Hip Drop (Pelvic Drop)

Stand on one foot on a raised edge — a step, aerobic platform, or box edge — with the other leg hanging unsupported off the side. Keep the torso upright and the stance-leg knee soft (not locked). Slowly allow the pelvis on the unsupported side to sink below level, letting the hip "drop," then actively pull it back up to level (the "hike") using the stance-leg hip.

The stance-leg gluteus medius and gluteus minimus are the muscles doing the work throughout: as the unloaded side's pelvis drops, the working hip is effectively drawn toward adduction relative to the pelvis, and the abductors on the stance side lengthen eccentrically to control how far and how fast it drops — this eccentric control phase is the part most directly tied to gluteus-medius weakness in the rehab literature. The concentric "hike" back to level is straightforward hip abduction of the stance leg, driven by the same muscles. Tensor fascia lata assists as a synergist, and the upper fibers of gluteus maximus contribute at low emphasis, matching how this graph already categorizes glute-medius-emphasis hip-abduction work (see hip-abduction).

This is mechanically the same test position as the classic Trendelenburg sign: a weak or poorly-controlling gluteus medius on the stance side lets the contralateral pelvis drop excessively or lets the trunk lean/compensate over the stance leg — the hip drop exercise deliberately trains the control that prevents that.

Coaching:

• Keep the torso upright — leaning the trunk toward the stance leg is a common compensation that reduces the actual demand on the gluteus medius.
• Control the drop; don't let gravity yank the pelvis down uncontrolled.
• A small range of motion (a few inches of pelvic drop) is enough — this is a control drill, not a big-ROM movement.
• Perform on both sides; asymmetric control between sides is common and worth tracking (see bilateral-strength-asymmetry).

Progressions: increase step height (bigger drop range) → slow the eccentric lowering phase / add a brief pause at the bottom → hold a light dumbbell on the stance side → close the eyes briefly at the top to add a balance challenge. Regression: use a lower step or curb, hold a rail/wall for light balance support, or reduce the range of the drop.

• Single-leg stance on a step/box edge; the opposite hip drops below level under control, then hikes back up.
• Prime movers are gluteus medius and gluteus minimus of the STANCE leg (not the hanging leg).
• Eccentric control of the drop is the part most tied to gluteus-medius weakness in the rehab literature; the hike back up is the concentric phase.
• Same test position as the Trendelenburg sign — trains the frontal-plane hip control that sign checks for.
• Keep the torso upright; a trunk lean toward the stance leg is the main compensation to coach out.
• Not the same thing as "hip dips" (body-shape slang term) — verify this distinction before sourcing content on this topic.

• hip-abductors — the abductor group.
• gluteus-medius / gluteus-minimus — the prime movers.
• hip-abduction — other gluteus-medius isolation work; hip drop is the closed-chain, weight-bearing counterpart.
• bilateral-strength-asymmetry — relevant to tracking side-to-side control differences here.