Chapter 4: Training

by Alex Hofer

Since I began weight lifting seriously about 9 months ago, through trial and error I have learned many things that I wish someone would've told me. I am only now limited by an injury I accrued within the first several weeks of weight lifting. I have been dealing with quite a painful herniated disk in the upper part of my spine in my neck. This had me incapacitated in my bed for weeks and it had nearly paralyzed me. I was in a very low point because I did not understand why I would be given such a set back or punishment for trying to live life the right way. I'm not a very religious person but I asked god to give me my body back and heal me, and in return I will never abuse myself again. I made a promise to myself and god that I would never take my body for granted again in any way. Eventually I started healing and was able to ease back into training. Still to this day I put an ice pack on my neck and treat the inflammation with CBD to make it easier to lice with but I am thankfully able to push on again. The reason I sustained this injury was because I had not taken any rest days for weeks, I was in a calorie deficit, I didn't warm up, and I tried to bench press a weight for far more reps than normal without resting.

Some tips I would give to someone on their journey with weight lifting is to try all kinds of grips and attachments and exercises to figure out which variations of exercises feel the best for you. Everyone's body is different so one exercise that might feel great for your friend may feel like shit for you. It's up to you to find a variation that is more compatible with your joints, tendons, and stature. I would also recommend at least 2 off days per week. If you don't rest, you greatly increase your chance of injury.

I know safety is lame, but as someone who has had a serious injury keep them from training, it is the biggest thing that can derail your progress and mental health and nobody wants to endure such a setback. Keep in mind that being in a calorie deficit puts you at a higher likelihood of injury and makes it more difficult to heal from anything with a lesser amount of nutrition and energy than normal in your body. Even if you've never been injured, consider the repercussions of it so you actively keep yourself in check. Listen to your body and if something feels a bit funny or you feel a tweak one day, DO NOT push through it. You're not a pussy for chilling out, but you're a stubborn dumbass if you don't listen to your body. Consistency is where the results are, not going past your limits every set. If you are going to failure in each set and hit far too many sets in a workout (aka junk volume) you will have a harder time recovering and would actually see less gains and greater risk of injury. Meanwhile, going 1-3 reps shy of failure in each set will keep you much further away from injury and still promote roughly the same amount of hypertrophy/muscle growth stimulus as going to absolute failure. Lastly, put your higher priority muscle groups at the beginning of your workout while you still have energy and then the low priority muscles at the end. When you're gassed, you won't be able to hit things as hard.

My Training Split

Chest/Shoulders
  1. Warm-up Flat Bench (6-8 reps, 2/3 normal weight)
  2. Flat Bench (2 Sets of 10 Reps)
  3. Incline Bench (4 Sets of 12 Reps)
  4. Chest Flies (3 Sets of 20 Reps)
  5. Bent Over Rear-Delt Side Raises (3 Sets of 20)
  6. Lateral Delt Raises (3 Sets of 16 Reps)
  7. Shoulder Shrugs (3 Sets of 30)
Back
  1. Stretch Lats/Back
  2. Warm-up Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs (6-8 Reps, 2/3 normal weight)
  3. Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs (3 Sets of 16 Reps)
  4. Close Grip Lat Pull Downs (3 Sets of 16 Reps)
  5. Wide Grip Rows (2 Sets of 16 Reps)
  6. Close Grip Rows (2 Sets of 16 Reps)
  7. Motor Pulls (2 Sets of 16 Reps)
Arms
  1. Stretch arms
  2. Warm-Up Tricep Close-Grip Bar Pull Down (6-8 Reps, 2/3 of normal weight)
  3. Tricep Close-Grip Bar Pull Down (4 Sets of 16 Reps)
  4. Tricep Rope Pull Down (3 Sets of 16 Reps)
  5. Warm-Up Outward Dual Bicep Curls (10 Reps, 2/3 normal weight)
  6. Outward Dual Bicep Curls (3 Sets of 16 Reps)
  7. Solo Cross Body Bicep Curls (1 Set of 16 Reps per arm)
Legs/Abs
  1. Stretch legs
  2. Calve Raises (4 sets of 40)
  3. Barbell Hip Thrusts (4 Sets of 16)
  4. Goblet/Dumbbell Squats (4 Sets of 16)
  5. Weighted Sit-Ups (4 Sets of 24 Reps)
1 Hour of Cardio (Brisk Walk or Fair Intensity Cycling)

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