As a personal trainer, I often find that teaching and providing clients with information is half of my profession.
This process of educating depends on how each person learns individually.
However, it almost always involves dispelling false preconceptions of what it takes to start your fitness journey.
The most common misconception I hear from clients is the belief that you need a gym membership or an expensive in-home gym to reach your physical goals.
This is simply untrue. There are a variety of inexpensive, simple solutions that you can take advantage of to get an intensive, full-body workout out home.
Continue reading to find out how you can get a full-body workout by just using dumbbells from your home, with 5 easy to master exercises.
How To Do A Full-Body Workout With Dumbbells
1. Legs and Glutes: Goblet Squat
Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Calves, Glutes, Forearms, Shoulders, Core
How To:
Start by standing with your toes pointed slightly outward and your feet a little wider than hip-width apart.
Grip your dumbbell vertically, with both hands firmly underneath the top of the weight.
Bend your arms at the elbow to position your dumbbell at chest height. This is your starting position.
- Engage your core and inhale as you begin to squat, bending at the knee and pushing with your hips.
- Remember to keep your upper body as straight as you lower your elbows towards your knees.
- Once they touch, stop, and pause, before driving through your heels and returning to the start position.
Trainer’s Tip: If holding your dumbbell at a consistent height becomes too difficult, try positioning against your chest and focus on maintaining contact with it throughout your workout.
2. Arms and Shoulders: Shoulder Press
Muscles Targeted: Pectorals, Deltoids, Triceps, Trapezius, Abdominals
How To:
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and your toes pointed forward. Hold a dumbbell in each hand using an overhand grip and your palms facing forward.
Bend your elbows until they make a 90-degree angle on either side of you.
Your elbows should be in line with your chest, and your dumbbells should be just below eye level when you turn your head right or left. This is your starting position.
- Brace your core and engage your glutes as you drive through your elbows to push the weights above your head.
- Pause at the top of the press to make sure that you’re not leaning back and that you’re core and glutes are still tight.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells simultaneously to return to the start position and complete the rep.
Trainer’s Tip: Try this exercise using one free weight and one hand at a time if working with two dumbbells at once is too difficult to work your way up.
3. Abs: Russian Twists
Muscles Targeted: Abdominals, Transverse Abdominis, Rectus Abdominis, Obliques, Hip Flexors, Erector Spinae, Scapular Muscles, Latissimus Dorsi
How To:
Start by sitting on an exercise mat or the floor, with your knees bent. Press your heels into the floor and your toes at a slight angle off of the ground.
Grip a single dumbbell on either side, with your palms flat against the weight plates, and your fingers wrapped firmly around the edge.
Hold it out at chest-level in front of you. Lean back, keeping your spine elongated and straight, until you’re at about 45-degree angle with the floor. This is your starting position.
- Slowly twist your body to the left, bringing the dumbbell to the side until it’s in line with your left hip.
- Rotate using your core again to return to the center before repeating the movement to the right.
- Complete the rotation for both sides. Bring the dumbbell in front of you to resume the starting position.
Trainer’s Tip: Lift your feet entirely off the floor (3-6 inches is enough) to force your core into overdrive and increase the difficulty of this exercise.
4. Back: Dumbbell Row
Muscles Targeted: Trapezius, Latissimus Dorsi, Deltoids, Biceps, Triceps, Hip Flexors, and Abs
How To:
Start this exercise by standing with your feet at a shoulder-width distance apart; use an overhand grip to hold a dumbbell in each hand.
Your palms should be facing in towards your center, with your fingers wrapped firmly around the center of your dumbbell bar.
Your arms should be extended fully down with your dumbbells by your hips, and your body should form a straight line through your spine and neck. This is your starting position.
- Tighten your core and pull your dumbbells up by bending your elbows.
- As you lift your dumbbells, engage the muscles throughout your arms and shoulders and bend at the elbow.
- Once your elbows are at a 90-degree angle and your dumbbells are level with your lower chest, stop, and pause.
- Make sure your torso remains upright before lowering your dumbbells and resuming the start position to complete the rep.
Trainer’s Tip: Once you’ve mastered the standing version of dumbbell rows, try the bent-over variation of for a more intensive workout that also engages your abdominals, transverse abdominals, and serratus muscles.
5. Chest: Chest Press
Muscles Targeted: Pectorals, Triceps, Deltoids
How To:
Begin by laying down flat on your back, on a workout bench or mat. Keeping your feet flat on the floor, bend your knees so that your legs make a 45-degree angle to the floor on a mat.
Or, if you’re on a bench, your legs should form a 90-degree angle to the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at chest-level, palms facing down towards your feet, with your elbows at 90-degree angles and the back of your arms flat on the floor.
If you’re on a bench, the back of your arms should be in line with your shoulders, and your palms should be facing forward. This is your starting position.
- Raise your dumbbells slowly, driving them upwards and squeezing your shoulder blades.
- Extend your arms out fully, until they’re in line with your shoulders and your elbows are straight.
- Pause at the top of the lift. Lower the dumbbells slowly out to the side, still squeezing your shoulders until you resume the start position, and finish the rep.
Trainer’s Tip: Looking to target your triceps specifically? Try drawing your elbows in close to your sides as you workout. To target your pecs, do the opposite and flare your elbows out and away from your body.
The Bottomline…
With only a set of dumbbells, you can start a brand new full-body workout today.
There’s no reason to get locked into an expensive membership contract with a gym full of high-tech equipment you probably won’t use anyway.
When you’re working on your fitness, remember that you can always go back to the tried and true basics, and still get the results you want.
Using the exercises described above, I’ve put together a full-body workout using dumbbells for beginners.
If you’re already an experienced fitness enthusiast, you can increase the number of reps or sets to suit your athletic ability or integrate any of the previously mentioned exercises into your existing workout regimen.
Example Beginner’s Routine:
- Dumbbell Goblet Squats: 10-12 reps, 3 sets
- Shoulder Press: 8-10 reps, 2 sets
- Russian Twist: 10-12 reps, 3 sets
- Dumbbell Row: 10-12 reps, 3 sets
- Chest Press: 8-10 reps, 2 sets
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Looking for your first set of dumbbells? Check out this article about Powerblock vs Bowflex to know which brand of dumbbell suit your needs and lifestyle.
