The Best At Home Dumbbell Workout: A Full-Body Training Plan

Table of Content

• The Dumbbells You Need For This Workout Plan
• Workout Programming Explained
• Top 10 New Exercises to Master in the New Year
• Day 2 – Legs and Core
• Dumbbell workout structure
• Workout 2 (Pull Emphasis)

The first two workouts are straight from regionals and open dumbbell WODs, making them great tests of fitness in the sport of CrossFit. The last workout is a total-body workout that builds strength, muscle, and endurance. Yes, you can absolutely build muscles using dumbbells only. Dumbbells will create resistance during movements which will activate your muscles and help them develop and grow.

Also note that the exact days of the week you choose to train on is up to you and your own schedule. All that really matters is that you keep the same every-other-day format intact with 2 consecutive days off at the end . The first is the “A” workout and the second is the “B” workout.

The Dumbbells You Need For This Workout Plan

Face your palms in toward your body with the dumbbells slightly away from your body; this will maintain tension in your side deltoid muscles. Press your feet into the ground, engage your hamstrings and start to rise back up at the waist. Keep your shoulders back and your head in line with your spine while concentrating on keeping your chest up .

A study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggests that larger ranges of motion lead to more muscle growth. After you complete this 12 week dumbbell workout plan you may simply want to do it again and continue to opt for heavier weights or more repetitions during each workout. Something we can't guarantee about the weight bench – especially if it's chest day.

Workout Programming Explained

This workout is simple and straightforward, but it is anything but easy. Test your strength, power, and mental stamina in this all-out sprint of a workout. We did swap ring dips for push ups for safety reasons. The beauty of at-home workouts is that they can be done at your own place of residence, whenever you want.

Windmills increase shoulder and torso mobility while strengthening your core and shoulders. Inhale as you lift the dumbbells in front of you with your palms facing down. Again, keep your arms extended, this time with a slight bend at the elbows to ease tension on your joints.

Top 10 New Exercises to Master in the New Year

If you truly don't want to change weights, then double the reps on the sets you're stronger on. Don't alternate your legs on the reverse lunge. Perform 10 lunges on one leg before you switch to the next to maximize the stimulus each one gets. If your grip is feeling shot at this point, it's fine to hold the dumbbells in the rack position. The rack's going to give you a little more core work, but both exercises work the legs the same. For the first movement, lie on the floor and squeeze the dumbbells together as you press up, which will bring more chest into the otherwise triceps-heavy floor press.

Go for the adjustable dumbbells; they can be found barely-used on Craigslist and elsewhere. “Combining exercises in a superset can be just as metabolically challenging as performing multiple exercise circuits,” Lowe says. This total-body workout will have you exhausted and done—fast,” Lowe says.

Pause at the top of the movement. The lying single-arm chest press increases chest, shoulder and triceps strength while also improving core strength and stability, specifically in your obliques. Add in the bombardment of social media "fitness experts" performing seemingly impossible or complex exercises and one can get lost in a sea of disinformation.

Be sure to keep your core braced, as the weight will be a little farther in front of you than it is with classic dumbbell curls. It can easily be done with a pair of dumbbells or converted into a single dumbbell option by simply using an open palms-up diamond grip. Extend the dumbbell up and over your body to work your shoulders and triceps like you would with any other bench press. Focus on correct form as you perform the exercise. Tilt the heels of your hands downward for extra range of motion so the dumbbell is less likely to hit your torso at the top.

The Full-Body Dumbbell Workout That Burns Calories In Double-Quick Time

Do it 2-3 times per week to increase strength, build muscle, tone up, and get fit. And while you can set yourself up with a squat rack, adjustable bench, and a set of Olympic weights, you don’t need to if you don’t want to. If you only have access to light dumbbells, focus on eccentric training . This will increase the difficulty as your muscles are under tension for longer.

After a transaction, your credit card information is not stored on our servers. Allow you level out any pesky muscle imbalances as they arise. Evenly-distributed gains keep injury at bay later down the line. Intraday Data provided by FACTSET and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by FACTSET. All quotes are in local exchange time.

One-Arm, One-Leg Bentover Row

For those in the know, there's a pot of gold waiting for you, a world of exercises you never knew existed, and workouts that will achieve the same results as those lifting heavy iron from the floor. This four-week, four-times-a-week training plan is guaranteed to get results if you follow it to the letter. And we really do mean to the letter, because as well as detailing the exercises, sets and reps that you’d expect, we also specify the rest periods and tempo – the speed you lift and lower the dumbbells. Stick to these workout instructions and you’ll increase the challenge and maximise your results. Not all of us have access to entire sets of dumbbells or a gym membership.

6 Dumbbell Chest Exercises & 3 Workouts To Get Ripped

Table of Content

• Week Dumbbell Workout Plan
• PDF Workout Plan
• Dumbbell Chest Flye
• You Only Need Two Dumbbells To Complete These Eight Chris Hemsworth Workouts

Tuck your arms while holding the dumbbells close to your torso, and bend at the elbow until your forearm and upper arm form a 90-degree angle. After the third press, bring the dumbbells down to a rack position with the dumbbells at your chest, either in a somewhat neutral grip or facing you, whichever is most comfortable. Keep your core tight, and sit back to perform the front squats.

