While hip dips and love handles are two different body features, they do have a few things in common. Both are extremely common, both are often considered problem areas that can negatively affect your confidence, and both can be difficult or even impossible to reduce or get rid of without surgical intervention.
In this article, we’ll explore what hip dips and love handles are, what causes them, and share tips to reduce or get rid of them—including with the awake liposuction solutions we offer at Squlpt.
What are hip dips?
Hip dips, also known as ‘violin hips’ or ‘Venus knots,’ are indentations on the outer side of the hips, just below the hip bone. These natural curves create a dip or concave appearance between the hip bone and outer thigh.
What causes hip dips? You can pretty much blame them on genetics. Our bodies come in all different shapes and sizes, and some are simply predisposed to developing hip dips. Some are subtle while others are more pronounced. How noticeable they are comes down to several factors, including the skeletal structure of your pelvis, the width of your hips, and your general body fat and muscle distribution.
While hip dips are natural and aren’t a sign of being unhealthy or overweight, a lot of women consider them a problem area they’d like to get rid of, whether through lifestyle changes or with a cosmetic procedure.
What are love handles?
Love handles, also known as a ‘muffin top,’are those rolls of excess fat that accumulate around the waist and lower back area (higher up than hip dips), and that become more noticeable when you wear tight-fitting clothes.
Love handles can be caused by both genetics (since our genes dictate where we store fat in the body) and lifestyle factors. While it’s almost impossible to get rid of hip dips naturally, it is possible to tackle love handles by prioritizing good diet and exercise.
Stress can also play a role in developing love handles since stress is a major contributing factor to weight gain. Chronic stress causes the body to produce more of the hormone cortisol (the stress hormone), which can lower your metabolism and increase your insulin levels and which, in turn, can lead to weight gain—especially around the midsection.
Differences between hip dips and love handles
While hip dips and love handles share a few common traits, there are key differences between them and how they look:
| Hip dips | Love handles | |
| Location | Outer hips, just below hip bone | Around waist and abdomen, above hips |
| Appearance | Dip or concave appearance between hip bone and outer thigh | Rolls of fat around waist, more pronounced with tight clothing |
| Causes | Largely genetics | Genetics and lifestyle factors (including poor diet, lack of exercise, stress) |
How to get rid of hip dips
Because hip dips are largely genetic and down to your body’s unique structure, you can’t get rid of them completely in a natural way. But certain lifestyle changes and targeted exercises may help tone the muscles and reduce fat around the hips, reducing their appearance.
Diet
Losing weight is about 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise. So the foods you eat, and avoid, are essential to losing overall body fat and reducing the appearance of hip dips. Here are some nutrition tips to help:
- Choose whole, nutrient-rich foods where possible. Aim for a diverse range of colourful foods, ideally with every meal.
- Reduce your sugar intake, including sugars from simple carbs like white bread, pasta and rice.
- Focus on healthy fats from foods like avocados, nuts, seeds and olive oils.
- Fill up on fibre by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
- Add pre- and probiotics to your diet to support gut health and weight management. Foods containing prebiotics include Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, onions, asparagus and tomatoes. You can find probiotics in yogurt, kombucha and fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi.
Exercise
If you’re looking to lose weight and reduce hip dips, the goal is to burn more calories than you consume. Aim for 150 minutes of exercise every week, ideally with a mix of cardio and strength training, to improve your overall fitness and support weight loss.
The following targeted exercises can also help tone and strengthen the muscles in your hips, thighs and buttocks, potentially reducing the appearance of hip dips:
- Fire hydrants. Start on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Lift one leg up while keeping your knee bent and slowly lower it back down without letting it touch the floor. Repeat 15 times on each side.
- Standing kickback lunges. Stand with your hands in front of your chest in a prayer position. Lift one knee up to your chest and step back into a lunge, focusing on using your core throughout. Do 12 lunges on each side.
