Thar She IS!!

My mother, bless her heart, has what I call a horse's butt. Long and practically flat, just legs that insert into the hip joint with very little to do. I've known for some time that my bum was on the flat side, for awhile (before I knew better) I thought it was genetic, but that it was still possible to do something about. Although, for a good long while my prime motivation was the Jean Conundrum. Ever tried to find jeans that look good on a flat butt?? Now, I've nearly sworn off jeans, so that's not a problem...(more on that later).

Back to my butt. For at least a few years now, I've known that having a flatt butt was a health risk. I've tried a few things to get it online, machines at the Y, squats, classes and videos that supposedly target the bum. But (ha ha), they never worked my butt. I never felt it there. At all. Even certain stretches that were supposed to stretch the glutes never worked for me.

Since I've been Katyized (Katyfied? Katydid? Katy-converted? Never sure what to call it...) this last July, I've had a MUCH better idea of why my rear needs to be in gear. Inititally I wasn't sure how to go about it and I tried to supplement the stretching and walking she advocates with doing the Core Fusion videos (which are REALLY cool, btw)...but I still didn't feel it in my butt. The Mister did, the Sister did, but not me. So I gave that up and kept stretching. Then I purchased a "Save Your Knees, Build a Butt" workout from Katy. I would do the video and my knees would hurt the next day. I would try again a few days later and even if my knees didn't hurt (much) later, I still didn't feel anything in my rear. This went on a bit and then I decided to back off again and just go back to the basics- stretching and walking.

I was beginning to feel like I wasn't doing enough. I was getting really discouraged. It's hard to do a program like Katy's because it's SO simple. You feel like you should be killing yourself, really working hard, and then you'll have some evidence later. The track in my head that plays after a simple movement the day after a "good" workout goes something like this: "ooh, that hurts! I'm awesome! I worked out! How strong am I! Ouch!" But the progress with Katy is different. I lie down to do a hamstring stretch and I'm slapped in the face of my own inflexibility (brain says "failure) and I can't "push" past it, I can't ignore what my body is saying, I have to listen to it and be patient with it and trust that by small and simple things, great things will come to pass.

And today, they did (the great things, that is, if you can call a flat bum a great thing). I went for a walk (still not hitting that everyday, but I'm pretty regular at 3-4 times a week, which is progress!) and low and behold on the left side, Hello Gluteus Maximus! Nice to meet you today! I've felt medius here and there, it's an ornery bugger, but NEVER Max! I have a new friend, we chatted during our walk and I giggled every few steps. I still have yet to meet Maxine (my right side Glute), but (ha ha) I have hope! No, I have faith! No, I have knowledge. It all worked, all the slow work of getting the muscles to their correct length allowed Max and me to meet. So it's just a matter of time before we are close friends.