Can you advise a good dumbbell only workout?

Hello! I think that I can share with you my own experience. I have read this article too. I decided to do some dumbbell exercises. It was interesting for me.

When I started to do this type of sports exercise I followed all of the pieces of advice that mentioned in this article. Without any doubts,  they were beneficial for me.

However, now I have an individual dumbbell workout programme. It is perfect! It works effectively, that’s why I lose some extra weight in a short period. Probably you are looking for something similar. So now, I want you to share with my dumbbell workout programme. Hope it will be useful for you. 

Generally, a good dumbbell workout programme duration is three days per week. It is essential, according to the fact that our organism needs to rest after sports training. Also, if you would like to go running, it is better for you to do it in free from dumbbell workout day. For example, I do my dumbbell workout programme on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However, I also do morning running on Tuesday and Thursday,

So, my Monday dumbbell workout programme:

Dumbbell Squats (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Bench Press (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Renegade Rows  (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Curl  (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Triceps Extension (3 sets / 12 reps)
*Also I do  Full Sit-Ups to make my body more beautiful (3 sets / 25 reps)

My Wednesday dumbbell workout programme:

Dumbbell Bench Step Ups (3 sets / 12 reps)
Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlifts (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Presses (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise (3 sets / 20 reps)
Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs (3 sets / 15 reps)
Dumbbell Side Bends (3 sets / 15 reps)

My Friday dumbbell workout programme:

Dumbbell Lunge (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Bench Press (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Curl (3 sets / 12 reps)
Dumbbell Triceps Extension  (3 sets / 12 reps)
*Also I do leg raises  (3 sets / 25 reps) and  pull-ups  (3 sets / 12 reps)

Finally, use my dumbbell workout programme and enjoy your beautiful and muscular body! 

Good luck and have a beautiful day!

Hi there!

I am glad that you have already achieved some results. Why do you want to use only dumbbells? By the way, there are many interesting articles that can help you like CROSSFIT TRAINING.

Let’s return to your question. Your training should consist only of exercises with dumbbells. It should be based on hard exercises at home or in the gym. Such training will bring muscle growth when using dumbbell alone! This training is always available for a long time. Work on this program. You will see results in muscle growth and volume.

I recommend doing 8-14 approaches for both women and men in each approach.

Your workouts should take no more than half a week. The biceps muscles recover in about 2 days. Let it be Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Do not include extra exercise in the workout. Do not forget about cardio training in the morning or in the evening after the gym.

The set named “Split”.

This month plan consists of 4 workouts at home per week. Each lesson is directed to few parts of the body: the first is on the back, the second is on the triceps and biceps, the third is on the abs. The fourth is on the shoulders. This exercise program with dumbbells at home helps you grow muscle as fast as possible and improve your body. You will work on few muscle groups, so that while one part of the body works, the other will recover. This will keep the intensity at a high level and lift the greatest weight without disturbing the equipment. Each class at home with dumbbells for better muscle growth should be carried out with maximum intensity.

Hello!
I am glad to hear from you! A few years ago I was trying to gain muscles and did a lot of recommended top back workouts from experts. It really helped me to achieve good results. But later I wanted to change something and started to follow the training program with dumbbells. If you have a pair of dumbbells at home and you do not want to spend your money every month on the gym and look really fit, and also have a great shape, then you just should make a homework training program (especially with dumbbells). Remember that the key to success is discipline and hard work. The most important things are the schedule of training and proper nutrition.

Basic principles of training with dumbbells:

1. The basic principle of success, strength, and endurance – the principle of gradual increase of loads. With a fairly balanced diet, you can increase the muscle mass. Your main sports equipment – dumbbells, that should be adapted to add extra weight over time. For beginners, there will be enough dumbbells up to 10 kg each one. In the future (several months with intensive training) you have to think about doubled weight.

2. Breathing
Work with dumbbells requires a concerted work of the entire body, including lungs. Each moment of the main effort should be accompanied by exhalation. For example, if you lye and press dumbbells from your chest, then during the ascent you need to exhale. The same thing with lifting dumbbells to biceps, exercises on triceps, etc. Also, it is necessary to conduct training no less than three times a week. Between training days you should have a day for rest so that the body managed to recover.

