Dumbbells are a fitness staple for a reason. They’re versatile, require minimal space, and allow you to target a wide range of muscle groups. Whether you’re a seasoned gym rat or a home workout warrior, dumbbells offer a way to get a full-body workout without needing a fancy gym membership.
If you hit the gym on a daily basis, here are some dumbbells exercises you can apply to your training routine. You can apply those exercises at home or the gym. Enjoy them and kick your training session off.
Building Your Dumbbell Workout
Before diving into specific exercises, let’s address some general principles for building your dumbbell workout:
- Warm-up: Always begin with a 5-10 minute dynamic warm-up to prepare your muscles for exercise. Light cardio like jumping jacks and bodyweight exercises like arm circles will get your blood flowing and joints loose.
- Compound vs. Isolation Exercises: Prioritize compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups simultaneously. These exercises are more efficient for building overall strength. However, incorporating isolation exercises allows you to target specific muscle groups for further sculpting.
- Sets and Reps: Aim for a challenging weight that allows you to maintain proper form throughout 8-12 repetitions per set. For building muscle, perform 2-4 sets per exercise.
- Rest: Take 30-60 seconds rest between sets for compound exercises and slightly less rest (15-30 seconds) for isolation exercises.
- Progression: As you get stronger, gradually increase the weight, sets, or repetitions to keep challenging your muscles and promote ongoing growth.
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The Best Dumbbell Exercises
Now, let’s explore some of the best dumbbell exercises for various muscle groups:
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Pullover
Lie on your back on the floor and hold a dumbbell by its ends overhead with both hands, to start. Press the weight over your chest, then reach back over your head, bending your elbows slightly. Continue until you feel a stretch in your lats, then pull the dumbbell back over your chest. Take a deep breath every time you lower the dumbbell behind you. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Walking Lunge
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing one another, to start. Step forward with one leg and lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor and your front thigh is parallel to the floor. That’s 1 rep. Step forward with your rear leg to perform the next rep. Repeat.
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Lateral Lunge
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing one another, to start. Step laterally to one side, bending this knee to come into a lunge as you lower the dumbbells toward the ground. Drive through your foot to return to the starting position. That’s 1 rep. Repeat, then switch sides.
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Lunge to Overhead Press
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding two dumbbells at shoulder level with palms facing each other, to start. Step forward into a lunge, lowering your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor and your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Push off your front foot to come back to the starting position, then press the weights overhead. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Tate Press
Lie back on a bench or flat, sturdy surface with dumbbells in each hand, arms extended over your chest, and palms facing your feet, to start. Point your elbows out and bend them to lower the weights almost to your chest, so they make L shapes. Extend your elbows to return to starting position. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Floor Press
Lie on the floor, holding dumbbells at your chest, to start. Slowly lower your upper body to the floor, then extend your arms so dumbbells are in a bench press position. Lower elbows to the floor, making sure to keep tension in your lats so upper arms are at 45 degrees to your torso. When elbows touch the floor, extend arms to the starting position. That’s 1 rep.
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Arnold Press
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, a soft bend in your knees, holding dumbbells in front of your forehead, elbows at 90 degrees, and palms facing you. Slowly open your arms wide so elbows are still at right angles but hands are now facing out, squeezing your shoulder blades together as you perform a military press (shown). Reverse the pattern. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Squat to Press
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding the dumbbells at shoulder level, to start. Squat as low as you can without losing the arch in your lower back. Come back up and press the weights overhead.
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Seated Military Press
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart (or slightly narrower), and hold dumbbells at your sides, to start. Explosively heave the dumbbells up to your shoulders—a motion called a clean—or simply bring them slowly to shoulder level. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and stabilize your core as you press the weights overhead and slightly backward so they’re vertically aligned with the back of your head. Hold at the top for a moment, then lower back to your shoulders. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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High Pull
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding two dumbbells in front of your body with palms facing you, to start. Bend your knees and hinge at your hips so the weights hang just above your knees. Explosively extend your hips as if jumping and pull the weights up to shoulder level with elbows wide apart, as in an upright row. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Romanian Deadlift
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding two dumbbells in front of your body with palms facing you, to start. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, bend your hips back, your torso forward, and lower yourself until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. You may bend at the knees. Reverse the movement to return to the starting position, squeezing your glutes at the top. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Thruster
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart with dumbbells in the front-rack position, to start. Keeping weights near shoulders, lower into a squat, then explosively stand to rise, activating glutes, pressing hips forward, and locking out knees; use the momentum to help drive the weights overhead, palms facing each other. Immediately reverse the motion, lowering weights to front-rack position and transitioning into a squat. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Bulgarian Split Squat
Stand lunge-length in front of a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and rest the top of your left foot on the bench behind you, to start. Lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor and your front thigh is parallel to the floor, then drive through your front foot to return to start. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Strict Curl
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms extended straight down with dumbbells at your sides, palms facing one another, and your back against a wall, to start. Perform alternating curls by rotating your forearms and flexing the elbows. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower back to the start position. That’s 1 rep. Alternate sides.
