It is amazing how many great exercises you can do with just free weights / dumbbells / body weight. Don’t let cost or travel keep you from building muscle. Here are some winners for getting a great exercise in with just dumbbells.
We’ve already made the case for why you should be lifting weights. And don’t miss our article on Building a Killer At-Home Weightlifting Gym
If you’re just starting out and wanting to prove a habit before dropping several thousand dollars this post is going to be a great starting point. Or if you just find yourself traveling and the hotel gym has a broken down elliptical and a set of free weights.
The Equipment ($200-$1000)
Depending on how far you go, which options, and where you buy, you are looking at a few hundred bucks.
You’ll need weights, ideally a bench, and optionally resistance bands.
Weights ($100-600)
There are three directions you can go:
- Sets of dedicated Dumbbells in various sizes ($280-550)
- This is my favorite approach. You can quickly move between weights and go up as you progress. I’m a big fan of the Rubber Hex Dumbbells from Cap. I’ve slowly built a nice collection buying them in pairs from Walmart over the years for about $1 / pound.
- If you have pairs of 5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50 that would be $550. If you are just starting out and did just up to and including 35lb, that would be only $280
- A pair of adjustable dumbbells. ($250-400)
- I don’t know much about these but there are good contenders from Bowflex, Flybird, PowerBlock, etc.
- Big advantage is they take up very little space.
- Downsides might be ease of switching increments, longterm durability, and whether form factor works for all exercises
- Loadable Dumbbells with plates ($100-$400)
- This is how I started off and it is a nice cheap option you can slowly add to. Can often get great deals on Facebook Marketplace for $1/lb or less.
- The big bummer is that it is a hassle to screw and unscrew to lower or raise the weight. And if it is a hassle and you have to do it every session, you may just avoid.
Bench ($100-200)
Ideally you have a bench to lay on and incline and decline. But most of the exercises have a version standing or lying on the floor, so don’t fret if this seems like it will blow your budget.
I’m a big fan of Flybird’s benches. They are solid value and fold up really small.
Bands ($40)
These can be useful by themselves or you can creatively use with some of the dumbbell exercises or even body weight exercises.
Dumbbell Exercises
On Bodybuilding.com there is a magnificent database of exercises that you can filter by equipment. The below links are to their write-ups and videos on each exercise. You have to sign up for a free account but that’s worth the hassle.
Below are some staples. My 10 favorites are bolded.
Arms / Forearms / Triceps
- Incline Hammer Curls (one of my favs) or try normal Hammer Curls
- Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl / Dumbbell Bicep Curl (I like to do in tandem with Cross-body hammer curl)
- Palms-Up Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Bench (Forearms)
- Dumbbell skullcrusher (Triceps)
- Dumbbell farmer’s walk (forearms / grip)
- This one may be tough if you don’t have enough weight to make it worthwhile. Kettlebells are a good choice for it.
Chest
- Dumbbell Bench Press
- Dumbbell floor press (if you don’t have a bench)
- Incline dumbbell bench press
- Dumbbell Flyes
- This can be a riskier exercise so don’t push the weight and don’t over extend the movement.
Shoulders / Traps
- Seated Dumbbell Press or Standing dumbbell shoulder press
- Side Lateral Raise or with a bench try Seated rear delt fly
- Arnold Press
- Standing dumbbell shrug (traps)
- Over time you can really go up in weight here
Back
Legs (Hamstrings / Glutes / Quads)
- Dumbbell Goblet Squat or Dumbbell squat (Quads)
- Romanian Deadlift With Dumbbells (Hamstrings)
- Dumbbell Walking Lunge (Quads)
Body Weight
Push-ups
- Don’t chase high volume here. If you are hitting 30 reps pretty easily then try alternate forms like diamond position, hands wide , or explosive movement. Or even introduce resistance bands.
Pull-ups / Chin-ups
- The pull up is still probably the best exercise for biceps and it is fantastic for your back muscles.
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