Exercises for hips

August 18, 2006 9:43 AM

What are the best exercises to gain mass/size on hips ?

I have near-flat hips. My waist is 33 inches and hips are 35.5 inches.

I want to develop well-rounded bulky hips - at least 38 inches.

Which exercises I should do in gym ? Please tell how many sets and reps, and how often in a week.

Kindly give some pictorial links describing the exercises, if possible.

Thanks.

posted by inquisitive to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

I'm never quite sure what muscles constitute hips, but I'd guess predominantly glutes and hamstrings and to some extent quads. Actually, see this http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/HipsWt.html

There are a lot of lifts there but I'd say just focus on full squats, deadlifts, and lunges. You could also add various types of jumping and sprints.

Everyone has a different view on volume (sets, reps, how often) which probably means a lot of things should work. You could try something like

Monday:
Full squats 5 sets of 5
lunges 3 sets of 8

Thursday:
Deadlifts 6 sets of 3

Saturady:
jumping and sprinting
posted by Durin's Bane at 10:10 AM on August 18, 2006

Have a baby.
posted by raedyn at 10:19 AM on August 18, 2006 [1 favorite]

Going up lots of stairs might help make your butt rounder.

I know you want stuff to do at the gym, but maybe your gym has stairs?
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:44 AM on August 18, 2006

Full squats (done below parallel) and deadlifts will pack on mass on your legs and hips like nothing else. Stick to basic barbell exercises.

A nice simple program to start out (3 sets of 5 all exercises, except deadlift, which you should only do 1 set of 5)

Workout A
Squat
Bench Press
Bent-over Rows

Workout B
Deadlift
Military Press
Chin ups

Do this 2-3 times a week, always taking at least a days rest between workouts. Do NOT be in a hurry to find your maximum weights- you'll burn out fast. Find a weight that provides some resistance, then add 5-10 lbs a week.

I recommend the book Starting Strength for information about proper exercise technique and programming for beginners. It includes page flip animations of all the exercises covered. It's written for football players but can be used by anyone who wants to put on mass. Ever seen a football player without a bubble butt?

Note: Unless you are athletically inclined I would drop the powercleans from the sample program in the book.
posted by digitalis3 at 11:01 AM on August 18, 2006

Hips don't really have muscles. Perhaps you want to flatten and narrow your waist instead?
posted by caddis at 11:19 AM on August 18, 2006

Rollerblading first, hard cycling with drop handlebars second.
posted by jamjam at 11:49 AM on August 18, 2006

Excercises known as "the channel flip" and the "cold one" wife-beckonings, aided by potato chip supplements.
posted by vanoakenfold at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2006

A steady diet of squats.
posted by rinkjustice at 1:47 PM on August 18, 2006

Cycling generally increases the size of your glutes, but this is not the same. People with wide hips generally have wide pelvises (pelvii?). If you have a narrow pelvis, there's not a lot you can do about that.

The hips just don't have a lot of muscle mass on them: they're more the anchor-points for the muscles than where the meat of the muscles are located.

Building up your ass is probably as close as you'll get.
posted by adamrice at 2:57 PM on August 18, 2006

People with wide hips generally have wide pelvises (pelvii?). If you have a narrow pelvis, there's not a lot you can do about that.

That's why I said have a baby. It spreads the pelvis. Couldn't tell the gender of the poster.
posted by raedyn at 3:59 PM on August 18, 2006

deadlifts, squats, cleans, maximum load possible.

caddis i hate to call you out, friend, but you are mistaken. check out an anatomy chart.
posted by noyceguy at 9:27 AM on August 26, 2006