Doing exercises for hips can help you enhance the strength of the supporting tissue to make you mobile after you have had a hip problem. Losing hip fat and toning the muscles around the hips are additional benefits. Combining a balanced diet with hip workouts can be of great help. There is no particular exercise to reduce hip fat as losing fat in one particular spot is not possible. You will have to initially concentrate on reducing overall body fat. Once you start losing fat, you can concentrate on exercises to tone up the muscles in and around the hips and the core.
You can have a sculpted appearance after you have lost considerable fat and your lower body muscles are strong and toned. Building mass and reducing fat is one way to get faster results as it expedites calorie burning and makes weight management effortless.
Effective Exercises for Hips
Here are some of the best exercises to reduce hip fat that can provide you with desirable results:
1. Start with Squats
Squats target several lower body muscles and are versatile. You can start the squats with just your body weight and when you have mastered the form, you can do the exercise with weights to make it more challenging.
Steps to follow:
- Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Put your arms in front for bodyweight squats to get balance.
- Keep your back straight. Engage your core. Go down till your thighs are parallel to the floor. Imagine positioning yourself on a chair.
- Hold this position for some time. Bring your knees over but not beyond the toes.
- Exhale and come up to a standing position.
- 10 to 15 repetitions are to be done in the beginning and can be increased gradually.
2. Fire Hydrants
This exercise will target your hips and glutes. This is one of the best exercises for hips. Engaging the core muscles will provide stability. If you have knee issues, you can use a mat to do this exercise.
Steps to follow:
- Get into a crawling position.
- Keep your knees and feet hip-width apart.
- Look forward and slightly shift the gaze downwards.
- Engage your core.
- Lift your right knee off the floor and rotate it to the side and up. Your knees should be kept bent throughout.
- Hold the position for a while and come back to the starting position gradually.
- Complete 10 repetitions with the right leg and then move on to the left leg and do 10 repetitions.
3. Lunges Sideways
This hip fat loss exercise is a variation of forward lunges. It targets the hip and thigh areas.
Steps to follow:
- Keep your feet hip-width apart. Engage your core, keep your spine straight and look forward. Take a wide step to the right and squat down.
- Squat further down till your right thigh is parallel to the ground.
- Hold the position for a few seconds. Come back to the centre by pushing off your left foot.
- Do 10 to 12 repetitions, switching sides each time.
4. Wall Squats
Wall squats or wall sits target the hip fat. It also works on your thighs and lower ab. It is one of those exercises for hips that helps you build core strength, lose extra pounds, and build muscle endurance.
Steps to follow:
- Stand straight with your back to the wall. Keep your back pressed to the wall with your feet a few inches away from the wall.
- Slide down the wall till you get into a sitting position. Your legs should be at 90 degrees with your hamstrings parallel to the ground.
- Initially, hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds. You can easily go up to one minute as your muscle endurance and core strength increase.
- Slide back to the standing position.
5. Step-Up with Weights
This exercise works the glutes and thighs in addition to being great for the hips. Stability and balance can be improved with this exercise.
Steps to follow:
- Use a bench that is knee-high to do this exercise. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, facing the bench. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Step on the bench with your right foot and keep your left foot high while you have the weights on your side.
- Bring down your left leg to step back off the bench.
- Complete 10 to 15 reps with your right leg and then switch to your left leg and repeat.
6. Leg Raise Lying on Your Sides
This exercise strengthens and tones your hips. Focusing on the right form for this exercise is extremely important.
Steps to follow:
- Use a mat for this exercise. Lie sideways towards your right.
- Raise the leg that is on the top i.e. the left leg as high as you can. Keep the toes pointed towards the ceiling.
- Hold the posture for a while, then lower your left leg to the starting position.
- For maximum benefit, it’s critical to maintain a stable pelvis and engaged core.
- Do 10 to 15 reps on each side.
7. Climbing Stairs
Climbing stairs helps you reduce hip fat. It is a good cardio exercise while it tones your hips and glutes.
Steps to follow:
- Run or jog up and down the stairs. Continue this for about 5 minutes.
- You can also use the stepmill machine at the gym if you do not have access to stairs.
8. HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
High-Intensity Interval Training is an intense cardio workout to burn a lot of calories. The pattern of this training is a continuous series of intense exercises with brief breaks in between. It is one of the excellent ways to burn body fat. HIIT lasts for about 30 minutes. Following this training at least two times a week will be of great help in losing those extra pounds.
Steps to follow:
- A set of exercises continuously comprising jump squats, mountain climbing, and burpees for 45 seconds and taking a short rest.
- Running on a treadmill for 30 seconds followed by walking for 15 seconds.
- There can be different variations of cardio workouts done continuously for 45 seconds followed by a short break.
9. Jump Squats
This is an advanced plyometric exercise which has the usual squats combined with a jump for power training.
Steps to follow:
- Start with the basic squat position with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Lower down till your thighs are parallel to the ground.
- From this position, jump up and come down.
- On landing, you should come back to the squat position. Avoid landing with a thud. Make the landing smooth with the balls of your feet first touching the ground and then shifting the weight onto your heels.
- Do 10 to 12 reps.
Healthy Lifestyle to Reduce Fat
The best way to build lean muscle and reduce body fat is through exercise. But to make your weight loss journey fruitful and be able to optimise your routine, you will have to tweak your lifestyle a bit.
1. Eat Healthy Foods
Exercise combined with a healthy diet is the best way to shed those extra pounds and maintain your weight. Include foods that provide complete nutrition, i.e., with all the essential vitamins and minerals. Avoid foods and beverages with sugar additives and minimise your portions. Avoid bingeing on snacks.
2. Try to Manage Your Stress
Stress can be the main culprit for most of your health issues like high blood pressure, weight gain, depression, etc. Indulging in relaxing and calming techniques like yoga and meditation can go a long way in arresting these medical complications along with helping you manage your weight.
3. Take a Good Sleep
6 to 8 hours of undisturbed sleep is essential for overall health. It can boost your metabolism and help you lose weight effectively.
Conclusion
Following an exercise routine just to reduce fat in a particular area is not the only way things work. Therefore, exercises for hips alone won’t help. A routine has to be designed to reduce overall weight with a priority on strengthening and toning the lower body. This will target the hips as well and the result will be – sculpted, strong, and toned hips.
