Gain Muscle Mass Using Only Dumbbells With 10 Demonstrated Exercises
Dumbbells are an inexpensive and versatile. They allow you to create many
workouts that build muscle mass and also define muscle appearance. Weight,
reps and pace are the biggest attribute to your goal, from cardio to
building mass.
Achieving a new body needn’t be complicated. When used correctly, the
benefits of dumbbells are endless in terms of health benefits and physical
appearance. Increasing your dumbbell dexterity with extra free weight
exercises, will help you achieve your goal faster and you can build muscle
by using heavier weights.
Increasing muscle mass helps burn more calories throughout the day, this
is because a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat.
Dumbbells don’t just target biceps as thought, when performing a range of
movements you can involve most body parts and add mass, strength and
definition to these.
Dumbbells can be used to improve muscular endurance, or your ability to
use your muscles over time. You will use less weight and perform more
repetitions of each exercise when doing muscular endurance workouts than
when doing bodybuilding exercises. Below, here at firness tips we have
listed some exercises for you to incorporate:
1. Goblet Squat:
How to:
Stand with feet set wider than shoulder-width and hold a dumbbell with
both hands in front of your chest.
Sit back into a squat.
Then drive back up.
Repeat.
Targets:
They specifically target glute activation whilst improving both hip and
thoracic mobility.
2. Dumbbell Clean:
How to:
Face your wrists forwards and bring the weights to your shoulders,
slightly jumping as you do.
Slowly straighten your legs to stand.
Then lower the weights down to your thigh before moving into squat
position and repeating.
Targets:
Incorporating these lifts into your training will not only build lean
muscle tissue but also build explosive power. This move also rushes blood
to your glutes, hamstrings, shoulders and arms to maximise muscle
growth.
3. Farmers Walk:
How to:
Walk forward taking short, quick steps.
Go for the given distance, as fast as possible.
Targets:
You’ll increase your grip strength. This move bunches your rotator cuff,
protecting your shoulders.
4. Bent Over Row:
How to:
Keep your core tight and your back straight as you row the weights up to
your chest.
Lower and repeat.
Targets:
Rows will target several muscles in your upper body including:
Traps.
Rhomboids.
Lats.
Biceps.
Deltoids.
Shoulders.
This is perfect for achieving that ‘V’ shape.
5. Two Arm Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift:
How to:
Lower the dumbbells to the top of your feet, as far as you can go by
extending through your waist.
Slowly return to the starting position.
Targets:
It builds your legs into powerful parts by targeting your fast-twitch
lower-body muscles. It’s one of the best free weight exercises to build up
your lower body.
6. One Arm Swing:
How to:
Sink into a squat and swing the dumbbell through your legs before
immediately driving yourself forward.
Bringing the weight up towards your head as you straighten your
legs.
Repeat this movement, then swap sides.
Targets:
With proper form this swing will not only recruit muscles within your
posterior chain but it will also build your grip strength, co-ordination,
lower back muscles, quadriceps and shoulders. Most of these traditional
kettlebell moves can be replicated.
7. Bench Press:
How to:
Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand.
Lift the dumbbells one at a time so that you can hold them in front of
you at shoulder width.
Use your chest to push the dumbbells up.
Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your
training program
Targets:
Build quality pecs with a dumbbell press over barbell. Why? A weight in
each hands allows for a greater stretch at the bottom of the lift,
building a bigger chest. And if you want to take this move further?
Squeeze your pecs together at the top of the lift to recruit as many
muscle fibres as possible.
8. Cross Body Hammer Curl:
How to:
One at a time, curl each weight up towards your opposing shoulder.
Return under control to the start position and repeat on the other
side.
Targets:
Focusing on one arm at a time creates a large neural drive, which engages
the nervous system to recruit more muscle fibres.
9. Step-Ups:
How to:
Place your right foot onto the elevated platform and push up through your
heel to lift yourself up and place your left foot on the platform.
Step back down with your left foot, concentrating on flexing your hip and
the knee of your right leg.
Repeat on the other side.
Targets:
It’s a great way to maximise your glutes, the major muscle responsible
for extending, rotating and adducting and abducting from the hip joint.
Single leg exercises will increase stabiliser strength of the smaller
muscles around the joint, protecting you against injuries.
10. Dumbbell Scaption:
How to:
Arc the weights up to your sides keeping your arms straight at all times
until you feel a strong stretch across your shoulders.
Return slowly to the start position.
Targets:
Rotator cuff, shoulder impingement and tears are common issues from
overuse exercises, but not if you use the scaption. By targeting your
stabilising muscles it protects the shoulder joint and ligaments
surrounding it.
