Are 35 Inch Hips Big or Small?

If you have 35 inch hips, then you have a below average hip size for men and women, based on American anthropometric data. But is this a bad thing?

Well, when you consider that most people are overweight, having 35″ hips could actually be a good thing for your physical health. We’ll get into the specifics in just a sec.

Related Hip Measurement Guides:

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How big are 35 inch hips?

How big are 35 inch hips? Based on the data, 35 inch hips aren’t big at all. In fact, 35″ hips are 5 inches smaller than average for women and around 4 inches smaller than normal for men.

However, as I alluded to in the introduction, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing because many people who have hips that are significantly larger than 35 inches are overweight and obese. Indeed, most people are overweight. ^[1]

So, although you might think that your hips are too slim, your 35 in hips could actually be a strong sign that you’re living in good physical health. Of course, health isn’t measured by inches on the tape, but you’re unlikely to have a high BMI, for example, if you have 35 inch hips.

Common reasons for having 35″ hips include having a small build, carrying minimal body fat, being tall and slim, performing regular exercise, and just generally maintaining a healthy body weight.

What size are 35 inch hips?

A chart showing what size 35 inch hips are in women's clothing

Precise sizing always depends on the brand of clothing that you’re looking at (and also the garment type). Still, in many instances, 35 inch hips will be equal to a size XS (extra small) or S (small) in women’s clothing and likely between a US size 0-2.

How can you grow your 35 inch butt?

Since the glutes are the biggest muscle in your body, ^[2] it’s likely that your 35 inch hips have significant potential to get wider. But what’s the best way to go about building your 35 inch butt?

Many women say that squats are the best choice for building your glutes, but I say that there are many better options. Indeed, if you do a set of traditional back squats, I can almost guarantee that your quads will give out well before your glutes.

That’s why I’m such a big proponent of doing hip thrusts, hip abductions, and split squats with a forward torso lean. When performed consistently, these two movements can put inches on your hips, which, in addition to increasing your glute size, will actually make your waist look smaller.

Additionally—providing that you’re not currently overweight—you can increase your calorie and protein intake to fuel your workouts and glute development. Yes, eating extra calories will obviously lead to a concurrent increase in body weight.

But this is actually a good thing if you want to build your 35 in hips because when you gain body mass, all of your circumference measurements tend to increase, and that most certainly includes your hips.

Do many people have 35″ hips?

There are many people who have 35 inch hips—men and women, young and old, celebrities and normal folks—because a 35 inch hip size is, in most cases, an indicator that you’re healthy. After all, most of us are striving to be healthy!

So even though your 35 in hips might be statistically smaller than usual, this is by no means a bad thing because many of the people with larger hips than you probably have a significantly bigger waist as well.

Indeed, your waist-to-hip ratio is a better gauge of how your body actually looks. So if your hips are quite a bit bigger than your waist, then it’s very likely that you’ve got a highly feminine body type that many women would love to have.

So while being overweight doesn’t in any way make you a bad person, the same is true for people who’re slimmer than average. We’re all built differently, and you shouldn’t feel bad simply because you have the discipline to maintain a slim figure.

The verdict on having 35 in hips

As noted throughout this article, there are many reasons why you might have 35 inch hips. It could be because you’re tall and slim, or it could be because you have a small bone structure.

Alternatively, you might exercise regularly and/or not store much body fat on your hips.

Whatever the case, 35″ hips are by no means too big or small. This is especially true if your waist is quite a bit narrower than your hips, in which case you’ll have a low waist-to-hip ratio.

So while you can always widen your 35 in hips via strength training, your best bet is to just embrace your body and be happy in the knowledge that there are other people just like you (and plenty of people who would love to have hips like yours).

References

FastStats. (2022). Overweight Prevalence. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm
Buckthorpe, M., Stride, M., & Villa, F. D. (2019). ASSESSING AND TREATING GLUTEUS MAXIMUS WEAKNESS – A CLINICAL COMMENTARY. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 14(4), 655–669. https://doi.org/10.26603/ijspt20190655