Are your legs burning out with exercise or is the first thing you feel when you get tired the fronts of your thighs? This could be due to what is called quadricep dominance.

There are certain factors that can predispose you to this issue, like being female (due to the shape of the pelvis and having what they call a greater Q angle) or even repetitive over training. The quadriceps themselves are very easily innovated by the nervous system so when you push the boundaries of other supporting muscles, they are all to happy to kick in and do too much work.

The problem with quadricep dominance is that it shifts the majority of the load into the quadriceps and hip flexors, leaving your posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) on a big holiday! What tends to happen is the strong muscles get stronger and the weak weaker. Without the balance between your anterior and posterior chain it creates more stress on the knee and even the spine eventually leading to injury.

To correct the issue, it is important to dampen the neural load on the quadriceps and retrain the glutes and hamstrings to fire correctly. The hamstrings themselves must also be strengthened so they have 60-75% of relative strength in comparison to the quadriceps.

As with every muscle in the body they all have their own function and work as a team to help support the joints and our structure. Its important we keep them all in their place, doing the job they were designed for while maintaining symmetry within the body to avoid injury.

If you would like help with this issue our Trainers are all to willing to help.