3. Learn to feel your body
It means that while doing your training with dumbbells you need to maximally concentrate your attention on those muscles that work. This helps to qualitatively process the right group of muscles, which does not involve the use of unwanted fibers within a separate set.

4. Warm-up
Every training with dumbbells should be accompanied by a warm-up complex. Before taking the working weight, dumbbells, it is necessary to prepare joints for the coming load. For example, just do circular swings with hands around the shoulders and around the elbows. You can also twist the palms of your hands and fold your hands in the lock. After the initial warm up, it is necessary to disperse the pulse and blood pressure. So, you should do jumps or jogging and add the same complex of exercise that you do for the initial warming, taking in the hands dumbbells at 1-2 kg.

5. Nutrition
If you do a training program with dumbbells, your nutrition should be separate and include 5-6 meals per day. If you are naturally thin (ectomorphs), you should actively eat carbohydrates (porridges, flour products, sweets, fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc.), not forgetting about the protein (meat of poultry, less pork and beef). To reduce the load on the gastrointestinal tract, you can buy a sports nutrition gunner or other supplements that will fill energy losses and will supply your muscles with building material. If you are overweight (endomorphs), you need to reduce the amount of carbohydrates and sweets in your diet and increase protein intake. Such a low-carbohydrate diet activates the process of burning fat in your body.

If you will follow all these recommendations and basic principles of training with dumbbells, you will get effective results very soon. Hope I managed to help you)

Hi!
I also want to help you to know a really good dumbbell only workout program that will help you to achieve the results you want. So, I want to present you one effective training program with dumbbells that I consider the best one.

The training program with dumbbells:

#MONDAY (chest, shoulders)
• Dumbbells lying 3×10
• Tilt dumbbells to the sides and back in front of you lying down (you can put a soft stool under your back) 3×10
• Tilt dumbbells in the sides (hands are in the same axis from the trunk) 3×3
• twisting 3×20

#WEDNESDAY (biceps, triceps)
• lifting dumbbells on the biceps in turn 3×12
• French dumbbells 3×12
• Concentrated lifting dumbbells on each hand 3×12
• Exercise hammers

#FRIDAY (thighs, back, legs)
• Squats with dumbbells 3×12
• Tilt dumbbells in the sides and back sitting (standing) in a forward inclination 3×12
• Lifting on socks with a burden 3x max
• Twisting press technique 3×15

The essence of this training program is to combine some muscle groups. You can easily combine basic exercises on a chest with exercises on a shoulder, to hips exercises – a back, to a biceps – triceps exercises. Each repeat must occur at a moderate pace, hands and working muscles should be in constant stress. When performing biceps exercises, it is important to slowly lower the dumbbells so that the muscles feel the maximum resistance, not relaxing the arm at the lower point and excluding the movement by inertia. Elbows should constantly be tense.

Also, if you have your training at home, you should combine it with street workouts on the bars. People who are inclined to be fat, need to devote to the days when they can be engaged in cardio exercises – running, hiking in the pool. On the contrary, slim boys should get rid of such aerobic loads, saving their energy and directing it to intense force training.

By the way, do not forget to control the result of your dumbbells only training. You should regularly record your progress in a special notebook or computer program. In this case, you can see your progress and know the weaknesses. Add to your notebook all working scales on the training day and the number of repetitions. Make up your menu for a week. It will help to balance your diet.

Moreover, to make your training with dumbbells more effective and interesting, be always motivated. A human is a very lazy creature. We constantly need internal motivation. As soon as you want to miss the workout, turn on your favorite music and imagine how the muscles are blown during the workout and start jogging. Use motivating videos with well-known athletes. I recommend you to listen to the best motivational workout songs to do sport in 2019. I like them.
So, it’s enough to be a lazy amoeba, everything in your hands. If you follow my piece of advice, be sure you will not regret it.

