Dumbbell and Bench Workout Plan for Beginners: A Practical Guide

Your biceps help stabilize the shoulder as you perform a row or other pulling movements for your back. Strengthening the biceps will help increase your strength in back movements. The dumbbell pullover isn’t just a great exercise for your lower pectorals, but also for the lower part of your upper body in general, hitting the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles as well. When executed appropriately, with the right amount of control, this exercise can truly fire up your chest.

At Barbell Medicine, we offer evidence-based programs backed by the latest developments in sports science. If you’d like to follow a program that will help you grow and strengthen your chest, don’t hesitate to check our fitness programs. Note that we would not expect dumbbells to be inherently safer than barbells. When we lift dumbbells, we often don’t have the support of our other hand as we do when we lift barbells. This makes controlling them inherently more difficult, but that’s where their beauty lies.

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Ideally, you would do this exercise with hexagonal dumbbells that touch one another during the movement. If you don’t have access to a pair of hexagonal dumbbells, you could always use regular dumbbells that you press together. Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., is the fitness director of Men’s Health and a certified trainer with more than 10 years of training experience. He’s logged training time with NFL athletes and track athletes and his current training regimen includes weight training, HIIT conditioning, and yoga. Before joining Men’s Health, he served as a sports columnist and tech columnist for the New York Daily News.

You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets. Dumbbells allow you to work within a wide range of loads, which makes them a more approachable implement for beginners to back training. Earlier this year, I actually helped run a study comparing pre-exhaust to traditional training. Traditional training did have a slight edge, but the gains were nearly identical.

Renegade Row​

If you’re not too keen on following pre-made templates and would like a more personalized approach, we also create personalized programs for our clients based on their current fitness levels and goals. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for one-on-one fitness coaching. Dumbbells are often used as two separate pieces of equipment, but the range of motion is one complete movement.

Incline Dumbbell Triceps Kickback

Looking for a free best weight loss tracker app dumbbell workout routine you can do at home? Dumbbells are one of the most effective and versatile tools for building strength, muscle, and endurance. Once you have selected a weight you think will be right, try a couple of reps before stating your sets to ensure the weight is correct. There isn’t a set duration for how long a dumbbell workout should be, and it could range from 5 minutes to 60 minutes or more–it really depends on how you structure your workout and your goal. Dumbbells also allow you to train your legs unilaterally, correcting muscle imbalances, strengthening each leg individually, and improving symmetry in a way that can’t be done using a barbell.

The 7 Best Chest Workout With Dumbbells

Push your hips back as you lower the dumbbells toward your shins, keeping the weights close to your legs, then squeeze your glutes to return to standing. The one-arm dumbbell row is a unilateral back exercise that helps you efficiently train each side of the back and improve muscle symmetry. Combining a side plank with a row challenges core stability while targeting the lats and shoulders. Thus, if you want to condition your body to move load as heavy as possible, that might not be your way to go.

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Since dumbbells allow for both heavy and light loads, they can be just as effective for muscle growth [7]. A dumbbell and bench workout plan is a practical, versatile, and effective approach to achieving a balanced physique. Whether you’re a beginner who is looking to master foundational movements or an experienced lifter who is seeking a minimalist yet impactful routine, this setup offers everything you need to target all major muscle groups. By focusing on proper form, progressive overload, and a balanced workout structure, you can unlock the full potential of these simple tools.

Upper Body

Now, sure, a gym is obviously a more ideal scenario, because your options for exercises and progression are virtually unlimited. This depends on the exercise you are doing, along with your training experience and goals. RFE squats sound good but I struggle to not push off with the back foot and as such have avoided them a lot. You could check Ross Enamait or something, he gives out plenty of ideas for dumbbell training.

• We spoke with Peloton Instructor Erik Jager to learn more about how to best use a weight bench in your resistance training routine, and for his favorite weight bench workout moves to try.
• Dumbbells allow for a wide range of motion, which is essential for engaging stabilizing muscles and improving joint health.
• He still likes to work with people on a one-to-one basis – he just doesn’t get up at 5am to see clients anymore.
• People are much more likely to have access to a pair of dumbbells than heavy plates and machines that require gym memberships.
• 15 min seemed a short time to find a single and then 8 rounds of 3s.
• The fourth number is the time to pause at the top of the rep.

The Best Dumbbell Exercises For The Core:

That’s especially true once you embrace heavier-weight dumbbell back exercises, such as farmer’s carries and powerful dumbbell rows and incline rows. Whether you prefer at-home strength training workouts or going to the gym, the weight bench is one of the most important pieces of strength training equipment. For a bench workout, you use an adjustable weight bench, which allows you to perform a variety of exercises to target upper body and lower body muscles.

Lots of guys tend typically try to get with two pairs of dumbbells—say, a pair of 35s and a pair of 50s. And before you know it, there’s a rack of dumbbells in the room or on the floor. Go for the adjustable dumbbells; they can be found barely-used on Craigslist and elsewhere. Perhaps the most underrated gym equipment invention of the last 20 years is the adjustable dumbbell. Thanks to this clever innovation, you no longer need to find space for a bulky dumbbell rack. He spends most of his time these days writing fitness-related content of some form or another.

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Your posture, aesthetics, strength, and overall functionality will all be boosted by effective back training. Get ready to spice up your home workout routine as we dive into the exciting realm of push-day exercises. We’re about to unveil a collection of fantastic adjustable dumbbell workouts that will not only redefine your push day but also bring a smile to your face as you conquer each set. Who needs a gym when you’ve got the power of dumbbells and the comfort of your own home? Let’s embark on this journey to sculpted muscles and unstoppable strength!

Dumbbell Bench Press

Try to only rest about a minute between rounds; the idea is to keep your heart pumping hard throughout the workout. That’s especially important if you’re outfitting a home gym, where space likely is at a premium. A pair of adjustable dumbbells—along with a bench you can lean against a wall or placed in a closet—is a perfect minimalist setup that saves time and money. Plus, you’ll no longer have to wait for That Guy to get done with the 40-pound dumbbells at the gym. Athletes typically favor dumbbell exercises over machines as they can replicate sport-specific movements more accurately. They also know that they will develop a more balanced physique and structure if most of their routine employs free weight exercises.