Get An Amazing Full Body Workout At Home With Dumbbells Only

Whether you’re trying to speed up fat loss, gain total-body strength, or maximize muscle mass, the best dumbbell exercises meet every need – and often improve your cardio fitness at the same time.

The coronavirus pandemic (or any among the thousands of reasons) might be keeping you from the gym. However, this does not mean that you should give up on your entire workout regimen. In fact, resistance training, or any other sort of activity, will assist you maintain your sanity and protect your health.

Dumbbells allow for greater diversity than barbells of equal weight, and because there are no weight plates to deal with, you may start straight away. Plus, unlike their gym equipment-based counterparts, the best dumbbell exercises work stabilizing muscles while also testing your balance and control. In a study on effects of training with free weights versus machines on muscle mass, strength, free testosterone, and free cortisol levels, it was found that training sessions with free weights induced greater increases in free testosterone in men.

The following is a full body workout at home with dumbbells only that’s challenging but will leave you feeling great!

Directions: After you’ve gathered your weights, complete a dynamic warmup to increase blood flow, and prevent injury. This workout should be done in trisets, which means each set will include three different exercises done one after the other without rest in between. Take no more than 45 to 60 seconds of rest between sets.

Warm Up

Do each of these exercises for 30 seconds, repeating the circuit 2-3 times:

  • March in Place
  • Skipping
  • Jumping Jacks
  • Arm Circles
  • Torso Twists
  • Squats
  • calf raises

Now that you are nice and warm, let’s get started with the workout!

Full Body Workout at Home with Dumbbells That You Can Do Anywhere

Triset 1, Exercise 1: Goblet Squat – three sets of 15 reps

Triset 1, Exercise 2: Arnold Press – three sets of 12 reps

Triset 1, Exercise 3: Russian twist – three sets of 10 reps

Triset 2, Exercise 1: Two-Arm Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift – three sets of 10 reps

Triset 2, Exercise 2: Bicep Curl – three sets of 12 reps

Triset 2, Exercise 3: Elbow Side Plank – hold for 20 seconds on each side for three sets total

Triset 3, Exercise 1: Weighted Glute Bridge – three sets of 12 reps

Triset 3, Exercise 2: Hollow Body Skullcrushers – three sets of 12 reps

Triset 3, Exercise 3: Seated Knee Tuck – three sets of 12 reps

How To Do Exercises In This Best Dumbbell Workout At Home

Triset 1, Exercise 1: Goblet Squat

Man doing goblet squat
Credit: menshealth.com
  1. Gripping a dumbbell between both hands beneath the top of the weight, vertically hold it. The dumbbell should be placed against your chest and will stay in touch with it throughout the entire exercise.
  2. Inhale and sit back into your hips as you squat down, keeping your core taut and torso erect. Allow the tops of your elbows to follow between your knees, but not past them.
  3. Get back to the starting position by driving up through your heels.

Triset 1, Exercise 2: Arnold Press

Man doing arnold press workout with dumbbells
  1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, with your arm bent and your palms facing you.
  2. Instead of pushing straight up, spread your arms to the sides laterally, then raise your hands and twist them so that your palms are facing forward.
  3. Finish by pushing your head forward and as high as you can, with your biceps near to your ears for maximum range of motion.

Triset 1, Exercise 3: Russian twist

girl doing full body workout at home with dumbbells
  1. Sit on the ground with your knees bent and your heels close to your butt (about a foot away).
  2. Lean back without rounding your spine.
  3. Hold a weight or medicine ball just below your chest. Increase the intensity by moving the weight farther away from you.
  4. Twist slowly to the left while pulling your navel toward your spine. It’s not a large movement, and it stems from your ribs rotating rather than your arms swinging. Inhale through the center, then rotate to the right. This completes one rep.

Triset 2, Exercise 1: Two-Arm Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift

Man doing stiff Legged Deadlift at home workout with dumbbells
  1. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and grasp the dumbbells with your palms facing towards you.
  2. Slowly bend over at the waist, keep a slight bend in your knees, push your hips back, and then bring the dumbbells over your feet until you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings. 
  3. Now, as you return to a standing posture, contract your hamstrings and glutes.
  4. Maintain tightness in your core, keep your back straight and repeat!

Triset 2, Exercise 2: Bicep Curl

Credit: verywellfit.com
  1. Begin by holding a pair of dumbbells at the sides of your body.
  2. Raise the dumbbells to your chest while keeping your elbows close to your side.
  3. Lower back to the starting position and move with control, completing one repetition.

Triset 2, Exercise 3: Elbow Side Plank

Girl doing elbow plank
Credit: popsugar.com
  • Get on the floor into an elbow-plank position and roll to your right side, stack your left foot on your right so you’re balancing on the outside of your right foot..
  • Put your left hand gently behind your head. Press your left inner thigh up against your right inner thigh which would help you maintain stability,
  • Hold for 20 seconds on each side

Triset 3, Exercise 1: Weighted Glute Bridge

Man doing at home workout with dumbbells, glute bridge
credit: gymbeam.com
  1. Grab a medium to heavy dumbbell and lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor (on a mat)
  2. Your feet should be positioned beneath your knees, not in front. Place the dumbbell on top of your lower abdominals (beneath your belly button and above your hip bones). To keep the weight from shifting, grasp it with both hands.
  3. Raise your hips as high as you can, tightening your abs and butt in the process. You should be creating a long line from your shoulders to your knees.
  4. Hold for three seconds while making sure your spine does not round and your hips do not sag. Engage your abs and butt muscles throughout.
  5. Lower down to the ground; this is considered one rep.

Triset 3, Exercise 2: Hollow Body Skullcrushers

Man doing Hollow Body Skullcrushers
Credit: menshealth.com

Rest your back on the ground and straighten your legs, holding two dumbbells over your shoulders. Tense your abs and push your lower back into the ground. Raise your legs an inch off the ground and also raise your shoulder blades off the ground. While your arms are straight, shift your upper arms back slightly. Your upper arms should not be perpendicular to the ground. Aim for a 91- or 92-degree angle relative to torso. This is your starting position.

Bend only at your elbows, and lower the weights until they nearly touch your shoulders, the rest of your body tight in the starting position. Press back up slowly avoiding any jerky movements, straightening only at the elbows.

Keep your right arm in place and use your left arm to perform a skullcrusher with only the elbow bending. Straighten.

Repeat the pattern on the other side: Repeat with both arms, then only use your left arm for a repetition.

Triset 3, Exercise 3: Seated Knee Tuck

Girl doing seated knee tuck workout
Credit: thelavenderlifestyle.com
  1. Sit on the ground or a weight bench with your hands about an inch behind your back. Your fingers should be pointing forward. Your feet should be on the floor.
  2. Raise both legs off the ground and extend both legs as you simultaneously lower your upper body. Make sure to get full hip and leg extension.
  3. Bring your feet back to your chest without touching the ground and return to the starting position with control.
  4. This counts as one rep. Repeat for 12 reps

Take Away

Dumbbells are the most accessible and easily-scalable weights on the gym floor, not to mention that they allow for one-sided training by design, so you can balance out any developing muscle imbalances. Later down the line, evenly-distributed profits will keep you injury-free, so it’s important to be symmetrical for your health as well as your t-shirt size. We are pretty sure this full body workout at home with dumbbells will help you achieve your physique goals.

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