Dumbell workout routine for home?

Drake5

Drake5

Drake5

Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2005
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I'm after suggestions on some dumbwell routines for at home. I don't have a bench so I think this limits me a bit.

I would ideally like to be training 3 times a week for around 30 mins each time?

Please could anyone give me tips on what exercises/routines to do?

Cheers
 
No bench generally pretty hard to do chest. But you can do loads for your tri's, bi's shoulders, back, legs.

If your goal is to lose weight, high reps is the best way you'll burn more calories this way. But of course, losing weight nothing beats cardio but then I assume you know this.
 
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Tom_D said:
I want to lose weight and I've heard using weights is good for this as more muscle = more cals burned.

Cheers
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yes but with dumbells you are limited to how much muscle you can put on. due to weight restrictions involved.

anyway ill have a go at making up a routine pick a body part per day (never the same one twice in a week). you can either take 2 days in a row off (sat and sunday), or 1 day twice in a week (wed + sunday).



leg exercises (5 sets of each at as many reps as you can even if that means 1000 reps, leg exercises burn the most calories due to the size of the muscles involved)

beginner squats (hold dumbell in each hand and squat down and up)
lunges (similar technique to above)
calf raises (go up on your toes and back down, if you can use a set of stairs so you can do full range)


back exercises (5 sets of each at 15 reps, very important to focus on the back, will help you a lot for everything)

dumbell rows
dumbell deadlifts


shoulders and traps (3 sets of each at 15 reps)

overhead press
lat raises
front raises
dumbell shrugs


arms (3 sets of each at 15 reps)

some form of curl (hammer, preacher, standing, use a different one every time)
some form of tricep exercise (skull crushers, overhead dumbell extensions, tricep kickbacks, use a different one every time)


chest (3 sets of 15 reps)

dumbell press (lying on floor)
press ups
dumbell fly (lying on floor)


you can add in abs at the end of a couple of days (they wont give you a six pack only a diet will give you a six pack, ab exercises just make your abs stronger, they will still be hidden underneath your fat).

use youtube to look up exercises

make sure you take a week off, every 6 weeks (no weights at all).
 
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Begbie said:
No bench generally pretty hard to do chest. But you can do loads for your tri's, bi's shoulders, back, legs.

If your goal is to lose weight, high reps is the best way you'll burn more calories this way. But of course, losing weight nothing beats cardio but then I assume you know this.
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plenty of people can do chest exercises using the floor, sure it aint the perfect scenario but scooby is one guy i know of that does it well.

also for losing weight nothing beats a good diet, no amount of cardio can make up for a really bad diet.

for losing weight diet is key for gaining muscle training is key.
 
Thanks for that Psycho, really appreciate it. I own a 20kg dumbell set, how do I know which amount of weight to use each time? Just experiment?

Cheers
 
Tom_D said:
Thanks for that Psycho, really appreciate it. I own a 20kg dumbell set, how do I know which amount of weight to use each time? Just experiment?

Cheers
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If you do the sets he's suggested i doubt you'll use anywhere near your 1rm!
 
Tom_D said:
What's that mean?
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lol forget what he said.

start with a weight which you can do 15 reps with, then after a week increase it by the lowest amount you can and keep on doing that.

e.g.

if you find 10kg comfortable, do that, then the next week try 10.5 kg.

basically you should be able to do the first 10 reps easily, the next 3 reps should be hard and the last 2 should really burn you.

that weight is basically your 15 rep max, as that is the maximum weight you can do for 15 reps.

you will need to focus on form, dont be throwing the weights about. the form i use is the positive part of the movement i do it as fast and controlled as possible, the negative part of the movement i do as slow and controlled as possible. 1 full rep should take a minimum of 5 seconds.

you may think that is slow, but the slower you go the better it is for you. i see idiots who throw huge weights about for 20 seconds and stop. ask them to do a lower weight in a controlled manner and they cant. its not about how much weight you do but the manner in which you do it.

i cannot tell you what weight you should be doing, only you can try and find out what weights are your 15 rep max, it will be different for every exercise.

e.g. my 1 rep max on bench press is around 35 kg on dumbells, and my 15 rep max with dumbells would be around 25kg. but my 1 rep max on bicep curl would be 20kg dumbells and my 15 rep max with dumbells would be around 12.5kg.
 
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burrell said:
What's with the attitude?
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lol wut? what attitude?

you were talking about 1 rep maxes when i suggested he be doing 15 rep maxes.

the guy is a noob, he needs to be explained what things are, you cannot throw terminology like that at him and expect him to know what it is.

anyway he wants to add more muscle and lose fat, doing 1 rep maxes with 20kg dumbells would be a ridiculous concept, he's going to need to go for volume, not strength (which is impossible to achieve with 20kg dumbells anyway).
 
This has been great so far Sonny, I haven't been doing it every single day though but I'm determined to get myself back into a solid routine exercise and diet wise.

I really do feel a burn after doing what you suggested though!
 
Tom_D said:
This has been great so far Sonny, I haven't been doing it every single day though but I'm determined to get myself back into a solid routine exercise and diet wise.

I really do feel a burn after doing what you suggested though!
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well its a good base to start off with, but your not going to do anything major with just dumbells tbh, the weights involved are usually far too small.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18270342&highlight=official+home+gym

that's my thread if you want to look into a more longer term better solution.

but its up to you on what you want to do and what your goals are. i would suggest correcting your diet, by posting in the gym rats thread. the guys in there will tell you everything you need to know in order to lose weight.

intermittent fasting is a brilliant one (google lean gains)
 
Tom_D said:
Wouldn't the dumbell exercises even help me to lose weight though along with proper diet?

Cheers
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diet is key, in fact it is 10 times more important than any exercise when it comes to losing bodyfat.

but iirc you said your dumbells were only like 20kg or something, 20kg is okay for bicep curls and tricep exercises, for everything else, that is far too small a weight.

like i said it all depends on what you really want out of it.

do you just want to melt your body (lose bodyfat)?

or do you want to sculpt your body into a piece of art (lose bodyfat and pack on muscle)?

building muscle is addictive, once you see how your body becomes stronger and better, you want more and more. look at arnold swarchnegger, he has lived life to the full, full of confidence to take on any challenge, because he loved life and himself, he became a movie legend (even though he couldnt speak english or act), he then became a senator.

its up to you, but you will become a whole different being if you really take to bodybuilding.
 
Yeah s'all bout the diet, my mate is working towards 1% body fat and has pretty much given up most of his pleasures. Me? I'll do some light core work and enjoy the odd guilty doughnut or beer now and then
 
IRLeetly said:
Yeah s'all bout the diet, my mate is working towards 1% body fat and has pretty much given up most of his pleasures. Me? I'll do some light core work and enjoy the odd guilty doughnut or beer now and then
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lulz

i think you need to be dead to be under 4% bodyfat. pro bodybuilders like coleman, cutler, etc can only get to 6-8%. the typical bodybuilder / fitness model can aim for 10-14% at best
 
you're right mate you could get close to 3% for competition but would be very unhealthy and impossible to maintain. I'm no doctor but 1 or 2% would kill you.

3 to 5% for on stage is normal. While I think 6% plus can be maintained as long as you can keep your discipline up and you'll still remain healthy. Not sure what mine is but my aim is for around 7%
 
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