Beginning Dumbbell Workout - Easy Exercises to Get Started With Dumbbells

Here's a easy beginning dumbbell workout which you can get started with right away:

Chest - Dumbbell Chest Press.

Lie on a bench holding two dumbbells at your side parallel to you and simply press up and lightly touch them together. Slowly lower and repeat for 8-10 repetitions. Go for 3 sets.
Hint: Think of a typical bench press, only performed with dumbbells. Many actually find dumbbell chest presses much more effective for muscle building than typical bench presses.

Shoulders - Dumbbell Shoulder Press.

Sit in a chair or on the edge of a bench, with your dumbbells raised up next to your shoulders. Simply press the weight up and lightly touch them together and then slowly lower to original position, and repeat for 8-10 repetitions, for 3 sets.

Biceps - Dumbbell Bicep Curl.

Stand with dumbbells at your side. Curl your left or right arm up, working the bicep muscle. Slowly lower, then repeat with the other arm. Go for 8-10 repetitions for each, and do 3 sets. Hint: While you want to make the bicep do all the work, you don't have to jerk your upper arm to curl. Keep your upper arm isolated and only move your forearm upwards to curl.

Triceps - Behind the Neck Presses.

Take only one dumbbell and hold it with both hands, palms up, behind you neck. Simply press up so your arms are fully extended and then slowly lower. Again, your triceps should be isolated and the only movement that needs to occur pressing up and down are the forearms. Go for 10-12 reps, and 3 sets.

This beginning dumbbell workout will get you started and you'll feel the different muscles of the upper body being activated and prepped for muscular development.

You should advance your beginning dumbbell workout by learning lower body dumbbell exercises and adding some more upper body exercises to your program. A good dumbbell manual will outline effective and complete workouts for you to perform.

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Top 6 Dumbbell Exercises for Shoulders

One of the best ways to improve the V-Shape of your physique is by adding width and shape to your shoulders. This also makes the arms look that much more impressive. The area where the arm meets the shoulder just looks incredible when you take the time to develop the delts as needed. The shoulders are so important in physique development that I have dedicated 5 out of the 16 exercises to them. So what exercises are best for this development? Here are the following:

1. Dumbbell Shoulder Press. This movement is a popular compound movement that engages the entire shoulder. Variations such as the Arnold Press are a way to add some spice to the movement for additional results. However you look at it though, a solid compound movement where you're lifting serious weight is a great way to pack on lean mass. (Compound Movement: A lift involving movement in 2 or more joints. Example: Shoulder Press active joints are the shoulders and elbows)

2. Dumbbell Upright Row. This exercise is also a compound movement. You can move considerable weight and spark large muscle gains with the Upright Row. Also hit during this exercise are the Trap muscles. That being said, check out number 5.

3. Dumbbell Shrugs. This is more of a Trap focused movement. You know how powerful a strong set of traps looks. Upright rows and Shrugs are the quickest way to get them. Traps are great but you want to put a large amount of focus on the "shoulder caps." This is where 6 and 7 come into play.

4. Dumbbell Front Raises. With the Front Raise you can do them simultaneously or in alternating fashion. The key here is to do them! This movement adds roundness and fullness to the front side of your shoulder. Though the front side of the shoulder needs work it is imperative to focus on the outer and rear portions to develop a full shoulder. 7 and 7-A will help you with that.

5. Dumbbell Side Raises. This is a basic movement putting all possible emphasis on the outer portion of the shoulder. When done consistently and with intensity you will see width and roundness added to your shoulders. What does that mean? A better V-Shape.

6-A. Variation of the Side Raise. Simply bend forward at the waist and pull the movement towards the back, a.k.a. the Rear Fly. This is the best way to isolate the Rear Delt. This area is SO OFTEN neglected, but it really gives the shoulder the ultimate look! (Why not have 17 exercises making this exercise 8 instead of listing this Variation as 7-A you ask?) Good Question! Moving on.

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Top 4 Dumbbell Exercises For Legs

LEGS

13. Squats. Grab a dumbbell in each hand and sit down, then stand up, and repeat! It's that simple. This compound leg movement with increase Quadriceps, Glutes and Hamstring Mass. It will also stimulate an increase naturally in your Testosterone and Growth Hormone levels. The result is a more Ripped Body fr Head to Toe! You can do variations in stance, depth, open area without bench, or squat to the bench. Here the most important thing to do is SQUAT!

14. Lunges. For leg and glute development, it is a close competition between Squats and Lunges as to which is the best. Both are great and worth doing in your leg workout. What I can tell you is that if I don't do one for a few weeks, when I bring it back into the workout it blasts my legs. For that reason I suggest Lunges AND Squats. As for the lunges you can do variations such as: Standing, Walking, Forward, Angled, et cetera.

15. Step-Ups. Here is a great exercise that takes your leg training to A New Level LITERALLY! The Step-Up done properly may be the best Glute Developer. Men may not worry about shaping their glutes as much as ladies do. Ask a woman though and I bet you she tells you, "WE SHOULD!"

16. Calf Raises. Pick up a Dumbbell or Two and get to Raising. Single or double leg variations are both great. Depending on balancing I ssues you can hold one or two dumbbells and work your way down to just bodyweight for a drop set thoroughly burning them out.

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The Best Dumbbell Chest Exercises

Here are a few of the more effective chest exercises using dumbbells only.