Pause, then return your arm to the original starting position. Grab a dumbbell and lie flat on the floor, knees bent and feet planted firmly. Keeping your back straight, push your hips back and bend your knees out over your toes to squat down. Think about sliding down a wall, keeping your back as straight as possible and avoiding leaning forward or sticking your butt out. The exercises listed are in order of largest muscle groups to smallest.

Week Dumbbell Workout Plan

This is the quickest way to see results from resistance training. HowGet into position with your feet together and hands holding dumbbells shoulder-width apart. Brace your core so your body is straight from head to heels. Row the weight up, leading with your elbow. Bend your elbows to lower your chest, then press back up powerfully. If you have lighter weight dumbbells that don’t allow you to fail before 8 reps, perform the exercise to failure followed by seconds of rest.

Ym wisdom suggests that building a big chest is all about slapping as much weight as you can find on a barbell and bench-pressing it till you’re blue in the face. Strength, power, and fitness athletes should know by now the importance of accessory training. Increased lean muscle mass, enhanced movement patterning and control, and diversification of one’s fitness are all benefits of accessory training in a well-designed program. Push your lower back into the floor and lift your head and shoulders off the floor, pushing the weights up toward the ceiling as you do so.

PDF Workout Plan

This progressive order allows you to perform each exercise to the highest level of intensity. This is because working smaller muscle groups first may cause the larger muscle groups to tire prematurely, which may prevent you from obtaining the full benefit of the exercise. Use weight that you can complete all reps with while keeping form. The weight would be different for some than others. The following workout is designed for those who only have access to a set of dumbbells. You may not see anything in the exercises listed below that screams "core" like, say, the hollow-body rock from my "Quick Total-Body Workout," but trust me, you'll feel these where you should.

Adjust the number of sets based on how much time you have available and your energy levels. This plan is also an excellent go-to workout at your hotel fitness center when you are on the road. In fact, you can have a great workout with just your body weight. By the end of the 12 weeks, not only should you feel and look stronger, but you’ll also benefit from improved physical attributes, such as better balance, co-ordination and flexibility. After a brief pause, return to standing by pressing through your feet. Go as far as you can without straining your leg, which should be kept straight throughout.

Dumbbell Chest Flye

What’s more, in weeks three and four the tempo changes to make the exercises more challenging, so your target muscles experience more time under tension and greater workload. The body-part workouts have been selected to help you add muscle mass and transform your torso as quickly as possible. However, when you’re working out at home with limited options, this isn’t always possible. So, if you have more than one option, that’s great. But if you don’t, then repeating the same version of the same exercise will still work.

The second exercise will brutalize your leg muscles, whether you use one dumbbell or a pair of dumbbells. This is an explosive dumbbell lift that works your shoulders, back, biceps, brachialis, and legs, in one exercise. The first 4 exercises are going to be done in sets of three in the 6 to 8 rep range. If the dumbbells that you have allow you to fail within that range, then you’ve got the right dumbbells. If you’re ready to build some serious pressing strength and size in your chest, try one of the workouts below.

Adjusting recovery time helps equalize the workout program for everyone, no matter what weight you’re using. If you have heavier weights, perform the single dumbbell exercise variation. If you have lighter weights, use a pair of dumbbells, or simply do the set until you reach failure with dramatically decreased rest time to increase the metabolic effect. Use it in place of your current chest day and limit any other chest training you do in the same week to ensure recovery. Load up on the decline presses—they’re a serious strength builder—and use progressively lighter weights as the workout goes on and fatigue sets in. Finish with two sets of old-fashioned pushups, which will feel shockingly difficult after the other moves.

So, it's important to choose exercises and a fitness program that reduces your risk of injury while improving mobility, endurance, strength and posture. For example, you could perform this program on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This will give your body enough rest to recover in between workouts. The final complex in this workout will test your conditioning. It may not look like much, but if you spend a little time in a split stance, you'll see why I use this as a finisher.

Dumbbell Only Workout: 3 Day Full Body Dumbbell Workout

Using one weight means you can use your free hand for support, making this a very lower-back-friendly exercise. Place your palms against the inside of the weight plate, so the dumbbell is vertical. Barbell back squats are a great exercise, but home trainers will enjoy the convenience and effectiveness of the dumbbell goblet squat. It’s a very functional movement that replicates many everyday activities.

Why This is a fantastic move for hitting your side delts – the section of the shoulder muscles that, when developed, creates a strong and wide upper body. WhyThe crunch is great for developing your upper abs, but only if you do it right. And the added resistance of the dumbbell will force those muscles to up their game to lift and lower your torso without help from momentum. Again, the reps drop to 10 but another set is added and the tempo changes. Pause in the middle of the movement for one second for the first five exercises.

Here Are Two Dumbbell Workouts

Luckily I got help from the doctor and I have finally been able to add some exercise back to my routine. I have a physical job, so it has helped me to stay active daily. I'm just really glad I found this program to get some muscle mass back. It can be performed as a complete workout program for up to 8 weeks. At that point you may want to consider increasing the volume of the workouts or change up your routine to include more of a variety of equipment.

In weeks three and four you’ll do five sets of 10 and 12 reps respectively, so every week is harder than the previous week. So yeah, you can absolutely build muscle while training at home with nothing but dumbbells. Your muscles don’t know or care what equipment you’re using, nor do they know or care if you’re at home or in a big fancy gym.