Burn off body fat with dumbbell and bodyweight exercises
If you are on a mission to increase your strength using nothing but dumbbells, you have come to the right place. However, I will suggest you incorporate one more thing in your dumbbell training for strength arsenal: bodyweight exercises.
You can increase your strength, build lean muscle, and burn off pounds of body fat with dumbbell and bodyweight exercises. And here's another great benefit: you can get more results in less time than most people who train at a gym with free weights and machines.
To make that happen, you just need to know what to do.
Without further ado, here is your -
Dumbbell Training for Strength Guide
If you truly want to get maximum results in minimum time, you absolutely must apply the following Strength Training Principles.
Strength Training Principle One:
Do not use bodybuilding splits.
Magazines are quick to promote bodybuilding splits to their readers. However, those are not the best option if you want to get strong and lose body as fast as possible.
If you want to train only three days per week, then you should be using total body workouts. That will allow you to train your muscles with enough frequency and will definitely allow you to achieve your goals.
If you want to train four days per week, then you should use upper/lower splits where you alternate training your upper and lower body. This will also allow you to train your body with enough frequency so you can get great results.
Those are the only two training "splits" you will ever need, and they are much more effective than traditional bodybuilding splits.
Strength Training Principle Two:
Use the best exercises.
Just like the magazines promote bodybuilding splits, they also tell people to do a lot of isolation exercises such as dumbbell flyes, dumbbell lateral raises, curls, kick-backs, and other exercises.
Once again, that is very ineffective and inefficient for getting you the best results in the least amount of time.
Once again, that is very ineffective and inefficient for getting you the best results in the least amount of time.
You should perform big, compound exercises that allow you to use the greatest amount of weight. This will cause your body to recruit the largest number of motor units, and that is the optimal way to get strong.
Here is a brief list of the most effective dumbbell and bodyweight exercises for improving strength:
Note: the abbreviation "DB" means dumbbell
Upper Body Pushes (chest/triceps/shoulders):
-DB Floor Press (1 arm and both)
-DB Bench Presses (flat and incline)
-Standing DB Overhead Press
-DB Push Press
-Dips
-Push-ups (decline, stability ball, spiderman, grasshopper, hindu, etc)
-Handstand push-ups and variations
Upper Body Pulling (back/biceps):
-Pulls-ups and other varitions (chin-up, neutral grip, etc)
-DB Renegade Row
-DB Pullover
-DB Row (with support, two point, etc)
-Inverted Rows (palm down, palms up, with towels, etc)
Lower Body:
-Squats (siff, sumo, close stance, etc)
-Split Squats
-Lunges (explosive, reverse, lateral, crossover, etc)
-Romanian Deadlift
-Deadlift
-Step-ups
-Bulgarian Split Squats
-Jump Lunges
-Box Jumps
Miscellaneous Exercises:
-DB Snatch
-DB Clean and Press (one arm or both at a time)
-DB Clean and Jerk
-Burpees
Strength Training Principle Three:
Train in the right rep range.
If you want to get strong, you have to lift heavy weights, period. Make sure you train in the 3-6 rep range using a heavy weight.
It is also beneficial to train in higher rep ranges (7-20 reps) as well. This will keep you from getting burned out, and also allow you to build some lean muscle and burn off body fat.
Strength Training Principle Four:
Improve your performance.
The best way to improve your performance, and therefore get stronger, is to slowly and consistently increase the amount of weight you use. Another way to get stronger is to use the same weight but perform more repetitions with that weight. Plus, you won't always be able to increase the amount of weight you use.
Both methods are effective and should be implemented. Just know that increasing the weight is the best and most effective method.
Sample Dumbbell Training for Strength Workout:
-1 Arm DB Snatch - Perform 3-5 repetitions for each side, and perform a total of 5 sets.
-1 Arm DB Floor Press x 5 each side
-1 Arm DB Row x 5 each side
-Bulgarian Split Squat x 5-8 each leg
-Burpees x 10-15
Perform those exercises back to back and keep your rest periods to a minimum. Perform a total of 5 circuits.
Sample Dumbbell Training for Strength Workout 2:
-DB Clean and Press
- Perform 5 repetitions and perform a total of 4-5 sets.
-1 Arm DB Push Press x 8-10
-Chin-ups x as many as possible
-DB Squat x 10-20
Perform those exercises back to back and keep the rest period to a minimum. Perform a total of 3-5 circuits.
