8 Fascinating Facts About Your Butt

8 Fascinating Facts About Your Butt

Some of them are pretty kick-ass—but others might bum you out a bit (sorry, we had to!)

Now here’s a topic of conversation we can really get behind: your butt. Click through for everything you’ve ever wanted to know (and probably some stuff you didn’t) about your bumpin’ backside.

We Like Bum Flattery

Of all the body parts you could flatter, women most like being complimented on their butts, according to The Men’s Health and Women’s Health Big Book of Sex

.It Might Be Healthy to Have a Big One

Fat in your butt and thigh areas carries a lower metabolic and cardiovascular risk than abdominal fat—and it may even be protective, suggests a 2010 study out of the United Kingdom.

One Was the Inspiration for Spanx

Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, told CNBC last month that her own butt inspired her to invent shapewear. “As a woman, I couldn’t figure out what to wear under my white pants,” she said.

2013 Was All About Shaking It

While “selfie” earned the title of Oxford Dictionaries’ 2013 word of the year, “twerk” made the shortlist. Thanks, Miley.

Your Gluteus Maximus Is Part of a Major Muscle Group

Get this: “Your glutes are your body’s largest and perhaps most powerful muscle group,” according to The Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises. The key to sculpting them is working them—and sitting on them doesn’t count! So check out these nineexercises for a super-toned tush.

We Like Songs About Them

Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance—and, of course, remains an esteemed karaoke choice to this day.

Guys Don’t Notice Backsides Right Away

The butt got eighth place in a recent survey that asked British men what they check out first about a woman—eyes got first. Ahem: Please note that these were self-reported results.

People Go Under the Knife for ’Em

In 2012, 2,681 women received buttock lifts, and 746 got buttock implants, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ 2012 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report. (Those numbers are down from 2011, by the way.)