Almost every woman has tight hips because of all the time spent sitting. You might feel this tightness when you lunge, stand up after sitting for a long time, or when you can’t do a full squat.While you might think that hip stretches will ease the tightness, they are only one part of the solution. Strong glutes (butt muscles) keep your hips, thighs, and pelvis in the proper position as you run and during exercises such as squats and lunges. They also help keep your knees from going too far to the front, back, or side during these exercises, which can place undue stress on the knee and cause knee pain. If the glutes are not strong, other muscles in the hips tend to compensate for the lack of strength in the glutes, which can cause them to become tight and overused.