Here's an interesting point, the quads and hamstrings BOTH fire when performing the concentric portion of a squat. Now that shouldn't be possible, because we typically think of the quads extending the knee and the hamstrings flexing the knee. However, both of those muscle groups contain muscles (most notably the rectus femoris in the quads) that are 2 joint muscles, meaning due to their attachments they have the ability to cause motion at both the hips and the knees but to different degrees. So two apparently opposing muscles can actually work in a sort of synergy, which the quads extending the knee and the hamstrings extending the hip as the glute fires. And through this information it is actually determined that the glutes are knee extensors due to the role they play in causing activation of the quads during the lift. Similarly, the quads actually produce force in plantarflexion at the ankles, which explains why your calves aren't tired even after lifting heavy enough to theoretically put them close to max exertion.
That's a lot of really complicated anatomy/physiology crammed into a brief paragraph, but the main point is that all the muscles of the body work together to produce and stabilize movement in complex ways. Now it's extremely important for optimal performance and injury prevention to make sure the right muscles are doing the work, because the body is so adaptable it can function doing the wrong thing adequately for a long time before injury sets in.
You're on the right track though, Left leg pushes and right leg stabilizes, then right leg pushes and left leg stabilizes. That's the basis of movement.


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