YouTube is a treasure trove of free fitness content, and a lot of it is actually pretty decent in quality. However, even though the workouts themselves are structured and taught well, many of them make some questionable assertions about their effects — a HIIT workout I reviewed a few months ago alleged that I would “burn 500 calories” by doing it (spoiler alert: I did not).
I’ve heard the name “Chloe Ting” floating around my fitness circles for years, and I recently stumbled upon her popular Hourglass Challenge on YouTube. Among the various workouts in the challenge is this one, which claims to reduce the appearance of hip dips. Can a 10-minute equipment-free workout really change the appearance of your body so drastically? I had some (very strong) doubts, but I didn’t want to pass judgment without trying the workout first. So I rolled out my mat, laced up my sneakers, and pressed play on Chloe Ting’s hip dips workout. Here’s what I thought.
What are hip dips? What causes them?
A relatively new buzzword that’s gained a lot of traction on social media, the term “hip dips” refers to an indentation where the top of the outer thigh meets the bottom of the hip.
While other aesthetically nicknamed conditions like “saddlebags” or “love handles” can be the result of lifestyle choices, hip dips are entirely genetic — they’re caused by the skeletal structure of your pelvis and femur. The wider your hip bone is compared to your greater trochanter (the top part of your femur), the more potential there is for the muscles and fat in the area to curve inward and create a dip.
I tried this hip dips workout — here’s my verdict
I spend a lot of my time as a certified personal trainer dispelling fitness myths, and one of the biggest myths out there is that you can “spot train” specific areas of your body. I hate to break it to you, but crunches and planks won’t zap inches from your waist, nor will this workout reduce the appearance of hip dips. What these and other resistance training exercises will do however is strengthen your muscles and cause hypertrophy (or muscle growth). Combined with a caloric deficit and appropriate progressive overload (aka, lifting heavier weights as you get stronger), resistance training can change your body’s composition resulting in inches lost and a more toned appearance overall. But unfortunately, we can’t choose where we lose those inches from, and we certainly can’t change our anatomical makeup.
I do have to give Chloe Ting a little credit, though. In the final line of her hip dips workout description, she includes a disclaimer that states “Please note that all of my videos are titled according to SEO best practices for content discoverability. Unfortunately, this may mean that video titles are subjective and shouldn’t be seen as absolute truth. As an example, targeting fat reduction is not scientifically proven but a video title might suggest otherwise.” It’s not often that you see even a crumb of accuracy from a fitness influencer, so I appreciate Chloe’s transparency here — even if she’s buried the lede a bit.
I hate to break it to you, but crunches and planks won’t zap inches from your waist, nor will this workout reduce the appearance of hip dips.
All of that being said, I enjoyed this workout even if the title is misleading. In 10 relatively short minutes, Chloe takes you through an efficient endurance-based program that addresses the major muscles of your hips and glutes. The structure is simple and easy to follow: 30 seconds of work, followed by 5-8 seconds of rest. It’s fast-paced with hardly any downtime and no repeated exercises, but that makes the workout go by quickly. While I didn’t think it was particularly challenging, I did feel warmed up by the time the workout was over — it was a nice way to prime my glutes for the squats and lunges I had on tap for the day.
Personally, I like that Chloe doesn’t include any faux-motivational banter and just focuses on the movement. I do think she has room to add more verbal cues since a lot of the exercises are done lying face-down on the mat, but there’s more than enough time to glance up at the screen if you’re ever questioning your form. What she does include are progressions for each exercise using resistance bands, so when you’ve mastered the basic techniques and want to take things up a notch, you have an easy option to do so.
The bottom line? If you’ve just begun an exercise regimen and are looking for an introductory glute-strengthening routine, Chloe Ting’s hip dips workout makes an excellent choice. And if you’re a more advanced athlete or experienced gym goer, this workout could function as a good warm-up for your lower body days. Just don’t expect it to work any miracles on your anatomy.
