One of the best things about dumbbells is their flexibility. You can easily perform a full-body workout using just dumbbells for resistance. Starting at the top, work your chest, shoulders, and arms with moves like a curl and press, pullover, an incline bench press, and rows. Meanwhile, for the lower body, get the big muscle groups in your legs pumping with a goblet squat or farmer’s walk. Plus, you don’t have to be already jacked to get a benefit from these moves. You can start with lighter-weight dumbbells and gradually increase the resistance as you become stronger and fitter.
1. Curl and Press – Ultimate Dumbbell Workouts
The first exercise is the curl and press. This compound exercise gives you both bicep and shoulder movement, resulting in both push and pull action. Consequently, as you progress through the move, you’re getting both a full contraction and extension of the bicep and engagement in the shoulders. This exercise needs two dumbbells, with a weight that you can both curl and press above your head. However, remember that to build mass, you need to go heavy.
Execution:
- Stand/Seat with your feet just wider than hip-width apart, back straight and core engaged.
- Hold one dumbbell in each hand, arms down by your sides.
- Lift both weights in a bicep curl.
- Once you’ve reached the top of the curl, continue to press the weight up over your head.
- To come back down, lower the weight back to your shoulders, with control. Then back down from the curl to your sides.
Sets: 2-3 Reps: 10-12
2. Goblet Squat – Ultimate Dumbbell Workouts
Goblet squats are the next dumbbell exercise. To make sure you’re training like an athlete, and getting the most out of each activity, you’ll use a crush grip to elevate the exercise. Ordinarily, the upper body is passive in a goblet squat. However, a crush-grip engages your upper body, activating the chest, delts, traps, and core. Add this to the fact that goblet squats are already excellent for the glutes, quads, and hamstrings, and you’ve got full body activation. Finally, the goblet squats allow you to drop into your natural center of gravity, which is useful for anyone struggling with form.
Execution:
- Start with your feet just wider than hip-width apart, toes pointed slightly out. Additionally, keep your core engaged, head up, and elbows tucked in.
- Unlike a regular goblet squat, you’ll hold the dumbbell in the middle. Interlace your fingers around the handle, and squeeze your hands together. This will force that upper body engagement. Keep your grip tight throughout the set.
- Bring yourself down into a squat until your knees are at 90-degrees.
- To check your form, make sure you bend at the hips, pushing your butt backward, but keeping the chest up. This, balanced with the weight, will allow you to find your natural center of
gravity. - Driving up through the floor, return to a standing position.
- Focus on bringing the weight back up in a straight line. Engage your core, moving your hips and chest as one unit. This will make sure you’re not accidentally swinging forward or backward.
Sets: 2-3 Reps: 10-12
3. Dumbbell Pullover – Ultimate Dumbbell Workouts
Also known as an upper-body squat, dumbbell pullovers are a fantastic way to work your upper body. It’s a flexible exercise that allows you to work either your back or your upper chest. The difference is minimal, with a slight change in elbow position and grip focus, making the variation between the two. As such, you could work both the chest and back, by changing the emphasis each set. For this exercise, you’ll only need one dumbbell.
Execution:
- You’ll want to set yourself up with a box or bench that won’t move.
- Position your upper body across the bench, so you’re perpendicular. Your body weight should rest across your shoulders. Have your feet flat on the ground supporting the rest of your weight, with your knees bent at 90-degrees, and core flat and engaged. You should look like a tabletop.
- Regardless of wanting to work your chest or back, the mechanics of the movement are very similar.
- Hold the dumbbell above your body, with your arms straight out from your chest.
- Lower the weight back to behind your head, keeping your arms straight, but not locking your elbows.
- Bring the dumbbell back up, with control, to the starting position.
- To engage the back, as you raise the weight, focus on squeezing your hands together, and working them against each other as you lift. Keep your elbows tucked in.
- Alternatively, to work the upper back, allow your elbows to flare slightly, and lead with them, as you raise the weight up. Shifting the pull from your hands to your elbows will activate the lats.
Sets: 2-3 Reps: 10-12
4. Farmer’s Walk – Ultimate Dumbbell Workouts
For anyone who is “one trip or die trying” when it comes to getting groceries into the house, then Farmer’s Carries are the best practice. You’ll hold a dumbbell, as heavy as you can carry, in each hand, and simply walk. It sounds too easy but ends up being a full-body workout. Adding the movement in the lower body forces your core to engage and stabilize with each shift in weight. Plus, because you’re loading up on the weight, it ends up being more than just a grip and forearm workout. The larger muscles in your upper and mid-back, as well as upper arms, step in to help carry the load.
Execution:
- Grab two dumbbells in the heaviest weight you can carry.
- Hold one in each hand, with your arms by your side.
- Then walk. Wherever you have room, just walk. If your space is small, you can do laps. You’ll want to focus on keeping your body straight and core engaged.
- Keep walking until you feel like your grip is about to fail. You’ll want to put the weights back down before complete failure to avoid broken toes, tiles, or floorboards.
Sets: 2-3; Reps: Walk until just before grip failure.
5. Thrusters – Ultimate Dumbbell Workouts
Dumbbell thrusters are a killer workout for the whole body. You can use this punishing dumbbell exercise as a metabolic one, or as a builder set — it will depend on the weight you choose. Go for lighter weight and higher reps for an excellent metabolic and cardio experience. Alternatively, load up the weights for fewer power reps to build mass. The limiting factor on your weight choice will be how much you can press up.
Execution:
- Choose two dumbbells in an appropriate weight.
- Stand with your feet just wider than hip-width apart, back straight and core engaged.
- Start by holding the weights at chest height.
- Bring yourself down into a squat until your knees are at 90-degrees, keeping the dumbbells at chest height.
- To check your form, make sure you bend at the hips, pushing your butt backward, but keeping the chest up.
- Driving up through the floor, return to a standing position. However, you’re going to keep the momentum going and push the dumbbells straight up into a shoulder press, fully extending your arms.
- Bring the weights back down to chest height, and move immediately back into a squat.