I currently work out 4 days a week. Mon/thurs.-upper body consisting of bench press, incline press, shoulder press, shrugs, bent over rows, pullups/chinups. on Tues/Fri lower body consisting of squats, dead lifts, leg press, calf raises, lunges. these routines arent set in in stone and lifts vary, but this is the base of my plan. I also run 3 days a week. My question is, how important is it that i work bi's/tri's and abs. Im usually pretty tired by the end of my routine, should I take more pre-workout to ensure i have more energy to push longer? change my routine? should i not worry too much about it? I am just trying to stay in shape, not be a model. thanks for the help.
P.S. - I am in afghanistan, so pretty much I have about the same equipment as a prison yard. no cables, no machines. just some dumbells, an adjustable bench, and a squat/pullup rack.
you are working the tris with the bench, incline, overhead and pullups/chinups. you are working bis with the pullups/chinups, bent rows and deadlifts.
if you want to work those parts a bit more use a more narrow grip with a lot of those lifts. or maybe change out incline and a pulling movement for pullovers once and a while.
another idea is every 4th week make it a deload week for the other lifts and you can hit bis/tris hard.
Don't neglect your core. You can super set core movements with your upper and body movements. Dynamic and isometric bridges, as well as well performed abdominal (correct pelvic tilt to dynamically work abdominals and not hip flexors) will improve nearly every aspect of fitness.
^^^ This is great advice. Remember that you're core links your lower body to your upper body and vice versa. Also, because of this...it allows for power transfer during explosion movements, etc. Speaking on a health stand point...a strong, stable and balanced core (obliques, rectus abdominus, erector spinae, and associated muscles) will help you maintain natural spinal curvature during your day to day or while you're lifting. This is infinitely important if you're a power lifter or strength athlete. Nothing is worse than loading a spine with heavy weight on your shoulders and not being able to maintain it as you squat down. Can you say slipped disks?
Moral of my rant, train abs in a functional way a majority of the time. Anti-flexion workouts are a sound idea that works the abs and lower back without putting the spine at much risk of damage due to flexion or extension. I will utilize flexion and extension exercises often, but focus on anti-flexion because I hate back pains...
