What Matters More, Quads or Glutes

Timeless is the debate, Instagram models, and athletes, and sports coaches alike all want to take the stage and weigh in on their two cents about how important the glutes are in developing the ideal physique and top tier performance. 

According to this one dimensional approach for many years when I first started learning about Fitness, but over the years I've grown wiser and I will lead this contemplation with a thought experiment - What's the most important feature on a car, the gas pedal or the breaks?

A car without brakes is likely to end its Joy Ride in a heaping pile of wreckage, and a car without a gas pedal kind of misses the point entirely. 

We should not put the cart before the horse. Both the gas and the brakes are essential features to having a high performing vehicle...Or even just a functional vehicle.

You need both quads and glutes. Not having quad development is something which got me into a lot of trouble. You see, I'm a long-limed individual, and people with long limbs often need more assistance exercises around the knee and elbow - and since we are talking about the lower body, that means more exercises for calves, quads, and hamstrings.

Find any fancy programs links in this article, but if there was only one thing I hoped you would take away with you, it's to stop looking at the world through straw. 

We need a holistic approach to fitness, else you’ll only be fit for a very small number of tasks. 

Maybe your only goal is to be super fast, or have a nice butt... But if you're like most people then you're going to want to be able to stop, and you're also going to want people to admire your physique from more angles than your rear.

Just like we can’t have yin without yang, we cannot be only working to develop a butt without paying attention to the quads. Both matter.

If your goal is to build a massive dump truck or improve sprint speed that's awesome and then your glutes should definitely enjoy some limelight. But if you want to enjoy a 3D physique and long lasting fitness and performance then don’t neglect the quads.

If your glutes are the gas, then your quads are the break. 

Failing to work the quads in exchange for better glutes will almost certainly lead to knee problems, back problems, and lots of confusion when the dream you bought into fails to deliver the vision you were hoping for.