By Karena Thek Lineback

Don’t take it personally but if you have a flat butt then you probably also have a lazy butt. If your butt were working it would be higher and rounder. Time to put it back to work and the trick is to find out why it dozed off in the first place. Because all the ‘Butt Buster’ exercises in the world won’t work if you can’t ‘WAKE UP’ your butt in the first place.

There are two main reasons your tushie might be napping: tight hamstrings or back pain. Tight hamstrings often come from poor posture. How does poor posture fit into this picture? If you have no butt then you may be walking with your hips forward and tucked under, your upper back hunched and your abs sagging. The butt is going to be one of several weaknesses that result. You’ve heard of the ‘no-butt disease’? If you’ve ever been accused of having this ailment then you need to stand up straight and get those gluteals working again. Gluteals (butt muscles) are supposed to work all day every day as we walk, stand, climb stairs… If you have poor posture then they are almost never working

The second reason for a flat lazy butt is back pain. The scientists aren’t sure whether the gluteals stop working before back pain starts or right after. It doesn’t really matter though. The fact is that anyone with back pain usually has no gluteal strength. No gluteal strength means undue pressure is being put on the back muscles to take over the work of the gluteals. More pressure on the back means more back pain and so the vicious cycle continues until the gluteals starting working again.

But, regardless of your reason for having a flat butt you need to find a way to make it higher, rounder and to fire those gluts up again. Performing gluteal exercises won’t necessarily do the trick because your gluteals have learned to allow the hamstrings and low back muscles to do all the work. You have to actively squeeze the tush to get it to fire and hope that it eventually will get the message and start to cooperate on its own.

Karena Thek Lineback is the operator of Pilates Teck and SCV Therapy Services in Newhall. She is the author of Osteo Pilates and host of the nationwide public television program “Pilates for Healthy Bodies.” She also hosts Today’s Women and Health on AM-1220. To learn more about living a healthy lifestyle, or to ask Karena questions, visit www.OsteoPilates.com or call 661.260.1609.