Dumbbell Bent-Arm Pullover

You'll start off by lying on a bench with your head over the edge of the bench and with your feet flat on the floor. You're going to lower the dumbbell in a semicircular motion towards floor. You'll want to go as low as you can without causing any discomfort. Keeping your elbows tucked, lift the dumbbell back up using the same path. This exercise can also be done with the arms straight or with two dumbbells.

Dumbbell Bench Press

This is by far one of the most effective chest exercises you can perform. Start off by sitting on the edge of a flat bench while resting the dumbbells on your knees. As you roll back onto the bench, you'll use your knees to kick the dumbbells back to a position slightly outside and above your shoulders. Your palms should face forwards. You'll need to bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle so that your upper arms are parallel to the ground. You'll then press the weights up over your chest until they meet above the center of your body. You'll lower the dumbbell using the same path downward until your arms are slightly below parallel to the floor. These can be done on an incline or decline bench targeting the upper and lower chest respectively.

Dumbbell Flyes

You'll begin this exercise as you would the dumbbell bench press, sitting down on a flat bench with the dumbbells resting on your knees. As you roll onto your back, keep the dumbbells close to your chest. You'll lift the dumbbells over your chest by extending your arms. Make sure to maintain a slight bend in your elbows. Lower the dumbbells to the sides of your body in an arc-like motion. At the lowest point, your bent elbows should be on a horizontal plane even with the bench. Slowly bring the weights back up over your chest in an arc. The bend in your elbows should stay the same throughout the exercise. Remember this is not a dumbbell bench press so you're not going to be able to lift as much. These can also be performed in an incline or decline position.

Inclined Dumbbell Bench Press

Undoubtedly, this is the exercise that's most efficient to get the ideal chest. This exercise wont only give you a broader upper chest, but will make your frame become wider from the front side, causing your torso to narrow. Perform this demanding exercise with your bench set at 45-degrees. Another benefit of doing this exercise is that any sagging skin that you have on your chest will tighten.

Inclined Dumbbell  Chest Flys

This exercise is ideal for developing stabilizing chest muscles. You shouldn't use too much weight to begin until you get used to the difficulty of maintaining the range of motion. Set the bench to an incline of 45 degrees and lift the weights up at a 90 degree angle all the way to the back of the bench. Don't bring the weights too far back as this can cause shoulder injuries. Doing this exercise is amazing for getting rid of those man boobs, as it works your inner and outer chest muscles, all while sculpting the shoulders. Keep in mind that you must use light weights and then slowly move to more difficult challenges.

Declined Dumbbell Chest Flys

This exercise is highly recommended if you want to develop your chest muscles but is definitely not easy to perform. Due to this difficulty, its essential that you perform the aforementioned exercises so that your upper chest is able to withstand the challenge. If you develop your upper chest first, you wont have that bottom-heavy look that happens because of developing your lower chest first.

This exercise is perfect for eliminating gynecomastia, which are typically known as man boobs. Inclined chest flies start by eliminating slowly your man boobs, while the declined chest flys completely rid your body of them

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Top 4 Dumbbell Exercises For Arms

1. Dumbbell Bicep Curls. This is possibly the most popular exercise among men. It's surely right up there with Bench Press. Anyway it is good at bringing out the peak of the bicep. You can do Standing or Seated Variations. You can also do them in Alternating fashion or Simultaneously. However you decide to do them, you will increase the size of your biceps considerably if you do them a couple times a week with good form.

2. Hammer Curls. This is a version of the Bicep curl that allows you to move more weight meaning more mass gain. Also involved in this exercise neglected in others is the Brachioradialis. What's that you ask? It is part of the forearm. This exercise is great for bicep mass and adds size to the forearm as well.

Though everyone loves training Biceps, it's the Triceps that make up the majority of the size in the upper arm! So let's get to the Triceps.

3. Skull Crushers / Lying Triceps Extensions. You can do a number of variations with one or two dumbbells. Adjusting the angle of the bench can also change the strength curve of the movement as well. Whether you are using a flat bench with One Dumbbell or Declined Bench with Two Dumbbells or another variation, this exercise with shred up the old horseshoe triceps!

3. Triceps Kickback. This movement is often done with one arm at a time, though you can do both at the same time if you like. You will be hard pressed to find an exercise that generates more burn in the triceps than the kickback. Like the old Denorex commercial said, "The tingle tells me it's working." Get to kicking and start the burn!

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Best Upper Body Dumbbell Exercises

Dumbbells are the best training equipment you have at your disposal. They are relatively cheap, you do not need a gym membership, they do not take up huge amounts of space and you can train all of the major muscle groups with them.

In this article I am going to look at the 3 best dumbbell exercises for upper body workouts:

1) Dumbbell Chest Press

The dumbbell chest press is performed by lying back and holding the dumbbells straight out in front of you. You will then lower them and raise them for the required number of reps. This is a great exercise for building a huge chest and is favored by bodybuilders worldwide.

2) Dumbbell Curl

The dumbbell curl is the superior exercise for building your biceps, absolutely nothing surpasses it. The dumbbell curl is performed by bringing the dumbbell, in your hand, up towards your shoulder and then lowering it down again. At the start your hands should be facing towards your side and when you finish they should have curled to be acing your shoulder.

3) Dumbbell Shoulder Press

This exercise is great for building huge broad shoulders All you are doing here is extending your arms up over your head and back again. This will work out your shoulder muscles

If you are serious about piling on the muscle then you should use these and other exercises in a consistent training program that will target your whole body not just the upper body as these 3 exercises are for. When you put them in a workout plan you will see improvements quickly!

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