Back on the blog, back in the gym.

So tonight I decided to get back onto blogger and start my blogging again, Monday is also a new start after just over a month out I will be getting back into the gym. Working my way into it as I have been out with a pulled muscle, I still have some tightness but I will be starting back with plenty of stretching and mobility work. I was previously doing a lot of this along with my strength work and found it to help a lot with keeping the little tweaks and pulls you can sometimes feel when i'm pushing myself hard. Ive not blogged in years but thought i would give it a real go so here goes!

For my routine i will be following a base of Stronglifts 5x5 with some accessory work, as i dont feel the base 3 exercises are enough volume for hypertrophy

First off I will start with a good foam rolling session. I will go into more depth in a later blog about foam rolling. The main reason to foam roll is to release toxins out of the muscle And to generally loosen yourself up! Its painful but so rewarding! I recommend it to everyone!

Next up i will start with some squats, not going too heavy for the first week and concentrating on getting back into that groove. I will be doing 5x5 after 2-3 warm up sets, its extremely important to properly warm up with squats especially, since there are so many injuries you can sustain if you fail to do some simple warm up sets and stretches, making sure to warm up the entire body.

 Next i will jump into some bench press, again starting with 2-3 warm up sets, working my way progressively up to the working weight. Again 5x5 on this.

The 3rd exercise will be bent over row. Again with a warm up set or two up to the working set. 5x5 again. Making sure to get the stretch at the bottom and the contraction at the top. Spread those lats!

Now onto some accessory work, i will start off with some tricep pushdowns, this time without the warm ups but 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps, and then i will move on the some z bar curls, 2-3 sets of 8-10.

Keep tuned for more in depth into my training and eating!

#fitness #stronglifts #5x5 #workout #memyselfandthegym

I'm Back!

Hi guys, Firstly I would like to apologize for the long wait between posts, I have been rather busy in real life and haven't had much time to plan and write my blog. But I should be back now. And will try and get posts out at least every couple of days.

Now, I'll get to work today on looking into what I will be bringing you through the coming weeks. I'll be planning posts out and writing them up so I can post them up on a regular basis for you. I will be posting up some more look-over exercises I have a hell of a lot of different exercises I can go over and will also be looking into researching some good quality products you can buy to help out with your fitness regime. I'll be giving you reviews and comparing prices as well as the products themselves.

I shall be back tomorrow with another lookover. Catch you then and thank you for reading.

Exercise Lookover No.2 Deadlift

Hi guys, and welcome to my Exercise lookover series were I will be going over some different exercises giving my views, suggestions and ideas. Today I'm going to follow the Deadlift. As I believe that the deadlift is THE best muscle building exercise there is.

The Deadlift targets so many different exercises and is such a good bulk builder of the back that you cannot afford to miss it out of your routine, although some people will disagree with that statement saying there are alternatives that will do the same, there is nothing that comes close to the building abilities of the deadlift, if done correctly that is. If they arent done correctly then you wont be building because you'll be laid up with severe back pain and possibly worse, serious injury. So now you ask how to do it correctly not to injure yourself? Here's how:

1. Set a comfortable weight, this will vary on how much you have trained your back, how strong your hands are etc but generally I like to start with a relatively light weight and work up to the heavier weights. If you have never done this exercise before then you will definitely need to start on a light weight and practice the form until you feel you have the form bang on.
2. Step up to the bar, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Maybe a little less if you feel more comfortable. You want to have your feet pointing out slightly so you can bend your legs to pick up the bar and feel comfortable, this will not only help in avoiding pulling a calf muscle but also help in balance
3. The bar should be half way between your the tip of your toes and you ankle. Keep a flat back push the chest out like your a pigeon and pull the bar towards your body as you pull up.The bar should be pulled up your shins.
4. When you pull the bar up make sure you pull with your shoulders and your legs at the same time. Making sure the pull is all one move. The main cause for injury's other than not keeping the back straight is not moving the shoulders and legs at the same time and straightening the legs too quickly while you a still leaning forward too much.
5. The bar should still be bent by the time the bar gets to the knees. with the bar pushing against you. As you start coming up the thigh bring your hips forward and start to stand up straight, keeping the back straight at all times As you approach that last third of your legs be sure not to lean back this has the potential for serious injuries in the back and hamstrings as well as the risk of knocking you off balance as the weight comes up.
6. As you go down, use the same technique as bringing it up, keep the back straight and keep the bar as close to the body as possible.

I have found this great video here as a visual aid to the form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-O_MT72rck .

The way I usually like to work up to deadlift is to do pyramid sets,  the first set would be 5 reps of a comfortable light weight, then I would put another 10 Kg on and do 4 reps, the 3 reps with another 10 kg and then a working set of 2 reps and a final working set of 1 rep.

