steps to the side. You can increase the intensity by lowering the band to your ankles and deepening your squat.
For a side-lying hip abduction exercise, lie on your left side with your hips, knees, and ankles stacked. Bend your knees to a 90-degree angle and place a mini band around your thighs, just above your knees. Keeping your feet together, lift your right knee and slowly lower it back down. Focus on engaging your core and keeping your back straight.
It's important to note that while you can strengthen and enlarge the muscles around your hips, the width of your hips is also influenced by your bone structure, age, and where your body naturally stores fat and muscle.
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Hip thrusts
To perform a hip thrust, lie on your back with your feet planted on the ground and your knees bent. From here, exhale and compress your abdomen. Breathe out and push your lower back into the floor. Then, contract your glutes and push your hips upward until they extend fully. You can also perform a single-leg hip thrust, which is an extremely effective isolation exercise for the glutes.
To increase the difficulty, you can perform a hip thrust with your feet elevated on a bench or box. This will allow for a greater range of motion. You can also add a resistance band to this exercise to engage the abductor muscles.
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Dumbbell lunges
To perform a dumbbell lunge, stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Your palms should be facing inward. Engage your core and keep your torso upright. Step your right leg forward and bend your right knee, lowering your body until your right thigh is parallel to the ground. Your right knee should be stacked over your right ankle and foot. Clench your butt muscle. Then, using hip power, push yourself back up, straightening your right leg. Do not put your feet back together. You are going to maintain the 2-foot distance between your feet during the entire exercise.
Now, lunge down to the other side. Come down until your knee is bent at a 90-degree angle and then push back up. Again, straighten your legs and keep both feet in place. This posture protects your knees, lets you keep tension on the muscles better, and use heavier resistance. Add two dumbbells. Hold one dumbbell in each hand. As you lunge down to the right, the right-hand dumbbell should be on the outside of your right hip. The left-hand dumbbell should be held in front of your body down between your legs.
If you are new to exercise, start slowly and perform a few reps until you build strength in your quads. Then work your way up to two or three sets of eight to 12 lunges per set. If you feel any joint pain in your knee, hip, or ankle, end the exercise.
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Hip-opening yoga poses
While wider hips are mostly a function of genetics and bone structure, you can definitely strengthen your hip and abdominal muscles to achieve an hourglass figure within your predisposed genetic structure.
Figure Four Stretch
Perfect for beginners, this pose is a gentle introduction to hip opening. To do this, clasp your hands behind your left thigh and gently bring it towards your chest, deepening the stretch in your right hip. Hold this position before switching sides.
Lizard Pose
Once you're comfortable with the Figure Four, you can move to the Lizard Pose for a deeper stretch. Start in a low lunge with your right foot forward and both hands (or elbows) on the ground inside your right foot. You can also place your hands on yoga blocks. Angle your right foot slightly outward and roll onto its outer edge. Maintain this pose, leaning into a deeper stretch in your hips. Repeat on the other side.
Happy Baby Pose
This pose relaxes your inner groin and lower back. Lie on your back, keeping your back flat on the mat, and grab the outer edges of your feet.
Child's Pose, Hero Pose, and Low Lunges
These yoga poses can strengthen your hips, improve flexibility, and reduce pain.
Backbend
Lie on your back with your feet on the ground and your knees shoulder-width apart. Lift your hips up towards the ceiling. Place your hands on your lower back while keeping your elbows grounded. Relax and sink into your hands, holding this position.
Remember, it's important to listen to your body and not push yourself too hard. Start with dynamic stretches and aim for that "Ooh" feeling, not the "Ow." Warm up your body before working out, and hold each pose for five to eight breaths.
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Frequently asked questions
While you can't change your bone structure, you can create the appearance of wider hips by building muscle and fat in the area. Focus on exercises that target the hips, such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, and glute bridges.
Some exercises that can help build your hip muscles include squats, lunges, curtsy lunges, deadlifts, glute bridges, side leg raises, hip raises, and squat kicks. You can also try yoga poses that focus on stretching tight hip muscles, such as the happy baby pose, the reclining bound angle pose, and the thread the needle pose.
It is recommended to train your lower body 2-3 times a week, doing 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps each time.
To build your hip muscles, you should target the gluteus maximus, the main extensor muscle of the hip, and the gluteus medius, the main muscle on the side of the hip. You can also target the glute minimus, tensor fasciae latae (TFL), and the piriformis.
Yes, it is important to avoid overworking the tensor fasciae latae (TFL) muscle, which is located in front of the hip joint. Overusing this muscle can cause unwanted knee, hip, or back pain.