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Wrist Curl
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench, box, or chair, resting your forearms on your thighs, allowing your wrists to bend back over your knees so the weights hang down, to start. Curl the dumbbells up by just flexing your wrists. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Hammer Curl
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart (or slightly narrower) with arms extended at sides, dumbbells hanging at either side of your body, palms facing one another, to start. Maintain this neutral grip as you curl the dumbbells straight up, pause and squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower back down. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Renegade Row
Begin in a pushup position, holding dumbbells on the floor in a neutral grip, to start. Perform a pushup on the dumbbells, then immediately perform a one-arm, neutral-grip row. Repeat the pushup and row on the other side. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Bentover Row
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hinge forward at the hips, arms extended with dumbbells hanging straight down, to start. Row the weights up to your torso, keeping elbows tucked in line with your body. Reverse motion to return to start. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Reverse Flye
Stand with feet hip-width apart and hinge at your hips, arms extended with palms facing one other, to start. Raise your arms out to your sides, creating 90-degree angles, squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top. Pause, then reverse the motion. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Overhead Triceps Extension
Sit on a bench holding one dumbbell with both hands by one of its bell ends, to start. Press the weight straight over your head. Keeping your upper arms vertical, bend your elbows and lower the dumbbell behind your head until you feel a stretch on the triceps. Extend your elbows to return to start. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Side Plank With Lateral Raise
Lie on your left side, resting your left forearm on the floor for support, holding a dumbbell in your right hand, to start. Raise your hips up so your body forms a straight line and brace your core—your weight should be on your left forearm and the edge of your left foot. Raise the weight in your right hand until your arm is parallel to the floor. Lower to the start position. That’s 1 rep. Complete all reps on one side, then switch.
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Woodchop
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent so thighs are parallel to the floor, maintaining a flat back, holding a dumbbell in both hands, to start. Bring the weight to the outside of one thigh. Twist your torso to the opposite side, as you lift the weight across your body with straight arms and come to stand. Your eyes should follow the dumbbell, which will end up above your opposite side’s shoulder (shown). Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. Move slowly, using your core. That’s 1 rep. Repeat.
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Lateral Raise
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart (or slightly narrower), and hold dumbbells at your sides, palms facing one another, to start. Raise the weights out 90 degrees to your sides. Don’t bend your elbows or swing your arms; the motion should be controlled and steady. Note: Start light with the weights.
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Bentover Triceps Kickback
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hinge forward at the hips, arms extended with dumbbells hanging straight down, to start. Row the dumbbells up to slightly below chest height to assume the starting position. While keeping the upper arms in line with the torso, extend the forearms back by contracting the triceps. You can keep a neutral grip (palms facing one another) or an underhand grip (shown here). Return the dumbbells to the starting position. That’s 1 rep.
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Skullcrusher
Sit with knees bent and feet on the floor, holding dumbbells at your chest, to start. Slowly lower your upper body to the floor, then extend your arms so dumbbells are in a bench press position. With a neutral hand grip, carefully lower the dumbbells to your forehead. Contract triceps to extend the elbows and return to the starting position. That’s 1 rep. Note: Perform these with lightweight to start and focus on keeping the elbows in line with the shoulders.
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Farmers Walk
Pick up the heaviest set of dumbbells you can handle and walk. Squeeze the handles hard and walk with your chest out and shoulders back. If you don’t have the space to walk in a straight line, walk in a figure-eight pattern for time or rounds. Repeat.
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Deadlift to Shrug
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart holding dumbbells at your sides, palms facing each other, to start. Bend your hips back to squat down until the weights are knee level. Now explode upward and shrug hard at the top. That’s 1 rep. Reset your feet before beginning the next rep. Repeat.
Wrapping Up
Dumbbells offer a wealth of exercise options, allowing you to build muscle and strength at home or at the gym. By incorporating the exercises listed above and following the workout principles, you can design a well-rounded dumbbell routine to achieve your fitness goals. Remember, consistency is key! Stick to your program, focus on proper form, and gradually increase the challenge as you progress. With dedication and these effective dumbbell exercises, you’ll be well on your way to a stronger, more sculpted physique.
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