Whether your looking to build strength, loose weight, or both, free weights should be an important part of your workout program. By using dumbbells, your resistance training program will actually produce results a little faster compared to machines or even free weight barbells. What’s important is having a home dumbbell workout that helps you maximize your efforts!
When you’re working out with dumbbells, unlike other types of resistance training, you’re forced to incorporate a bit more balance into your lifting. This activates not only the main muscle you’re trying to work out, but also requires smaller stabilizer muscles that would not get worked with a weight machine. And, although it may seem that professional bodybuilders wouldn’t use dumbbells for their workouts – actually, they use them just as much as free weight barbells!
Research is showing that by incorporating a dumbbell program into your workouts can produce high levels of both strength (and for those that are going for size gains as well – increase in muscle size). And, here’s the best part. They can be done in as little as 10-30 minutes. In your home gym. So, when you think of what a gym membership will cost you over time, for the cost of a set of PowerBlocks and a good, simple weight bench like the TuffStuff CLB-325 Flat/ Incline Ladder Bench, you can work out in the convenience of your home and get the gains you are looking for!
The Workout Plan
It’s more than possible to do workouts of just under 20 minutes, and still build strength and size in just six weeks. Perform this workout twice per week, spaced out to allow several days in between workouts (e.g., Monday and Thursday, or Wednesday and Saturday). Below are the names of the exercises, and how many sets to do plus how many reps per set. Start with the weight in your PowerBlocs set to the lowest setting, and add weight so that you can complete each set to muscle failure.
Day 1
DECLINE DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS REVERSE-GRIP – 2 sets of 10-12 reps
ONE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW – 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps
ONE-ARM SIDE LATERALS – 1-2 sets of 8-12 reps
DUMBBELL ALTERNATE BICEP CURL – 2 sets of 8-12 reps
Day 2
Do the same workout as above, but only do 6-8 reps. You’ll want to increase the weight over Day 1. Start with the incline press, then do the decline press. Instead of doing bicep curls, do tricep kickbacks or one arm extensions.
Track your workouts by writing down what exercises you did, how many sets, how many reps, and what your weight settings were so you can not only start where you left off on your next workout, but also see when you may be ready to increase your weight for your next workout as well.
For more information on PowerBlocks or TuffStuff weight benches, stop into any of Fitness 4 Home Superstore’s 3 Valley locations – we can help you find the weight training equipment that fits both your budget as well as your exercise goals!
