Fitness Destinations

If you don't know how to workout with dumbbells, you are truly missing out on a great way get in shape, yet a way that requires very little exercise equipment.

In fact, if you had a proper set of dumbbells, you could stay in shape for the rest of your life without owning a single additional piece of exercise equipment!

This guide will help you to get the most out of your dumbbell workouts by teaching you how to workout with dumbbells in the most safe and effective manner.

Use Proper Form

As with all exercise-related activities, doing it right is the very first priority. Failure to properly do your dumbbell exercises could result in:

• A lack of progress
• Injury
• Wasted time and energy

Since dumbbell exercises are normally done either standing up, or sitting/laying on a bench of some kind, you are 100% in control of the movement, which, of course, is the whole point.

However, without an exercise machine to guide your body in the ranges of motion that are necessary for any given exercise, it is very easy to get sloppy when you start to get tired.

In order to make sure that you understand exactly how to do any given exercise properly, simply do it with very little weight in order to teach yourself the movement. Once you are sure that you know how to sit/stand/lay down while performing the actual range of motion needed for each exercise, then you can graduate up to more challenging weights.

Also, remember that your "core" muscles are a large part of your ability to stabilize your body when exercising. One of the secrets of how to workout with dumbbells effectively is to always use your abdominal and lower back muscles to "tighten up" and stabilize your body before and during every single exercise.

Do Effective Exercises

When it comes to exercise of any kind, quality always trumps quantity! If you have grabbed 10 dumbbell exercises from the latest edition of some fitness magazine, and you intend to incorporate all 10 of them into a 15 minute workout, you're already on the wrong path.

There is no way that you are going to provide enough stimulus to any of your muscles or connective tissues if you rush through a large list of exercises rather than focusing on a few powerful movements, and taking the time to do those movements effectively.

With very few exceptions, there aren't very many "bad" exercises. As a general rule, any exercise is better than no exercise. However, people who have been on and off the fitness or weight loss bandwagon will attest to the fact that the number one reason for a lack of follow-through on their program is because they weren't seeing enough results to keep them motivated to continue.

That will also be your fate if you don't make very good use of your exercise time every day. Choose exercises that are very effective for whichever area of your body that you are targeting, but don't fine-tune the effort so much that you need to do 50 different exercises each time you workout.

Check out Superior Dumbbell Workouts and Dumbbell Routines for more information about picking specific exercises that will work best for you.

Use a Challenging Weight

Okay, it's time to 'fess up! Are you one of those people at the gym who only ever picks up the multi-colored dumbbells that weigh anywhere from 3 to 8 pounds? We used to call those the Crayola Dumbbells when I worked at a gym because they would only be challenging weights if you were still a child!

Now, I'm not talking across the board here, because there are some dumbbell isolation exercises that can only be done with a small amount of weight. However, as a general rule, if you are an able-bodied adult male or female human being, you should be able to do most of your exercises with weight that is more challenging than the Crayola Dumbbells.

Going back to what I said earlier about stabilizing your core whenever you exercise, this will definitely come into play once you start using some challenging weights. Especially when you are doing movements where you are sitting or standing up, you will need to really flex those abdominal and lower back muscles in order to keep your body from moving while you perform exercises with heavier weights.

Modify Your Routine

You could have the best dumbbell workout routine ever known to mankind, but your body will still get used to it eventually. Once your body has adapted to your routine, you will need to change it if you want to continue to see results.

That does not necessarily mean that you need to do more repetitions of each exercise, or that you need to use heavier weights, although those are both ways of modifying your routine.

Other methods include:

• Change the order that you do your exercises in
• Change the exercises themselves for different movements that target the same areas of your body
• Modify the speed at which you do your entire workout (more or less rest time in between exercises)
• Modify the speed at which you do individual exercises (more or less speed with which you actually move the dumbbells)
• Do your workout at a different time of day (different energy levels)

Become Unbalanced

If you want to know how to workout with dumbbells in a way that will guarantee maximum results from both a strength/weight loss point of view, as well as an overall health point of view, becoming unbalanced is the way to go!

