Don't Be Scared Of Your Quads

Many hikers out there seem to think they are 'doing things wrong' if they feel their quads doing most of the work when hiking up or down steep hills.

​Today I break this subject down a bit, and explore why this isn't something you have to get obsessive about.

​Episode Transcript:

​[0:00] All right, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. And today we are talking a little bit about the glutes and the quads and the other leg muscles. And we're gonna be just diving into a subject that I've seen pop up loads of times recently, which just needs a little bit of a spotlight shown on. Now, when it comes down to it, how often, ask yourself, how often have you heard these phrases? Whether it's online, from a physio, from a personal trainer, whatever it may be. Your glutes are not strong enough. you need to use your glutes more. Your quads do too much work or your quad dominant or your glutes are weak or whatever may be. You know, these phrases, I'm sure you've heard before and they get thrown around time and time and time and time again.

[0:49] And in all honesty, sometimes these particular phrases can be a little bit of a problem. And I want to tell you why. Now, when When it comes down to training, hiking, general health, pain prevention, injury prevention, a bunch of other things, having strong glutes and your glutes are your bum muscles is a really, really, really positive thing. The glutes play a really big role in walking, running, different movements, protecting the body from pain and injury, and a bunch of other things. They're big muscles in the body and they're really, really, really effective in a lot of different situations. And for many people out there, and probably most people out there, improving the strength and the capacity and the endurance of their glutes can be incredibly beneficial across a vast array of different situations. And actually putting some focus into improving the strength of the glutes can be really, really beneficial.

[1:40] And because of this, you'll find many people in the health and fitness space who spend a huge amount of time talking about this. And I myself have talked about this quite a bit, but we'll often see physios, chiros, physical therapists, personal trainers, influencers, massage therapists, different group exercise classes, and Pilates instructors or whatever it may be. And they'll say, you know what, always, always, always, you need to get stronger glutes or you need to be using your glutes more in certain situations, which is fine. You know, there's There's nothing particularly wrong with that, and it's usually, you know, decent advice.

[2:13] However, sometimes people can just take this a little bit too far, and I see this all the time in the hiking community.

[2:20] And sometimes people phrase these in a way which is just a little bit too much. Or maybe people read this and they start obsessing about this, and they start thinking they're doing things wrong. If they feel other parts of their legs doing the work, they don't feel the glutes doing all their work, and they're just obsessing this and thinking and they're doing things wrong. And it's a little bit tricky. So to put this into context, you know, a classic example of this is in the hiking community. And I've seen this numerous times when someone does a video and they'll do a video on YouTube or Instagram or something like that. And they'll talk about whether it's uphill or downhill or even on the flats. And they'll do a video just talking about, okay, this is a way you can walk where you can use your glutes more. And they'll demonstrate some type of technique and they'll say, hey, do this and you'll get your glutes working more. You'll feel this in the glutes or whatever it may be.

[3:07] And they'll typically, yeah, do a demonstration. They'll, you know, say, hey, if I do this, your glutes will do more and you should feel it here, which is fine. You know, there's so many of these videos out there. There's nothing wrong with them. But then people get caught up. And they start getting obsessive about this. And they start sort of, you know, coming down to it. And they're like, oh, well, they start complaining. Well, when I go downhill, I always feel like my quads are doing all the work. Or when I go uphill, you know, it's always my calves and my quads which are burning out. Or I just never feel it in my glutes. My glutes don't work. And they start getting really obsessive about this and just going down this rabbit hole. And they just start thinking, I need to use my glutes more, my glutes more, my glutes more, my glutes more. I'm doing things wrong because my quads are working or whatever it may be. But honestly, when it comes down to it, and you can hear me getting worked up saying this, because it does work me up a bit. But when it comes down to it, there is nothing wrong with feeling your quads, which are the front of your thighs, or your other muscles in your legs, working during your hiking. There's nothing wrong if you feel those areas doing most of the work. The quadriceps, another example I'm going to keep on hammering home, it is a big muscle group. It is all the front of your thighs. There's four solid muscles in there.

[4:15] And they are there for a reason. They are going to play a big, big role in all types of your hiking, uphills, downhills, flats, traverses, rock scrambling. In any situation on the trail, your quads are there to do a lot of work. And in any of these situations, ultimately, if you feel like the quads are doing most of the work and you feel like they're burning out and you don't feel a huge amount in the glutes, that's totally fine. It's not a big deal. Your glutes are still going to be working, even if they're not getting super burny, even if you don't feel like they're doing most of the work, they are still going to be working. And ultimately, even if you have the strongest glutes in the world, you spent years and years and years hammering home these, you still want your quads to be doing their fair share of the work on the trail as well.

[5:02] Sometimes people can just get a little bit one-dimensional with this. They just get obsessive and go really, really, really narrow-minded. And they just start thinking they're doing things wrong when ultimately they're not doing anything. So when it comes down to it, I just want you to to keep us in mind. Strengthening your glutes through training can be really, really beneficial for most hikers. And I really, really strongly encourage this. And I personally believe every single hiker out there as part of their strength training should be including some type of glute strengthening, doing things like glute bridges or single leg deadlifts or whatever may be. There's a million or one ways to do it. And I strongly, strongly encourage trying to strengthen your glutes. It's going to be beneficial. And if you are doing things on the trail where you can feel your your glutes working a little bit more in different situations. If you're going uphills or downhills and you feel like the glutes are kicking in a bit more, this is rarely a bad thing. It's usually going to be beneficial. But ultimately, if you feel like other parts in your body are doing most of the work on the trail, that is totally fine. If your quads are doing most of the work on the uphills or the downhills, that is totally fine. If you feel like the carbs are sort of kicking in when you're going uphill, that's fine.

[6:12] You're not doing things wrong. You don't have to get obsessive about this. In all honesty, when it comes down to your actual hiking, I'm a strong advocate of just ultimately just walking how it feels natural and comfortable for you. You don't have to get obsessive about different ways of walking and get obsessive just trying to feel your glutes more. Some people will get really good benefits out of walking one way. Some people get really good benefits out of the other. I really advocate for just walking how that feels natural uncomfortable. And ultimately, again, if you do feel like you're struggling with certain things, if you're going down hills and your knees are getting really sore, or if you're going up hills and your hips are getting really sore, or whatever it may be, and you think your glutes might be holding your back, then absolutely hone in on this in your training. Put a bunch of emphasis into your training. Build it up. Progress it. Strengthen it. Get more endurance. And do this all in your training sessions. And ultimately, if you can do this in your training sessions, naturally, when you're actually out on the trail, your glutes will be more efficient. They will kick in more. They'll do more of their fair share of the job. And naturally, it will happen, even if you don't feel like the glutes are burning out or doing the majority of the work.

[7:17] So, I feel like I've hammered this point home enough. And as I said before, you know, this does work me up a little bit. So, I really did want to sort of talk about this because it's such an important thing. Ultimately, next time you're on the trail, and if you start thinking you're doing things wrong, if your quads are burning out or something like that, just give Give yourself a little pinch, break that line of thought, and ultimately just get back to enjoying yourself.

[7:42] Obsess about your muscles in your training, fine, that's not a problem. When you're actually walking and hiking, just walk and hike and enjoy yourself. That's my personal belief.

[7:52] So with that being said, I hope that makes sense. I hope that maybe helps a few people who maybe have gone down this rabbit hole before and have been obsessing about things and maybe thinking they're doing things wrong or whatever it may be. And I really do hope it helps. So thank you so much for listening. And we'll talk to you very soon. Bye.

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