For isolation, compound and alternating exercises designed for strength and weight trainings, the most ideal equipment to use is a dumbbell. As you target each muscle group, consider doing 4 – 6 sets of 12 – 18 reps for each muscle group; this engages the
To efficiently raise dumbbells of the same weight, one must have larger degree of manipulation and force for the left and right facilities. In other words it’s harder to cheat. You’ll be able to lift more with barbells than with dumbells in a given exercise.
The most important thing to remember when exercising with dumbbells is that the better the grip, the greater are the weight lifting and control capabilities.
So where to begin… largest muscle groups first.
Legs: SQUATS, LUNGES and DEADLIFTS can be done with dumbbells. Dumbbell exercises require proper procedures for usage, amounting to slow and steady actions and a few seconds of pause when the muscle contracts. You want to do 8 – 12 reps and 2 to 3 sets before moving up in weight.
Chest: INCLINE & DECLINE BENCH PRESS, DUMBBELL FLIES and STANDARD BENCH PRESS, and PUSHUPS coupled with ROWING; you do this by holding dumbbells while doing PUSHUPS, lower down and then push back up, then lift the dumbbell as you would in bent-over rowing.
Shoulders: DUMBBELL MILITARY PRESS and DELTOID RAISES (front, side and back), SHRUGS and UPRIGHT ROWS.
If you want to achieve a more stabilized body for shoulder exercises, then try inserting core workouts at the same time as training the shoulder muscles.
One of these is the V-SIT DUMBBELL PRESS, where you sit on the floor with your legs spread in a V-shape.
Lift the dumbbells straight up, follow with a pause and gradually lower your arms.
Press down your glutes, hamstrings and calves while simultaneously lifting the dumbbells over your head.
The second is the SINGLE-LEG LATERAL RAISE; to do this, stand on one leg and hold light dumbbells, and with your arms straight raise the dumbbells out to your sides until your arms are parallel to the floor. Hold it for 3 seconds, and then slowly lower your arms.
Back: BENT OVER ROWS, STRAIGHT-LEGGED DEADLIFT and ONE ARM BENT OVER ROWS
Your Arms: you want to hit your biceps and triceps with continued stress throughout the routine. For your Biceps SEATED ALTERNATING DUMBBELL CURLS, DUMBBELL PREACHER CURLS and CONCENTRATION CURLS are ideal exercises to use with dumbbells. For your Triceps, the best dumbbell exercise is the TRICEP KICKBACK, LYING FRENCH PRESS and OVERHEAD TRICEP EXTENSIONS.
To view examples and get instructions on the above exercises, we recommend the No Nonsense Muscle Building system by Vince Delmonte.
As I stated earlier, it’s difficult to use a lot of weight with dumbbells if you don’t have a strong grip. So something that you should always do as part of your routine, is wrist curls with dumbbells… pronated and supinated grips to work your entire forearm.
Many people neglect these exercises, but they’re critical for achieving the most overall gains.
Ponder on this: a better grip equates to better control plus greater amounts of weight to be lifted, and more weights translates to tearing down more muscle fibers leading to the development of more muscles.
Dumbbells are great training tools , but there is other epuipment on the market that is more portable, cheaper, more functional, takes up less floor space and less damaging to your floors.