Basically what is meant by "becoming unbalanced" is that you take your body outside of its normal comfort zone of solid surfaces, and do your exercises in ways that will add more core training to your workout, thus making it more challenging, and burning more calories.

There are numerous methods for doing this, and they include doing the same exercises that you would be doing anyway, only to become unstable you do the exercises:

• On one foot
• On a wobble board
• On an exercise ball
• On a Bosu ball

In each of the conditions listed above, your body is forced to both consciously as well as unconsciously recruit the use of muscles and connective tissues that would never have been used during more "traditional" exercises.

To use myself as an example, the hardest muscle for me to "shock" into growth is my biceps. They are already fairly well developed, but if I want to take them to the next level, I really have to beat on them hard.

One day I decided to do a standard Alternating Dumbbell Bicep Curl on one foot instead of two, and for 3 days afterwards I couldn't move my arms without feeling a healthy level of soreness from that workout. That is the power of becoming unstable!

Remember: Dumbbell exercises are more effective than exercise machines in almost every instance, so the next time you are at the gym, try out some of the techniques that you just learned. Alternatively, you could grab your own set of dumbbells and get a great workout without ever having to leave your house!

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The Barbell Step is one of the most effective leg exercises that you can do, and it also does a great job of keeping your heart rate up, thus burning more calories!

Be sure to visit Fitness Generator to get access to almost 2,000 exercise graphics as well as instructions on using bodyweight, dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, and more!

Barbell Step Up

The premise here is pretty simple. Using a Barbell that is perched on your shoulders, or using dumbbells that are held down at your side, you step up onto an elevated surface and back down again. Be sure to do the exercise with good form, though! Most people do not keep proper form when doing this movement, especially when they start getting tired.

To get the most out of the Barbell or Dumbbell Step Up, you need to keep good posture the entire time, keeping your head up and your back erect. Step all the way up onto the elevated surface with one foot, then the other, and then step back down with one foot, then the other. Alternate starting with your left foot then your right foot, and remember that the higher your elevated surface is, the more you will get out of the exercise!

Click here to see a massive list of websites that teach people to exercise!

If you’re looking for an incredible chest and upper body workout, P90X® is one of the most effective programs you’ll ever find.

In Part I of the good push up workout series, I covered 9 different ways to do push ups using nothing but your body weight. Here in Part II, I will be adding in one dumbbell exercise, and also cranking up the intensity.

Here are each of the 4 push up exercises that will be used during this workout, and the workout itself is below.

Push Ups with Elevated Feet

This movement was also in the previous workout, but I wanted to include it here as well in order to enhance the shoulder strengthening aspects of this workout. Whenever you do a push up with your feet elevated, it puts even more strain on the shoulders than a standard push up.

Given the high frequency of shoulder injuries, strengthening the shoulder muscles and connective tissues is not only a good idea, but it makes your upper body physique more aesthetically pleasing as well.

Other than having your feet elevated on a chair, foot stool, or other surface, this push up is done just like a standard push up, with the hands approximately shoulder-width apart, and in horizontal alignment with the upper chest area.

Dive Bomber Push Ups

This exercise was also featured as the exercise of the day, and is an incredible movement not just for upper body strength, but for core stabilization as well. It is one of the many push-up variations that are included in the P90X program.

In order to do the Dive Bomber Push Up correctly, be sure to have a very controlled rate of speed during the exercise, and also follow the same upward and downward arch throughout the repetition.

Also, get as much of your body as close as possible to the floor without actually coming into contact with the floor, and be sure to return all the way up to the fully extended position when you ascend back to the top of the movement.

Dumbbell Push Up and Row

If this exercise looks hard, believe me when I say that it’s even harder than it looks!

Basically all you do is put your hands some some light-to-moderately heavy dumbbells which are resting on the floor in the same position that your hands would be in for a standard push up.

