Written by Steve Theunissen | ISSA: CPT & Fitness Nutrition
Fact checked by Tyler DiGiovanni, BSBM
FACT CHECKED
Walking out onto the gym floor for the first time can be a scary experience. You're surrounded by purposeful people with buff bodies who know exactly what they're doing. And yet, you have absolutely no idea. You stare at all of those gleaming chrome contraptions and all of those muscle-bound bodies and can't help feeling a little intimidated.
If only you had a plan!
Great news - you've just stumbled across that plan. In this article, I'm about to lay out a complete eight-week absolute beginner dumbbell workout plan to guide you through your first two months of having a gym membership. I'll show you what moves you need to be performing, how many sets and reps are ideal for you, and even how long to rest between each set. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to walk into the gym with the confidence you need to own your month's workouts.
The Dumbbell Workout
This eight-exercise full-body dumbbell strength training workout should be done twice weekly for eight weeks. To provide your muscles with full recovery, you should allow at least a 72-hour gap between workouts. For example, you could do your workouts on Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday.
You'll be doing three sets of each exercise in this workout for beginners. On the first set, you'll do 15 repetitions with a weight that allows you to focus on your form. You will then increase the weight slightly on set two and do 12 reps. The last two or three reps should be challenging. Do not use a weight that is too heavy, or you won't be able to use proper form.
On your third set, you'll increase the weight again and do ten reps. You should rest for 30-45 seconds between each set. Move directly from one exercise to the next without any rest. So your workout will look like this:
| Exercise | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 |
| Incline Dumbbell Row | 15 reps | 12 reps | 10 reps |
| Dumbbell Squats | 15 reps | 12 reps | 10 reps |
| Wall Sits | 30 sec | 30 sec | 30 sec |
| Dumbbell Bench Press | 15 reps | 12 reps | 10 reps |
| Push Ups | 15 reps | 12 reps | 10 reps |
| Arnold Press | 15 reps | 12 reps | 10 reps |
| Standing Alternate Curl | 15 reps | 12 reps | 10 reps |
| Lying Overhead Tricep Extension | 15 reps | 12 reps | 10 reps |
While most of the exercises to follow feature dumbbells, a couple of them use just your body weight.
The Exercises
1. Incline Dumbbell Row
This version of a chest supported row will hit your back, biceps, and forearms.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Place a pair of dumbbells under the head end of a 45-degree bench.
- Lie face down on the bench with your arms hanging down toward the dumbbells and your feet firmly planted on the floor.
- Extend your arms down to grab the dumbbells and turn them so your palms are facing each other (neutral grip).
- Pull back your shoulder blades, arch your lower back, and engage your latissimus dorsi (lat muscles).
- Row the dumbbells up to your ribcage, keeping your elbows close to your sides.
- Hold the top contracted position as you squeeze your back muscles.
- Slowly lower under control.
Training Tip:
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Press your stomach into the bench pad; this will help to keep your spine naturally arched.
2. Dumbbell Squats
As you may have guessed, these will hit your quads, but also will get your hamstrings and glutes firing.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Stand upright, keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, and your toes pointed out slightly. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides.
- Now, drop the hips down and back to descend into a squat position with your thighs slightly below parallel. In the bottom position, the weights should be nearly touching the floor.
- Looking up, drive through your heels to return to the start position.
Training Tip:
- In the starting position, your back should be naturally arched, and your shoulders pulled back. Maintain this position throughout the exercise.
- You may find it easier to maintain an upright position by standing on a slant board or placing a pair of 5-lb weight plates under your heels.
3. Wall Sit
Another quad-centric exercise. Your legs will be burning after these!
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Stand with your back against a wall, your arms at your sides, and your palms against the wall. Have your feet hip distance apart. Or, as pictured, grab a pair of dumbbells and hold them at your sides.
- Lower to a parallel squat position as if you were sitting in a chair.
- Keeping your shoulder blades against the wall, hold this position for 30 seconds.
- Rest for 30 seconds, then do two more 30-second hold sets.
Training Tip:
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Keep your core tight and tense your quads throughout this isometric hold.
4. Dumbbell Bench Press
One of my favorite dumbbell chest exercises to put on some serious mass and an essential exercise for any Upper Body Dumbbell Workout. This exercise will also hit your front delts and triceps.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Take hold of a pair of dumbbells and lie face down on a flat bench.
- Press the dumbbells above your chest to full arm's length. Your palms should face away from you, and the dumbbells should touch. Your feet should be firmly planted on the floor.
- Lower the weight to bring the dumbbells down to your mid-chest. In the bottom position, your elbows should be at a right angle, and your upper arms should be parallel to the floor.
- Press up and in to bring the dumbbells together above your chest.
Training Tip:
-
In the bottom position, your forearms should form a right angle with your upper arms. If your forearms are leaning in toward your body, you will take the emphasis off the chest and onto the biceps.
5. Push-ups
This classic exercise and its many variations, hits your shoulders, triceps, chest, and core.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Get down on the floor in the top push-up position. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your feet together. Keep a straight line from your head to your heels.
- Bend at the elbows to lower your chest to the floor. Do not stop until you make contact.
- Push through the chest and triceps to explode back to the start position.
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Avoid the tendency to lift your butt as you are performing this exercise by engaging your core muscles throughout the movement.
6. Arnold Press
Named for a certain famous bodybuilder/movie star/former governor, this shoulder exercise hits the front and side delts, as well as your triceps.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Grab a pair of dumbbells and sit on a back-supported bench.
- Bring the dumbbells up so that your arms are at right angles at shoulder levels, palms facing your body.
- Drive the weights up. As you do it, supinate your hands so that, in the top position, they are facing outward.
- Lower back to the starting position, returning to the palms-facing hand position.
