2022 just started, you just got your adjustable dumbbells and you’re trying to get back into pre pandemic shape. Does this sound like you? Or is it more like you’re tired of waiting for this thing to end and have decided that you’re going to commit to your home gym, and you’re looking for a new fresh workout to try out at home before you start your day of working from home. Whatever your motivation is, I’ll be writing a series of workouts and articles for anyone looking to improve and freshen up their fitness game with your home exercise equipment. Without further ado, let’s jump into this full body adjustable dumbbell workout!
Exercise Equipment: Adjustable Dumbbell or Set of Dumbbells, Flat Bench (optional)
Tempo: 2-1-2-1
Dumbbells provide great range of motion and help you engage your stabilizer muscles along with the main targets. In this case, you’ll be hitting your chest, along with your triceps and shoulders in a classic exercise that everyone should have in their arsenal. If you do not have a bench, you can perform this exercise on the floor/mat.
Starting with your arms fully extended and palms facing upwards, lower your arms (under control for 2 seconds) until your arms form a 90 degree; hold for 1 second and return back to starting position. For this workout to be extra effective, ensure that you squeeze at the top of the motion to recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibers in the exercise.
Alternative: Perform on floor/mat with resistance bands.
Rows of any form are a staple in home workouts. However, it is easy to make a lot of mistakes and cause more harm than good. Ensure you focus on your form and not hero lifting a heavy weight at the beginning.
Alternative: Bent-Over Row
A great compound exercise recruiting multiple muscles in your legs, squats are great for building muscle and melting fat. The goblet squat is a great alternative for those working with just one dumbbell in their home gym.
Holding one end of the dumbbell, squat down with your back straight and core engaged until the weight meets the ground and stand back up to return to your starting position. Focus on sitting back and pushing through your heels as you explode back up into starting position. Your knees should track over your toes, and if you find yourself rounding your back, reduce weight and focus on good form.
Another great workout to attack a combination of hamstrings, glutes, erectors, and lats.
Hold a set of dumbbells in front of your thighs while in a shoulder-width stance. Keep your chest high and engage your core as your lower your weight. Allow a slight bend in your knee, and hinge at the waist while keeping a straight back and lower the weight all the way to the ground (or as low as you can go). Return to your standing position and focus on squeezing your glutes as you come up.
One of the most common weight exercises is just that for a reason. It works. As long as your respect your body, keep the weight within your ability and keep good form, this classic is guaranteed to work as a part of your home workout.
Stand with dumbbells by your side palms facing forward. Keep your elbows tucked in close to your body and curl the adjustable dumbbells up, squeezing at the top. There should be no swinging or using your upper arms as your curl. Drop weight and focus on form and tempo! Return to starting position and repeat.
Time to target the triceps. For this iteration we’ll go with a double handed grip. The biggest focus point for this exercise is the positioning of your elbows. You want to keep your elbows in right throughout the movement to avoid injury and target your tricep properly.
Stand tall. Hold the dumbbell over your head with both hands (palms facing up) and arms straight. Keeping your chest up, lower the weight by bending your elbows and engage your triceps slowly. Focus on keeping your elbows in place. Return to starting position and repeat.
Alternative: Use Resistance band
Let’s wrap things up by targeting those boulder shoulders. Lateral raises are a great movement to target your deltoids and has been a favourite amongst COREFX athletes for a while.
You can perform this exercise standing or seated on your exercise bench. Hold your dumbbells at each side palms facing in. Lean forward slightly, keep your back straight and your core braced and raise the weights to the sides (parallel with the floor), leading with your elbows. Slowly lower them back under control.
There you have it, a full body workout to add to your rotation using just an adjustable dumbbell (or regular rubber dumbbell). We’ll be developing plans for people who are looking to follow something more robust, along with home gym workouts such as these that help freshen up stale routines. Don’t get too down about the Pandemic interrupting your workouts and momentum at the gym. With COREFX, the gym is wherever you are! ~
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