Complete dumbbell home workout

All you need is a pair of dumbbells, some space to move and perseverance.

The main benefit to using dumbbell workouts routines is that on top of exercising the main muscles, dumbbell exercises will also require the input from various stabilizing muscles as well.

This is in contrast to exercising on gym-type machines where main targeted muscles are isolated and are the only ones being utilized.

Dumbbell exercises and dumbbell workouts allow complicit muscles to grow in strength together and prevent muscle groups from developing independently and out of sync.

Since dumbbell exercises generally do not isolate muscles, “cheating” can be very tempting. Cheating involves using body movements that help you perform a dumbbell exercise more easily.

An example of cheating would be to sway your upper body forward and back when doing biceps curl. Although the dumbbell exercise will be easier to perform that way, you are effectively cheating yourself out of gains in your target muscle groups.

It is therefore recommended to use and maintain good posture when performing dumbbell exercises.
In the biceps curl example, try to keep your upper body very still when doing the exercise to minimize cheating.

Dumbbells are available in different sizes and models but basically you’re faced with the choice of getting a set of dumbbells where every dumbbell is of a fixed weight or getting an adjustable weight set, where you can
add different weight configurations to your dumbbells.

A set of fixed weight dumbbells will be costlier but will afford you the greatest ease of use whereas adjustable weight sets need to be adjusted each time you’re doing a dumbbell exercise.

SQUAT: Stand up feet shoulder width apart; hold the dumbbells straight on your shoulders or to the side of your body. Flex at the hip and then bend your knees and go all the way down as if sitting in a chair until your thighs are parallel with the floor.

STIFF LEG LIFT: Stand up with feet shoulder width apart holding the dumbbells in your lowered arms (in front of you). Bend forward at the waist by flexing the hip. Keep your back flat and your head up.

LYING PRESS: Lie down on your back in a semi-supine position. Hold the dumbbells next to your shoulders with palms facing forward and elbows bent.
Push the weights upward and bring them together at the end of the movement, keeping them in the same plane at all times. Do not hyper-extend or lift your body at the end of the movement.

LYING FLY'S: Lie down on your back in a semi-supine position. Hold the dumbbells in your hands, arms to the ground.
Bring your palms together, above your head, drawing a half-circle with each hand while slightly bending your elbows and moving only at the shoulder joint until you feel a full stretch in your pectorals muscles and anterior deltoids.

OVERHEAD PRESS: Stand up feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Place the dumbbells above your shoulders, palms forward, and slowly raise them upward without reaching the end of the motion to prevent lifting your shoulder blades.
Then get back to the starting position in a controlled manner.

LATERAL RAISE: Stand up feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold the dumbbells palms facing each other in front of your body and lift your arms laterally up and away until they reach your shoulders height then slowly get back to the starting position.

ABDOMINAL CRUNCHES: Lie down on your back in a semi-supine position. Hold a single dumbbell with both hands. Straighten your arms and point with them to the ceiling. Slowly raise your shoulders and upper back, concentrating on your upper abdominals. Then return to the starting position while controlling the movement.