In regard to your spine, doctors like a well-rounded booty. This has nothing to do with the shape of your rear-end. In the spine world, a “well-rounded booty” means that all your buttock muscles are strong and functioning properly. Here are several of the muscles that make up the buttocks:
Gluteus Maximus
Gluteus Medius
Piriformis
Gluteus Minimus
Gemellus
Obturator
Quadratus Femoris
You don’t want to be strong in one or two muscles and weak in others. This can cause an imbalance and actually increase your risk of back pain. Just working on one muscle, such as the Gluteus Maximus can place you at risk for pain and dysfunction. We want moderate strength throughout all the muscles.  Just think of it as being well rounded in different cultures, languages, and the arts. Your booty has many jobs. You have to make sure that all the jobs are working correctly.  It’s like an assembly line. If everyone is doing their job, the process runs smoothly. However, if one person falls behind (no pun intended), the entire line can into dysfunction. Your booty is active in five of the six main movements of your hip in addition to supporting your back. Your hip is the foundation of your back.  A strong booty makes a firm foundation for your backbones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. A weak booty is like constructing a building on a wobbly foundation. Sooner or later, everything will start to fall apart.   Your booty is so important… yet we sit on it all day, we pinch it, we deprive it of sunlight, and give it wedgies. Check out our next blog for booty strengthening exercises.