Go down into a standard push up and back up again, and then immediately follow up that movement by picking one of the dumbbells up and pulling it back into a 1-arm row.

Done perfectly, your back will neither sag, bow, nor sway to one side as you try to keep your core immobile during the rowing movement. Alternate back and forth between the left and right hands for the 1-arm row.

Explosive Push Ups

Another exercise that looks hard, and lives up to its appearance.

It is absolutely imperative that you use proper body mechanics during this exercise, or else you risk a shoulder, wrist, or elbow injury. This exercise has great benefits, so it is worth the risk, but be sure to do it the right way.

As your palms come back into contact with the floor, immediately bend your elbows in order to absorb the shock of your body rapidly descending from the top position.

Once you understand the rhythm of the movement, you will know the precise fraction of a second when you need to switch gears. You will go from absorbing the shock by bending your elbows to reversing the movement and explosively pushing your upper body back off of the floor for the next repetition.

There is no rest period during this exercise! Once you start your set of repetitions, you will not stop moving again until that set is complete, or until you reach momentary muscle failure.

The Workout

These 4 exercises will totally exhaust your upper body muscles, and will likely fatigue or exhaust your abdominal muscles and other core stabilization muscles as well. As you can probably guess, using that much raw muscular power is going to scream through both oxygen and calories at an alarming rate, thus making this a great workout for weight loss as well as muscular and strength gains.

In order, the exercises are:

1. Push Ups with Feet Elevated
2. Dive Bomber Push Ups
3. Dumbbell Push Up and Row
4. Explosive Push Ups

At the beginning of the set, you will still be fairly fresh, so go for a standard number of repetitions with the elevated push ups. Shoot for 15, or 20 at the most. Anything more than that and you will use up so much energy that you won’t be able to finish the other exercises.

Next, the Dive Bomber Push Ups are not as intense in the “pushing-sense” as the elevated push ups, but if you do them correctly, they will still burn the shoulders and abs, and possibly the triceps as well. Go for 10 slow, complete repetitions, remembering that you need to go all the way down and all the way back up to count 1 repetition. Also, do not rest even for a second at the top of the movement.

By this point your heart rate should be racing along and your shoulders and triceps will really be starting to feel the strain. For the Dumbbell Push Up and Row, you will still be using those muscles, but you will be adding in the increased energy and oxygen needs of the core stabilization muscles as well. When you first do this exercise, if you get 6 good push ups and 3 good rows done on each arm, you’ll have done better than most when they first tried it. Work your way up to 16 push ups, with 8 rows on each arm.

For the last exercise, the Explosive Push Up, it is simply time to give it all you’ve got! You will likely be at or near exhaustion by this point if you really put forth the effort during the first 3 push up exercises, so for this last movement, just go for as many repetitions as it takes to get you to muscle failure. Remember: Focus on proper form even though you are tired. No exercise is worth getting injured over.

So, that’s it!

Once you have survived completed your first set, take a well-deserved 2-minute break during which time you will catch your breath and drink some water.

Go for a 2nd set the first time around, and the next time you do this same workout, do 3 complete sets, adjusting the number of repetitions as needed to keep it challenging.

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Great Arms Guaranteed!

The Dumbbell Bench Press is a standard and very effective exercise for the chest and the shoulders. However, by alternating from one side of the body to the other, you get even more out of an already effective exercise.

Using a kettlebell, a dumbbell, or a medicine ball, you can develop incredible strength, stability, and neuromuscular coordination with this one-sided movement.

Be sure to visit Fitness Generator to get access to thousands of exercise graphics as well as instructions on using bodyweight, dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, and more!

1-Arm Squat

Be sure that the weight you are holding does not migrate in front of your head during this movement. The idea is to create a "counter-weight" situation where the weight pulls you slightly backwards and you have to compensate for that by using your core stabilization muscles. Also, be sure to practice perfect squat form – feet flat on the floor, toes parallel and pointing straight forwards, head and shoulders up and not rounded forward.