- Squats. Keep your back straight with feet slightly wider than your hips and squat down like you’re sitting in a chair, squeezing your glutes as you come up. Do two sets of 12 squats.
- Side lunges. Take a wide step to the left. Bend your left knee as you step outward and keep your hips back. Perform one set of 12 lunges on your left leg then switch to your right leg.
- Glute bridges. Lie down on your back with your arms beside your body, knees bent and feet slightly wider than your hips. Slowly lift your hips and buttocks off the ground, lower back down. Repeat for 15 reps.
Surgical solutions
While diet and exercise can help reduce the appearance of hip dips, the only way to get rid of them completely is with cosmetic surgery. At Squlpt, we have three options to target hip dips: the Petite BBL™, the XL BBL® or any other awake fat transfer procedure.
The Petite BBL™ is our Brazilian Butt Lift procedure designed to fill and firm the bottom, enhancing the shape you already have. We remove excess fat from unwanted areas then transfer it to the bottom, hips and thighs, filling in hip dips while creating a naturally fuller, firmer look.
With the XL BBL®, the goal is to augment and expand the bottom beyond its current size. We achieve this by adding higher volumes of fat for a fuller, curvier look while filling in hip dips.
How to get rid of love handles
If you’re trying to get rid of love handles, you’ll need to reduce your overall body fat. To achieve this, follow the same diet tips we outlined for hip dips above. You should also focus on managing stress and getting enough sleep, as both stress and lack of sleep can elevate cortisol levels and potentially lead to weight gain. The following exercises can also help reduce or get rid of love handles:
- Side planks. Lie on your side and prop yourself up with one arm. Keep the same arm bent and your elbow in line with your shoulder. Place one leg on top of the other then lift your hips off the ground, squeezing your glutes and tightening your abs. Hold for around 30 seconds then switch to the other side and repeat.
- Russian twists. Sit down with your knees bent at 90 degrees, feet flat on the ground. Lean your torso back until it’s at about a 45-degree angle from the floor, keeping your back straight. Using both hands and with arms bent, hold a dumbbell or other weight above your abs. Twist your torso and arms as far as you can toward the left, then the right. Repeat, alternating sides for 45 seconds.
- Mountain climber’s twist. Get into a plank position with both hands flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart. Keep your core tight and your back straight as you lift your right knee up towards your left elbow, crossing your body. Return to the starting position then alternate sides. Repeat for 45 seconds.
- Deadlifts. Start with weights you can comfortably lift until you develop good form and build strength. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing the body. Engage your core and pull the shoulder blades down and back. Then, keeping the arms straight, send your hips back and bend your knees slightly to lower both dumbbells down to the floor in front of the legs. Continue lowering until hips are fully pushed back and weights are as close to the floor as possible. Keeping the chest up, push through the feet to return to standing, squeezing your glutes at the top. Repeat for 45 seconds.
- Bicycle crunches. Lying on your back, raise both legs off the floor with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Put your hands behind your head, elbows out to the sides. Slowly lift your head and shoulders off the floor, then move your left elbow toward your right knee. At the same time, straighten out your left leg (but keep it off the floor). Lower, then switch to the other side, alternating the movement for 45 seconds.
If you find that diet and exercise aren’t enough to get rid of stubborn love handles, a cosmetic procedure like SoftSqulpt Petite BBL or SoftSqulpt Midsection can help you instantly achieve the results you want while creating a fuller, curvier look.
Achieve your body goals with Squlpt
Whether you’re trying to reduce the appearance of hip dips or get rid of stubborn love handles, Squlpt can help. Book a free consultation with a Squlpt surgeon and body consultant, who will work closely with you to create a custom treatment plan to meet your body goals.
Thanks to innovations like SoftSqulpt, it’s never been easier to achieve your dream body in a way that is safe, natural and close to pain-free. Check out these beautiful before & after pictures and be sure to watch our SqulptStories for inspiration.
