Recently got back into the gym and feel absolutely wiped after about 4 lifts. Lately I’ve been doing an A/B style routine where:
Workout A: Squat, bench, RDL, row.
Workout B: Deadlift, OHP, leg press, lat pulldown
Now I’m not asking for program critique, but I’m wondering if it’s okay to not do more accessories?
The big question is what would you want to get out of doing more accessory exercises? If you’re hitting all the muscles you want to hit, and it looks like you’re doing the classic routine that hits the big areas evenly, I dont see any issues with 2 per week, you’ll still get stronger and grow muscle, depending on how weights and reps. Further, more workouts equals more fatigue which equals higher risk of injuring yourself, so if you just want to do accessories for the sake of doing them, that’s just burning energy to wear yourself out, and you could probably do a better job of that through cardio. I do a couple of accessory days myself, but that’s more shoulder and wrist work to help my tennis, as well as a functional leg training day in amongst there since I work outdoors a lot. It all comes down to what you want out of it and what your body will allow.
Also this is probably a poor reason but I “feel” like I should do more accessories. It’s probably peer pressure from seeing others doing them at the gym - but I don’t know their goals and how well they align with mine, so I should probably overthink it less lol
You make a good point. For accessories I want to do more pressing since I feel it’s difficult to progress in that lift and more adductor/abductor work to strengthen my knees. And more core work never hurts. Tbh though these are all just “icing on the cake” as long as I’m hitting the big compounds.
Guess I just wish my body allowed me to do more, haha. Thanks!