The right combination of diet and exercise can help you lose fat and tone your muscles, especially around your hips.
But since you can’t lose fat in just one place in your body through diet or exercise, it’s important to focus on losing fat all over your body. Once you start losing weight, you can focus on exercises that tone the muscles in and around your hips and core.
If you have less fat and stronger muscles in your lower body, it may make your hips look leaner and more sculpted. Plus, if you have more muscle and less fat, you’ll burn calories faster, which will make it easier to keep your weight in check.
Read on to find out more about how to lose inches and strengthen your hip muscles.
Exercise and ways to work out
1. Squats
Squats are a versatile exercise that engages many lower-body muscles. You only need your own body weight to do squats.
Once you’re good at this exercise, you can make it harder by squatting with a dumbbell in each hand or a kettlebell in both hands.
To do a squat correctly:
- Stand with your feet a little farther apart than the width of your shoulders.
- For balance when doing bodyweight squats, you can hold your arms out in front of you.
- Engage your core, keep your back straight, and your spine tall, and lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Stop with your knees over your toes, but not past them.
- Exhale and get back on your feet.
- Do this between 10 and 15 times.
2. Side lunges
The side lunge is a type of forward lunge that is also called lateral lunge. It pays more attention to the outer thighs and hips.
- Stand with your feet about as far apart as your hips. Take a wide step to the right and squat down. Keep your body tall, your core tight, and your eyes facing forward.
- Lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the floor.
- Pause. Then step forward with your left foot and come back to the middle.
- Switch sides 12 to 16 times as you do this move.
3. Fire hydrants
The fire hydrant exercise is a move that works your buttocks and hips. It also keeps you stable by using your core muscles. If you have knee problems, you might want to do this exercise on a mat.
- Get down on your hands and knees with your knees and feet hip-width apart and your palms on the floor.
- Keep your eyes a little bit forward and down.
- Engage your core, lift your right knee off the floor, and turn it out to the side and up. You should keep your knee bent the whole time.
- At the top, stop for a moment, and then bring your leg back to the starting position.
- Do 10 reps with your right leg before switching to your left leg.
4. The wall is
Wall sits, which are also called wall squats, are a good way to work your thighs, hips, and lower abs. They can be a great way to strengthen your core, see how long your muscles can work, and lose weight.
- Stand up straight with your back against a wall and your legs a few inches away from the wall.
- Slide down the wall until your legs are at a right angle and your hamstrings are parallel to the ground.
- This position should be held for 20 to 30 seconds. Try to work up to 1 minute as your strength and fitness improve.
- Get back to where you started.
5. Banded walk
In the banded walk exercise, you move sideways for a certain number of steps while a resistance band keeps tension on your hips. It’s a great exercise for working on your hips and making your glutes stronger.
Choose a wide exercise band with enough resistance to challenge your lower body but that is light enough that you can do 10 reps in each direction.
- Wrap the exercise band around your ankles, slightly bend your knees, and spread your feet apart.
- Walk to the side and don’t let your feet touch the ground.
- Take 10 steps in one direction, then 10 steps in the opposite direction to get back to where you started.
- Do this two or three times.
Step-ups while carrying weights
Step-ups work the glutes, hips, and thigh muscles. They can also make you more stable and improve your balance.
- Stand in front of a knee-height bench or step with your feet about hip-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand.
- Step onto the bench with your right foot and lift your left knee up while keeping the weights at your sides.
- Step backward off the bench and put your left leg down.
- Do 10 to 15 reps with your right leg in front, then switch and do the same number with your left leg in front.
- You should do 2–3 sets on each side.
7. Side-lying leg raise
The side-lying leg raise is a single-muscle exercise that works the hips and makes them stronger and more toned. For this exercise, it is important to use the right form.
- Lie on your right side on an exercise mat.
- Raise your top leg (your left leg) as high as you can. Keep your toes pointing in front of you.
- At the top, stop for a moment, and then bring your leg back to the starting position. Make sure to keep your pelvis still and your core engaged.
- On each side, do this 10 times.
8. Jump squats
The squat jump is an advanced plyometric exercise that builds power by combining the basic squat with a jump.
- Put your feet shoulder-width apart in a basic squat position.
- Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep your weight on your heels.
- From here, shoot up and then come back down.
- When you land, get back into the squatting position. Make sure to land softly, with the balls of your feet hitting the ground first and then shifting your weight back to your heels.
- Do this for 30 seconds, or 10 to 12 times.
9. Going upstairs
Climbing stairs is a great way to tighten and tone your glutes and hips while also getting a great cardio workout. If you have bleachers or a parking garage with more than one level, you can run or jog up and down the stairs.
Run or jog up the stairs to the top, and then walk down. Try it again and again for five minutes. For a stair-climbing workout, you can also use a Stairmaster or stepmill at the gym.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a type of cardio workout in which you do short bursts of intense exercise followed by short breaks.
HIIT is a fast way to burn a lot of calories, and research has shown
Sources you can trust show that it is a good way to burn fat.
One way to do HIIT is to sprint fast on the treadmill for 30 seconds, then walk on the treadmill for 15 seconds. You could also do jump squats or burpees for 45 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds. A HIIT workout can be done in many different ways.
Most of the time, a HIIT workout will last between 10 and 30 minutes. Aim to do at least two HIIT workouts per week.
Other ways to lose fat on the hips
Workouts are a great way to build lean muscle mass and lose body fat. It’s also one of the best ways to keep the weight off once you’ve lost it. But if you want to lose the most weight possible, you should also think about making other changes to your life.
Eat healthy foods.
A healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do to lose weight and slim down your hips. Try to stick to a plan that emphasizes whole foods from all of the food groups.
Avoid foods and drinks that have added sugars, and watch how much you eat. Try to eat fewer calories each day than you burn.
Get a good night’s sleep.
Getting enough sleep each night can help with your efforts to lose weight. Try to get between seven and nine hours of good sleep every night.
Take care of your stress.
We all deal with stress, but research has shown that too much stress can cause health problems like weight gain, high blood pressure, and headaches. So, if you want to lose weight, it’s important to keep your stress in check.
If you have a lot of stress, you might want to try yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises to help you relax. Stress can also be reduced by working out. You might want to talk to your doctor or therapist about how to deal with your stress.
Takeaway
Even though you can’t lose fat from just your hips, you can make a program that focuses on fat loss and lower-body strengthening exercises. Hips that are slimmer, stronger, and more toned may be the result.