Workouts with dumbbells at home for men usually take place every other day. For example, Mon, Wed, and Fri. Three workouts a week is quite enough. Below we will analyze the complex of exercises and the number of approaches and repetitions that you will need to perform in order to get the desired result.

In fact, the exercises themselves are repeated from program to program. But differ mainly in the number of repetitions (how many times you lift the projectile for 1 approach), the rest time between approaches and the number of exercises themselves. But we will talk about this below.

When practicing with dumbbells at home, a combined complex is often used, in which we work on all major muscle groups in one workout. All exercises are performed, on average, for 10-15 repetitions, in 3 working approaches. Rest between sets for 2-3 minutes. Do the exercises in exactly the order in which they are listed.

As I wrote above, such exercises with dumbbells can be performed 2-3 times a week, every other day. But only at the initial stage. In the future, I recommend working on a full-fledged program in which the muscles are divided into groups, workouts and days of the week, depending on your goals and objectives.

How to pump with dumbbells: basic training for men at home!

I am training with my husband together at home. He know about all secrets and tips to pump up with dumbbell trainnig.
He says that it is recommended to pump up the press at the end of the workout. Or, in general as a separate “block” on the days free from basic workouts.

You can train not only in the gym but also at home!
Training in the gym with the personal coach – the best way to achieve the desired relief in a short time.
But not everyone can afford it for various reasons: lack of finances, time, territorial location or others.
But do not deny yourself the pleasure of having a beautiful and healthy body, and as you know, in a healthy body there is a healthy mind.

Home workout program.

For training at home, you must use a program that is based on the principles of the basic program for muscle growth. You will need to comprehensively work out all the muscle groups in one session, and you need to use the most effective basic exercises with dumbbells.
The training program suggested the maximum number of repetitions in the exercises, which is because often in the home gyms there are only light, collapsible dumbbells. As an option – fewer repetitions, but using more weight.

The complex of exercises with dumbbells.

First training

Lunges on one leg – 2 sets of 11 repetitions
Pushups – 2 x maximum possible
Push-ups on the triceps bench – 2-3 x 11 reps
Dumbbell Squat – 3 x 10 reps
Dumbbell standing bench – 3 x 11 reps
Dumbbell bench press – 3 x 11 reps
Dumbbell traction to the belt – 3 x 14 reps
Pull-ups (alternating hooks) – 2 x maximum possible
Dumbbell bench press for biceps – 2-3 x 11 reps

Second training

Sumo squats from one dumbbell – 2 x 10 repetitions
Lifting dumbbells in front of you— 2 x 13 reps
Deadlift with dumbbells – 3 x 10 reps
Lifting dumbbells to the sides – 3 x 13 reps
Breeding dumbbell lying – 3 x 10 reps
Reverse pushups – 2 x maximum possible
Dumbbell with one hand in the slope – 3 x 13 reps
Lifting dumbbells for triceps – 2-3 x 13 reps

It is recommended to perform a complex with dumbbells at least 3 times a week. But overdoing is not worth it – because the number of workouts per week should not exceed 4 times.
For a change and to work out all muscle groups, alternate workouts with each other. One workout should take a maximum of 50 minutes, while before the start of classes – do a light warm-up, and after a workout – stretching.

It is recommended to download the press at the end of the workout or in general as a separate “block” on the days free from basic workouts.

Who has a horizontal bar at home is a great bonus, who does not have it – it doesn’t matter, go out at least once a week and practice on the horizontal bar and parallel bars.
At the same time, experts note that to pump up desired muscles at home will be very problematic. The fact is that for the growth of the muscles just need a progressive load of weight, with which you work.

10 best exercises with dumbbells: work with free weight.
Many people underestimate dumbbells and work with them only to sharpen the nuances of form. Dispelling the myth that dumbbells are a spice for the main course, we offer you a dozen effective exercises that you can do without leaving your home.

Whether your goal is fat burning, weight gain or endurance training, a pair of dumbbells will help you quickly achieve results. Yes, we know that you know how to perform an isolated exercise for biceps, but dumbbells can give you much more. If you learn to correctly perform each of these ten movements and incorporate them into your workouts, the body will quickly respond to you with strength and relief. Go!

