How does having wide hips affect my turnout?

The width of your hips doesn’t influence how much turnout you have at the joint. Turnout is determined by your hip joint structure and the muscle balance around the joint.

That being said, having wider hips can influence turnout in fourth and fifth positions because of how much further you have to go to create those crossed positions. It is helpful to have extra-long legs.

Also, having wider hips often goes hand in hand with having tightness at the ITB (iliotibial band) because of the increased angle between the hips and the knees. This does not directly influence your turnout, but may create a muscle imbalance around the hip joint, making it more challenging to utilize your turnout muscles efficiently.

The bottom line: Work to balance out any muscular imbalances you might have at the hip joint and correctly work your turnout from your hip joints rather than cheating at the knees or ankles.

To your success,

Deborah Vogel

Director, The Body Series

Got a question for Deb? E-mail [email protected], and she may answer it in an upcoming web exclusive.