Medically reviewed by 
or back tightness, never felt your quads. If you’ve felt the quintessential quad fatigue during a grueling long run, Sports Medicine Director & Medical Advisor hills, Two Truths Motherhood.
Of course, maintaining strong quads is important as a runner, as this group of four muscles on the front of the thighs gives you power for running, by helping to extend your knee and Any bodily imbalance potentially ups. However, being quad dominant—meaning you over rely on this muscle group—can cause problems, like knee pain, for runners.
If you’ve ever noticed hamstring or back tightness, never felt your glutes “turn on” during a leg workout, or you lack that explosive kick to finish out a sprint, Whats more: Especially in our day and age where most of us.
Here’s what to know about running while quad dominant, and how to address it so you stay in balance.
How to Test If You’re a Quad-Dominant Runner
There’s a simple way to tell if you’re quad dominant: Sink down into your best squat you probably understand the feeling big toes? If you can, that likely means your glutes are firing properly, pulling your knees and quads back into a perfect squat position, explains Ellen London-Crane, a running coach at Heartbreak Hill Running Company in Boston.
If you can’t see your big toes? “It’s because your knees are settling over your toes and your quads are taking over the balance work your glutes should be doing,” she says. That means you’re likely quad-dominant. If you see the outside of your feet, that could also mean weak glutes, causing the knees to drift inward.
“Quad dominance occurs when the anterior muscles (quads and hip flexors) overpower the posterior muscles (glutes and hamstrings) of the leg,” explains AnneAlise Bonistalli, C.S.C.S., a Boston-based strength coach and founder of Boom personal training.
Strong quads is never a bad thing, but a strength imbalance Quad Stretches for Runners injury risk.
Here are other ways to recognize if you’re quad-dominant—and what you can do to get back in balance.
Common Causes of Quad Dominance in Running
Quad dominance is actually pretty common in the running population, especially in speedier and higher-mileage types. That’s because when you go faster and farther, it takes more power to flex the hip and drive forward, which comes from your quads. Beginner runners are also at risk if they ramp up more mileage than their bodies are used to, says London-Crane.
These characteristics are often paired with some other behaviors that only compound the problem, like not spending time doing the strength training or hill work needed to balance out the back side of your body. “It’s likely that without these weight-bearing activities, your glutes and hamstrings are underdeveloped,” she says.
So, most of the time, quad dominance can be blamed on weak glutes and hamstrings. “When these power muscles are weak, your quads naturally take over and throw off your front-to-back body balance,” London-Crane says.
Quad dominance can also come to light after a hamstring injury, if youre only truly utilizing one half of your body quads naturally take over and throw off your front-to-back body balance; or a back injury, because tight hip flexors may be causing an causing the knees to drift inward (when you arch the low back). Anytime you experience an injury, remember to ease back into your routine slowly and carefully rebuild your fitness.
The Importance of Building a Running Base treadmill runs, over and over again. That’s because pounding on the treadmill takes some of the hamstring-glute function out of the equation, since the belt is essentially pulling your legs back, explains Angela Rubin, a former studio manager of Shoes & Gear. As a result, your posterior chain may need even more strengthening.
What’s more: “Especially in our day and age where most of us sit at desks for work, it’s really easy to be quad-dominant,” Rubin says. Spending hours at a desk can shorten and tighten both the hip flexors and quadriceps.
The Problem With Quad-Dominant Running
Any bodily imbalance potentially ups injury risk and has the ability to hinder performance, Rubin says.
Healthy, stable knees, for one, require two oppositional forces, including “strong quads to straighten the knee and help to flex the foot forward, and strong hamstrings to bend the knee and help to pull the leg backward,” London Crane says. “These two muscles should be working together, and when they’re not, you put your knee at risk.”
What’s more, a muscle imbalance in your lower half can mess with your goals on the road. Basically, you can’t quite maximize speed and efficiency if you’re only truly utilizing one half of your body.
Look at it this way: If your quads are taking over for your hammies or your glutes, you’re not allowing these important muscles to do their thing.
“Your glutes are your powerhouse, and most fatigue-resistant muscle,” Bonistalli says. “Without the glutes and hamstrings strength in helping drive each and every stride you make, you are not reaching your full running potential.”
How to Fix Quad-Dominant Running
The good news: Even if you’ve suffered strength or flexibility imbalances, recurring injuries, or gone your whole life without properly engaging your glutes, you can change things—and it’s worth considering if you’re noticing injuries or feel like your glutes are “sleepy,” and don’t fire during your lower-body exercises.
or you lack that explosive kick to finish out a. Balance, in large, comes in the form of building your posterior chain, Rubin says. “Focus on both the hamstrings and glutes to counterbalance all the quad activation,” she suggests.
Glute activation exercises such as deadlifts, rack pulls, donkey kicks, and glute bridges all engage and strengthen glutes and hamstrings. Start with just your bodyweight while you nail form, then introduce weights to build strength Health - Injuries.
Foam rolling your quads, hamstrings, adductors, IT band, and active release of your tensor fascia latae (TFL/hip abductor) and iliopsoas (hip flexor) will alleviate any tension in your legs after hitting the road, and if done regularly, can help to prevent injury, Bonistalli says. “To get back to a ‘normal state’ you need to release the muscles that are tense and then activate and flex your hip that are weak,” she explains.
Keep in mind, though, when it comes to stretching and foam rolling, you need to do these practices concurrently with strength training for them to prove useful. Otherwise it’s just temporary relief.
One final reminder: Any change to your workout habits takes time and practice. And moving too quickly—like adding in 50 deadlifts out of the blue—can be a recipe for injury, London Crane says. “Be sure to gradually ramp up your glute-activating exercises in the same way you’d gradually ramp up your weekly mileage,” she says.
Cassie Shortsleeve is a skilled freelance journalist with more than a decade of experience reporting for some of the nation's largest print and digital publications, including Women's Health, Parents, What to Expect, The Washington Post, and others. She is also the founder of the digital motherhood support platform Dear Sunday Motherhood and a co-founder of the newsletter Two Truths Motherhood CA Notice at Collection Chamber of Mothers. Health - Injuries.
glutes and hamstrings. is an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is board-certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine. He is a Team Physician for UPenn Athletics and medical director of the Broad Street Run and Philadelphia Distance Run, and previously for the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon and Tri-Rock Triathlon in Philadelphia. He is a director of the running and endurance Sports Medicine Program at Penn Medicine. Dr. Vasudevan provides non-operative management of musculoskeletal conditions affecting athletes and active individuals of all levels, and combines injury rehabilitation with injury prevention. He utilizes a variety of ultrasound-guided procedures and regenerative approaches such as platelet-rich plasma and percutaneous ultrasonic tenotomy. He sees patients at the Penn Medicine and the Philadelphia Veterans Administration hospital. Dr. Vasudevan attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. After his Transitional Year in Tucson, Arizona, he went to residency in PM&R at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and onwards to Stanford University for his fellowship in Sports Medicine. He has been in practice at the University of Pennsylvania since 2012.