1. Cup squats
How to perform
Put your legs on two shoulders wide and take a dumbbell with both hands over one edge, dropping it down on outstretched arms. Do an incomplete squat, and then slowly return to the starting position. Keep your back straight.

Result
New to you or an experienced athlete, this exercise works equally effectively at any level of development. Crouching in this way you simultaneously develop the femoral and pectoral muscles.

2. Pushes
How to perform
Squat down and take a direct grip on the handles of dumbbells lying on the floor. Bend your arms in your forearms and at the same time lift both dumbbells to the level of your chin, transferring their weight to your shoulders and smoothing the sharpness of your movements with incomplete squatting. After that, straighten your legs and stand up, holding dumbbells on your shoulders. Slowly back on your haunches.

Result
If you want to look like an Olympian, you have to train the same way. This exercise will not only make your muscles stone, but will give you endurance and explosive power. Performing pushes with dumbbells at the same time you inject blood into the area of the buttocks, hamstrings, shoulders and forearms.

3. Walking
How to perform
Take a pair of dumbbells with a straight grip and hold them on outstretched arms on both sides of the body. Palms turn in the direction of the torso. Go forward as quickly as possible, following short steps.

Result
This exercise has no special technique, it can be performed by everyone. In the process of its implementation, you strengthen your arms and make your shoulders bigger.

4. Bent dumbbell traction
How to perform
Take dumbbells in each hand and hold them on the sides of the body, arms down. Bend your knees slightly and bend your belt forward so that your body is almost parallel to the floor. Tighten the muscles of the bark and back, and pull the dumbbells to the chest. Slowly return your hands to the starting position.

Result
When you do this exercise, you simultaneously develop your biceps, lateral and rhomboid muscles, thereby forming the shape of the letter “V”, like a superhero. The more often you do this, the more beautiful you will look in a T-shirt.

5. Deadlift
How to perform
Hold the dumbbells in front of you, turning your palms in the direction of the body. Hands down, knees slightly bent. Put your palms as low as possible to the floor, and then slowly return to the starting position.

Result
This exercise will allow you to strengthen your lower body and stretch the back ligaments of your legs without the danger of injury. Unlike the same barbell exercise, your body takes much less load.

6. Swinging with one hand
How to perform
Hold the dumbbell in your hand, dropping it to the floor. Slightly sit down and wave this hand between your knees (be careful), and then vigorously straighten your arm and completely unbend your knees. Repeat several times, then change the active hand.

Result
If you make these moves correctly, you will activate the muscles of the shoulder, strengthen the grip strength and work out the quadriceps.

7. Bench press
How to perform
Lie on the bench and take in both hands on a dumbbell. Hold them with a straight grip, but not parallel, like a barbell, but rather by turning your thumbs inward. Slowly squeeze both dumbbells over your chest and return to the starting position.

Result
When you hold dumbbells in your hands, this allows you to lower your elbows lower than in the case of a barbell. Exercise stretches your chest muscles and makes them work harder.

8. Swinging forearms parallel to the body
How to perform
Hold the dumbbells on the down arms, turning your palms in the direction of the body. For one repetition, bend your left arm in the elbow and lift the dumbbell to the biceps. Return your hand to the starting position and do the same with your right hand.

Result
If you want big hands, you should not be limited to two or three exercises. This movement is a great alternative to the isolated dumbbell biceps.

9. Step-ups
How to perform
Hold a dumbbell in each hand, lowering your arms and turning your palms in the direction of the body. Put your foot on a step or other elevation, and then straighten it in your knee, raising your entire body to a higher level. Step back with the same foot, but do the following repetition from the opposite.

Result
This is the best way to work out the gluteal muscles that are involved in dozens of exercises. In addition, exercise develops coordination.

10. Lifting dumbbells on outstretched arms
How to perform
Take a dumbbell in both hands and turn your palms in the direction of the body. Holding your arms straight, turn your palms forward and lift the dumbbells to the sides on outstretched arms. Slowly return to the starting position.

