30 Dumbbell Exercises for a Complete Full-body Workout Posted in: Workout

Lower-body dumbbell exercises

1. Dumbbell hip thrusts

Sit on the floor next to the bench, rest your upper back on it, bend your knees. Raise your pelvis without lifting your feet. Place your hands with dumbbells on your hips. Contracting the gluteal muscles, push the pelvis up until the hips are parallel to the floor. Lower to starting position and repeat.

2. Romanian deadlift

Stand up straight, hold the dumbbells with outstretched arms, palms should be turned towards the body. Bend your knees slightly, bend over with your back straight till the weights are somewhere mid-shin level. While keeping your back straight, return to starting position and repeat. You should feel the muscles in your lower back and hamstrings as they get a nice stretch.

3. Lunges with dumbbells

Take dumbbells in your hands, lunge forward and touch the floor with the knee of your back leg. Make sure that the lower limbs are bent at right angles and that the knee in front does not extend beyond the toe. You can perform lunges while moving around the room or on the spot.

4. Lunges with a dumbbell in one hand

This exercise option pumps not only the hips, but also the shoulders and core muscles. Do not take a heavy dumbbell right away: first check your sense of balance by doing an exercise with a light weight. Raise the weight over your head, extend your other hand to the side. Perform lunges while moving around the hall. Switch sides and repeat.

5. Squats with dumbbells

Place your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly outwards, holding the dumbbells over your shoulders. Squat to parallel hips with the floor or below. Keep your back straight and your heels flat on the floor as you lift back up, and repeat.

6. Dumbbell thrusters

This exercise uses several muscle groups at once: hips, glutes, core muscles, shoulders and triceps. It works well for intense interval and circuit workouts for weight loss. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly outwards. Keeping the weights close to your shoulders, first you squat down. Then with one single explosive movement, you push yout body back up with your legs, and press the weights up as you would with a dumbbell press movement. This full-body workout can almost be considered as a combination of the squat, and the press.

7. Dumbbell swing

Another exercise involving multiple muscle groups. Dumbbell swings work the muscles of the hips and back, strengthen the shoulder girdle.

Place your feet shoulder-width apart, slightly turn your socks to the sides. Grasp one dumbbell with both hands, tilt your back straight, bend your knees and push your pelvis back. Holding a dumbbell between your legs, you push the pelvis forward, while straightening your torso and swinging the weight up. The dumbbells path will resemble a semicircle and stops right above the head. Then you swing it back to the starting position and repeat the movement. This is similar to a kettlebell swing, working hamstrings, spinal erectors, deltoids, among many other muscle groups

8. Sumo squats with dumbbells

Exercise with an emphasis on the inner thigh.

Place your feet 1.5–2 times wider than your shoulders, turning your toes to the sides. Grasp a single dumbbell with both hands and squat with your knees spread apart. Keep your back straight and squat down till your hips are parallel with the floor. Press your body back up, and repeat.

9. Bulgarian split squats with dumbbells

Take both dumbbells in your hands, stand with your back to the bench, placing the toe of one leg on it, and squat/lunch down. Check if the knee in front of the standing leg extends beyond the toe. If so, move slightly away from the support. While squatting, try to turn the knee of the supporting leg slightly outward.

10. Weighted box steps

Walk up a hill with dumbbells in hand. While lifting, try to slightly turn the knee of the supporting leg outward: this way the joint is in a more stable position, which reduces the risk of injury.

11. Glute bridge on the floor with dumbbells

Lie on the floor and rest your feet on it, bending your knees at a right angle. Raise one leg and straighten your knee, place the dumbbell on your hips. Straining your buttocks, push your pelvis up so that the body and the raised leg are extended in one line. Lower your hips to the floor and repeat.

Dumbbell Exercises For Abs and Core Muscles

1. Turkish lifting with dumbbells

Excellent core exercise. Improves balance and coordination of movements.

Lie on the floor, straighten your legs. Take a dumbbell in your right hand and raise it in front of you, extend your left hand to the side. Bend your right leg and place your foot on the floor. Leaning on your right leg and left arm, take a sitting position. Move the dumbbell up and hold it above your head. Bring your left leg back and place it on your knee: you are now in a lunge position.

Stand up, and then repeat in reverse order: the left leg goes back into a lunge and is placed on the knee, the left arm and right leg are resting on the floor, the left leg is moved forward and straightened, you sit down, then lower your back to the floor, extend your left arm to the side and straighten your right leg.

When you are comfortable with the exercise, change your hand and try on the other. Just to start, take a lighter dumbbell.

2. “Lumberjack” with a dumbbell

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, grab the dumbbell with both hands. Turn the body to the right and take the projectile up and to the side. This lifts the heel of the left foot off the floor and pivots outward to provide full body rotation. Rotate the latter to the left, while lowering the dumbbell to knee level. Imagine doing an exercise in a rectangle: first you need to touch the projectile to the upper right corner, and then to the lower left.

Perform an equal number of approaches to both sides.

3. Russian crunches with dumbbells

Sit on the floor, grab a dumbbell with both hands, lift your legs off the floor, and straighten your back. Rotate the body and arms with the weight to the right, and then repeat the same to the left. Try not to lower your feet to the floor until the end of the exercise.

4. V-fold with dumbbell

Stretch out on the floor with a dumbbell behind your head. At the same time raise the body, arms and straight legs, touch the toes with the projectile. Drop back down and repeat. When lifting, try to keep your back straight and not bend your knees too much.