Hi, guys!
I’m trainer Amy Jo with ATHLEANXX and today we’re going to talk about if you’re quad
dominant, and how to fix it.
Being quad dominant is something that really interfere with your glutes.
It can really interfere with your glute training and how your glutes improve, where your mental
mind connection is with your muscle mass, and how your training can be fixed.
You can!
So how do you know if you’re quad dominant?
Well, when you do a leg exercise, when you do a leg workout, where are you sore?
Are you feeling it in your glutes?
Are you feeling the contraction in your glutes?
Are you sore the next day in your glutes?
Or is it mainly burning out in your legs and you’re sore in your quads, and not your
glutes?
Even though you’re doing a lot of the glute exercises that you’ve read about and have
seen.
I am quad dominant.
I understand why I am quad dominant.
That’s just how I was created.
That’s genetics.
So how do I fix it?
I have really started to focus on the mind-muscle connection, and starting to engage my gluteus
with a warmup.
The very first thing I’ve done now is to focus on a warmup, and get my glutes firing.
That’s really what it is.
You’re not firing those nerves into the glutes, and therefore you can’t really feel
the contraction.
So it’s not being developed enough in the glutes.
Therefore, your quads are always taking over.
They’re doing the lunge.
They’re doing the squat and your glutes are not.
So I’ve had to work hard over the few years when I realized that was one of my weaknesses,
to increase the glutes by focusing on the mind-muscle connection, starting with a good
warmup.
Then I started to realize “Man, my glutes are growing!”
I was sore in my glutes and I started to change the way my leg workouts went.
It wasn’t that I was doing all these different exercises.
It wasn’t a crazy new, brand new, twisted side lunge that is making your glutes grow.
It’s the mind-muscle connection that will help you perform the same-old leg press, squats,
walking lunges; all those exercises.
It will help you perform that differently.
So if you don’t start to focus on that first you’re going to remain quad dominant, and
your quads will always overpower what your glutes are capable of.
So I like to start with bands.
I think that’s really important for a good warmup because it really starts with the intricate,
small muscle groups of the glutes.
Then I can move into the bigger exercises.
I like to tie this around my knees.
You can place it around your ankles as well.
I think it’s more effective up here – for me, that is – I’ve found.
So I like to place it around the upper part of my knee, lower quads.
I’m going to start just by doing kickbacks.
By pumping here I’m going to warmup and it starts to produce blood flow.
Blood flow starts to fire the nerve endings into the glutes, and then I’ll go into side
to sides.
Same thing here.
It’s just repetitive.
It’s getting my mental state forces on the area, and it’s getting it warmed up.
Anytime you warmup – any muscle group, really – you’re going to have a better workout.
so I’m going to use this band to continuously – probably for about three minutes – do
a solid warmup.
Side to side squats.
So I’ll do about 10 on each side.
I leave this around my knees the whole time.
So ill do about 3 minutes really until I start feeling the burn.
The different angles, I like to include that as well.
So now I’m going to go sides.
So you can hold onto something, or press your knee against the bench.
Side glutes here.
So I’ve got about a minute left.
I’m going to hit a whole three minutes.
Then I’m going to hit that other side.
That’s what’s important about getting the blood flow in there at the beginning.
Once you start hitting the bigger muscle groups with a heavier weight, and heavier exercise
you’re going to be ready to go.
Then I might go back to the kickbacks.
Pump it up.
You can even add in some wider variations on squats here.
So it’s just increasing blood flow, and really setting that mind-muscle connection
right.
Then even bends.
So you could kickback, show you from this angle here.
Kickback.
About 10 seconds left.
Kick back here.
Great.
Two, and one.
Good.
Awesome.
So there you have it.
A great warmup.
Then what I’m going to do is go into walking lunges.
Then I’m going to go into hip thrusts, then I’ll go into stiff legged dead lift.
All the exercises that maybe you’ve already been doing, but you’re getting sore in your
quads, and your quads are taking over.
It’ll take a little while, too.
That’s the thing to remind yourself.
It’s not going to be one exercise, or one leg workout and you’re going to just hit
it, and feel it.
It takes time.
But if you really slow it down and start to focus on it, don’t get frustrated.
I would say it took me a good three months, which is one leg workout a week, 12 leg workouts,
three to actually really start feeling the development there, and starting to feel, and
get sore on certain exercises.
So really trying to focus on the mind-muscle connection, and then perform the exercises
that you’re already doing.
But starting with a warmup, maybe give this a try with a band.
Three minute warmup, all the exercise that I was doing, and let me know what you think.
See if that’s going to help you.
Take your time.
Don’t get frustrated.
Be patient.
But also realize, you can fix it.
you can reverse that.
So, it could eventually be one of your strengths.
But anything that you want to have advice on out there, I mean, I like to listen to
people weren’t – God didn’t give them the perfect ‘whatever’.
I like to listen to people who started of with a weakness and guess what?
Now it’s their strength.
Those are people that I really value advice on because I know that they had to work hard
to achieve that body part and it’s something that, obviously, is a weakness for me.
So improving that, and building strength over time you can do it.
Comment below.
Let me know what you guys think.
Let’s start a discussion about it.
I’m trainer Amy Jo.
Thanks for joining me.
We’ll see you next time.
Bye.