Training Tip:
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Stop just short of lockout in the top position to keep constant tension on the deltoids.
7. Standing Alternate Dumbbell Curl
The king of dumbbell biceps exercises, these .
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Stand with dumbbells in your hands at your sides, palms facing your thighs. Place your feet hip-width apart.
- Starting with your right arm, supinate your hand to face to the front and then curl up to a fully contracted bicep position. Be sure to keep your elbows at your side. Squeeze your bicep tightly in the top contracted position.
- Reverse the process to finish with your palm facing your thighs again.
- Repeat on the left side.
Training Tip:
-
Avoid the tendency to swing your back, as this will bring momentum into the exercise.
8. Lying Overhead Tricep Extension
These are also known as Skull Crushers, they work the triceps.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie on a flat bench.
- Hold the dumbbells at arm's length above your chest. Your palms should be facing each other.
- Keeping your elbows in, lower your upper arms to bring the dumbbells down to your forehead. Allow them to just touch your hairline.
- Push through your triceps to return to the start position.
Training Tip:
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Don't use a weight that is too heavy, or you'll have to cheat by flaring your elbows out and using your shoulders to raise the weight.
The Benefits of Dumbbell Exercises vs Barbells
When it comes to comparing dumbbell exercises to barbell exercises, there are two key benefits:
- Range of Motion
- Safety
1. Range of Motion
Dumbbell exercises allow for a greater range of motion than you can achieve with barbells. This is best illustrated with the dumbbell bench press exercise. When you perform the bench press with a barbell, you can only bring the bar down until the point where it touches your chest. However, to fully extend the pectoral muscles, you need to come down at least an inch or two lower than that point. Getting a full extension and contraction on the bench is vital for full muscle development.
When you perform the bench press with dumbbells, you do not have the restriction of a bar going across your chest. That allows you to get that extra couple of inches of extension in the bottom position of the movement.
Using dumbbells on the bench press also allows you to move the weights laterally and vertically. For example, you can do a version of the press where you press the dumbbells into each other as you come up and down. This allows you to magnify the training effect, especially regarding the inner pecs.
This ability to move the dumbbells laterally benefits you on many other exercises. We can think of the dumbbell curl, where you can supinate your wrist, and the Arnold Press version of the shoulder press, where you also supinate your wrists. These abilities make shoulder workouts with dumbbells especially effective.
2. Safety
Using dumbbells is a lot safer for your body. There are two aspects to this. Firstly, using dumbbells for an exercise like squats places a whole lot less pressure on your spine than doing the barbell version. To do the dumbbell version of the squat, you simply hold dumbbells in your hands as you perform the exercise. The quads and glutes get the same load as if you were using a bar, but the load on your erector spinae muscle and your spine is removed.
Another major benefit of using dumbbell exercises over barbells is that they are a lot safer when you can't complete a rep. Let's go back to the bench press. If you fail on a rep, you are going to be stuck with an unmanageable amount of weight on your chest. Unless you've got a spotter handy, you are likely to suffer from a major injury.
When you're using dumbbells, however, all you have to do when you get stuck is drop the weights. It's the same thing with dumbbell squats. That is a major benefit, especially when you are going heavy in the six rep or lower range.
What's Next?
This eight-week dumbbell beginner entire-body workout will take you through your first two months of working out. After that, I recommend moving to a split routine program, where you divide your body in half and do a different workout for each part.
Split your body into the upper and lower body (with shoulders). Here is what the split should look like:
Upper Body:
- Chest
- Back
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Core
Lower Body:
- Quadriceps
- Glutes
- Hamstrings
- Calves
- Shoulders
Perform two exercises for each body part for a total of six sets per muscle group. Use a rep range between six and twelve. Throw in a couple of exercises using just your bodyweight and use them as finishing movements.
Do each workout twice per week, with 72 hours before working the same muscle again. So, you could work your upper body on Monday and Thursday and your lower body on Tuesday and Friday.
Dumbbell Training FAQ
How heavy should my dumbbells be?
You want the dumbbells to be heavy enough to stress your muscles beyond what they're used to without being so heavy that you lose form. On a beginner dumbbell workout program, you want the last two reps to be challenged on every set. If you need help with sizing, check out our article: What Weight Dumbbells Should I Buy?
Are dumbbell exercises effective?
Yes, they are. In fact, dumbbell exercises are generally more effective than barbell moves because you can get a fuller range of motion and you are able to supinate your wrists. Dumbbells also allow for unilateral training, so you can work each side of your body individually.
What is the best tricep dumbbell workout?
Here's a very effective two-exercise dumbbell tricep workout that I use with many of my personal training clients:
- Close grip dumbbell bench press
- Overhead tricep extension
These exercises should be super-setted so that you move directly from one to the other with no rest. Do three sets of 15 /10/8 reps to maximally work your triceps.
Is it OK to do dumbbell exercises every day?
Yes, it is ok to do dumbbell exercises every day. However, you should split your body in half so that you are not working the same body part every day. Your muscles need 48-72 hours to recuperate before being worked again.
Wrap-Up
This beginner dumbbell workout will ease your muscles into regular resistance training. Over the course of your first eight weeks of working out, you will experience dramatic increases in your strength level.
As you get stronger, ensure that you increase the weight you are using so that the last couple of reps on every set are challenging. This will continue placing stress on your muscles, forcing them to respond by getting bigger and stronger. After eight weeks on this beginner full-body routine, switch to a split routine, working half your body one day and the other half the next. Take a day off and then repeat that process for four workouts per week.
If you want to build muscle, combine our beginner dumbbell workout with smart, clean nutrition and plenty of rest and recovery, and you'll be well on your way to achieving your fitness goals.
Steve Theunissen
Author