Result
Exercise works shoulders like no other, protecting it from injury when working with a large weight. Want strong shoulders? – Then learn to perform this movement perfectly.

For some reason, many athletes believe that training with dumbbells is less effective than training with a barbell. In my opinion a complete delusion. Because training with dumbbells is as effective as training with a barbell, in some cases, are even more effective than training with a barbell.

Dumbbells –  is the same copy of the barbell only reduced several times. While at the same time working with the same dumbbells, you do not even need a power frame. In this case, you do not even need to worry about what you can pin down during some kind of exercise. And this is not the most important thing, because the most important thing is probably the fact that almost all the existing muscles can be easily worked out only with one dumbbell.

In this case, the dumbbells, as well as the bar, should be prefabricated. This is very important, because if you practice with the same weights, then you most likely will not be able to properly pump your muscles, which means you just then will not be able to progress.
The likelihood that you will generally be able to build muscle mass will be equal to zero.
You’d be surprised, but with the help of dumbbells alone, you can also progress very quickly and effectively in muscle mass, as well as doing the barbell, and sometimes even more quickly and efficiently.

I’ll tell you one interesting story …

One of my old friends for almost two years did not go to the gym, because simply did not have time for the gym. After he got married then and had a son, he simply had no time for that.
But I wondered all the time when I came to visit him even after two years, he looked as if he was constantly going to the gym. To my question of how he manages to keep such an excellent form, he replied that he was engaged at home with dumbbells. He called me to another room and pulled out two huge folding dumbbells from the closet and showed me a couple of exercises, he put them back in the closet. I involuntarily noticed that in the closet are additional pancakes from dumbbells, then I asked what the maximum weight can be thrown on each of these dumbbells.

He said that it is possible to load each dumbbell up to almost 80 kg, which the total sum of two dumbbells makes almost 160 kg. But he still said he didn’t reach such scales, the maximum with which scales he worked was about 60-70 kg on each dumbbell.
But soon I managed to convince him to find a couple of hours a week to go to the gym. He was so afraid of being disgraced in the gymnasium that at first, he didn’t want to go, he was still afraid that he would be there as a beginner to work with children’s weights.

But still, I was able to convince him to hold at least one training session in the gym. A couple of days later we went to the gym with him, explaining what he didn’t have to do, because He used to work in the hall for a long time and achieved quite decent results.
Watching him in the gym at our first training session with him after such a long rest, I was amazed how even after a two-year break after the barbell, I was able to easily lift it in the bench while weighing 70 kg for 6-8 reps, and in the same bench press lying down, he generally mastered 100 kg for 5-6 reps.

And I repeat it was his first training after a 2-year break.

And this is after two years of training at home with only dumbbells, but despite this, he was able to increase in just a couple of months all his previous results by almost 15% -20% of his previous strength records. And if judged by his muscle mass, in two years of home workouts, he not only did not reduce muscle mass, but on the contrary added about 8 kg of lean muscle mass, and this after not frequent and not very regular home workouts with dumbbells.

Can you imagine? I admire the fact that this person for two years while he was at home, not only did not lose in muscle mass but even added a little. He himself admitted that if he practiced regularly during these two years and used the cyclical approach in his pieces of training, then in those two years he would have added at least 1.5-2 times more from what he has now.

And this is an increase of almost 12-16 kg of lean muscle mass! I think that even those athletes who are engaged in the gym using not only dumbbells but all the simulators available to them would also be glad if they could add as much as he added at home.

However, he was engaged only with some dumbbells. Catching up with an average of 2-3 times a week and eating completely normal without any special diets and rations. As you can see, you can gain muscle mass not only in the gym but even at home, while having only two dumbbells in your arsenal.

Before you start your workouts, I recommend to get also additional sports equipment:

• Dumbbells (2 pieces)
• A large number of pancakes for dumbbells
• Spinal weighting agent (backpack, bag)
• Weightlifting belt
• Hand straps
• Wrist bandages
• Basically, you will need a backpack in such exercises as squats with dumbbells, pull-ups with weight, push-ups on bars, etc.

This small set will be more than enough for you to start exercising at home today.