

One area that often gets neglected when it comes to correcting quad dominance is the ankle. When it comes to rolling, we have some great suggestions here to get you started. One way to inhibit that limitation is to foam roll any tight areas you have before performing any activity. Sometimes certain muscles take over because they are “overactive” or tight. Try to complete 3 sets of 10 repetitions on each leg. Push up through the heel of your front foot to return to a standing position and repeat this on the other leg. Your front knee should stay in line with your toes and not extend past the front edge of your shoe. Then slowly lower the back knee until it touches (not hits) the ground. Take a slightly longer than normal step forward then bend both knees. Focus on squeezing the muscles in your rear on the way up and try getting in 30 repetitions on each leg. Extend your leg backwards as if you were trying to put a shoe print on the ceiling. Bend one knee so that the bottom of your foot is parallel with the ceiling. Lay with on your stomach with your body completely flat.

Go as slow as you can, repeating 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Keeping your body in a straight line from the knee to the head, slowly lower your body towards the ground – with your arms out to catch yourself. With your knees rested on a soft surface (bosu ball or padding) and a bench a few feet in front of you (as if you were going to do a pushup on it) have a partner hold your ankles down to the ground. As always, if any exercise causes you discomfort, stop immediately and contact your physician. Here are three exercises that will help get you started.

If your hamstrings and glutes are weak due to lack of use, it’s time to strengthen them up so they can start pulling their weight. Addressing these 3 most common deficits may not only help reduce your injury risk, but also give you a boost in strength and power as you’re recruiting powerful muscles that may not be currently used to their fullest potential! If, when you squat, your first movement is to bend at the knees or if your knees move excessively past your toes, you may be quad dominant.Ĭorrecting quad dominance is fairly straightforward in most cases, although some people require a more individualized approach. In general, when someone can squat with proper form, the demand is placed across all three muscle groups, providing less strain on any one particular part of the body. For example, when someone squats, we would like to see them move their hips back first, bending their knees as needed to achieve a good depth without letting their knees move excessively forward past their big toes. The most common deficit we see is something called quad dominance, or heavily utilizing the quads for actions that would ideally use both groups.

Ideally, we would see these two groups of muscles in balance, meaning that when you perform a movement that utilizes both groups, you’re not relying too heavily on one or the other.