Thank you for reading and I would like to thank my first couple of follower, I appreciate it a lot! Please like me on facebook and follow, I will be posting more and more posts like this as well as some others soon.

exercise lookover No.1 Bench press

Have you ever wondered why you can never really target your whole chest properly with the flat bench press? Particularly the lower part Ever wondered why you always feel the burn in your shoulders rather than the chest? I did when I was starting training for a good couple of years. I would always feel it in my shoulders and the pump and growth would all be in my anterior deltoid (the front part of your shoulder muscle) as well as in the upper corners of my chest which looked quiet strange. as well as being extremely frustrating for me wanting a good chest. So I did a lot of research, and I mean a lot, found a hell of a lot of ways to do the bench press but one video hit the nail on the head. And here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUcjOIZc80c.

As soon as I saw the video I immediately wanted to bench, with this technique as soon as I lay down on the bench ready to pull that heavy bar down to my inhaled chest I felt like I was finally going to experience that long awaited burn all through my chest that I had longed for. And I got it! I was amazed at how those few little differences could change my whole look on the bench press, I was addicted to the bench press! More so than I ever had been before.The burn felt amazing and the growth was brilliant. It took the heat off my shoulders so i was incredibly fresh for my shoulder workout the day after. And I ached like I'd never ached before!

So remember those tips when doing your bench like this:

1. belly through and stick your shoulders into the bench, Retracting your shoulders and sticking your chest up like a pigeon!
2. Someone should be able to stick there hand between you back and the bench!
3. Take a breath before you bring the bar down!
4. Make that elbow correction! this brings your hands and elbows away from your shoulders and shifts the emphasis onto your chest and away from those shoulders
5. Pull the bar down, don't just let the weight of the bar bring you down!
6. Remember its a full body contraction!
7. Down slow, then drive the bar up!
8. When spotting use an alternated grip, make sure you have a good hold especially for big lifters!

An introduction to me myself and the gym

Hello there world! And welcome to the world of Will hutton.

Now, this is my first blog, so where to start? An introduction methinks.

Well, My name is William Alexander Hutton. I'm from St Helens in Merseyside. I'm 22 and 5 months old. 6"5' tall and currently weigh in at a meager 12 stone after being out of work and sitting at home all the time with the only exercise being tidying up the house. But I've recently found myself work at a Hermes Distribution centre and since starting working there and having to work very physically I have been really eager to get back in the gym and get back on track with my diet.

As with most people who sit at home with there thumb up there butts applying for jobs and struggling with money problems do, I have not been paying any attention to diet or health.which for me is really quiet disturbing because I love the gym! and everything that comes with it, the overall feeling that your doing yourself good, the feeling of empowerment and the energy it gives you.

Right, so... Lets move onto a little history about me myself and the gym.
As I stated earlier I'm 6"5' and currently only weighing in at 12 stone on the dot. which is the lightest I've been since I was 16. My heaviset was 13 stone 10 which i was very happy with. I feel like there will be a lot of tall guys in the same boat as me, struggling to eat and gain wieght and then an illness comes along and you lose it all. Although I'm currently sitting at the wieght I was when I first started training I have gone through lots of different routines, tried a lot of different diets and done a hell of a lot of research, and i mean A LOT!

I've always wanted to be one of these 6 foot odd tall guys with a decent body because quiet frankly there rare. And most of that is down to genetics. Being an ectomorph is a struggle, but I intend to beat it and get myself that body that i've wanted since being a teenager. Not for the girls or the attention or for the intimidation factor, but for myself and myself only. which after all is the best reason to work out and stay fit.

In my blog, I plan on leading you through the diet and he workouts day by day, although I wont post everyday i shall keep a record and put it in my posts every couple of days. I shall be going through my diet and routine with you guys, from a true ectomorphs point of view. I will post up pictures of my progress from time by time so you can see for yourself how the workout routines are going, every time I try something new I will post a picture and then when I finish it I will post up another. As well as giving you this insight into my progress I plan on doing some sub blogs going through different training routines, diets and breaking them down and giving my opinion on them. Although I don't even have a gym membership yet, I will be starting to up my intake in calories and focusing on eating plenty of good fats and protein this week while steadily doing some home workouts and techniques to work up to starting the gym at the weekend.

So this is where my first post will end, I've been wanting to write a blog for years, since blogging first started to be popular but always thought it would be a waste of time and I never knew what to blog about. But all this time it was sitting right under my nose. So from Will, Thats the way the cookie crumbles... Oh I'm not allowed cookies on this diet? Damn... Thats the way the egg cracks I suppose? Yum Protien!