The Top Ten Dumbbell Exercises For Building Strength and Muscle

If you only have a small home workout area and want to get in the best shape of your life, you need a workout mat, a full set of dumbbells and a jump rope. Using just these tools, you can burn off your fat stores, bulk up and get cut in six to twelve weeks.

Dumbbells are a versatile muscle and fat burning equipment. You can perform quite a few dozen movements ranging from muscle building compound exercises like squats to fat burning explosive movements such as the one arm hanging snatch.

Here is a blood pumping workout for building muscle and burning fat:

Start with a warm up for five minutes. Once you are fully warmed up, choose a weight that allows you to perform three sets with twelve reps to start.

Once you perform this routine a few times, vary the workout by choosing a weight that allows you to perform only eight reps but still work for three sets. Be sure to take a full one minute rest period between sets.




For the legs:
 
1. Dumbbell Squats
2. Go on to dumbbell lunges

For chest and shoulders:
 
3. Dumbbell incline press
4. Dumbbell flies
5. Dumbbell side raises
6. Dumbbell front raises

For the arms:
 
7. Dumbbell curls
8. Dumbbell triceps extension

For the abs:
 
9. Dumbbell side bends
10. Dumbbell roll ups

These are our top ten dumbbell exercises for building strength, endurance and muscle. If you want to cool down with cardio, you can take a fifteen minute low impact cardio workout. If you prefer, you can grab your jump rope and work out for 20 minutes, varying your intensity while keeping your heart rate up. Jump rope workouts are a great fat burning routine.

I prefer to do my cardio on alternate days. Perform each exercise with proper form and be sure to start each exercise with a light warm up weight. I choose a set of 10 pound dumbbells to do my warm up set. This gets me through a set in which I focus on my form and muscle tension.

From there, I'm able to judge my ability to handle the weight and determine when to step up to the next level. Try this routine for about six to twelve weeks; three days a week on alternate days. You can perform your cardio routine on alternate days or after the dumbbell workout.

I rate this one highly for those who are just starting out or for seasoned veterans who need to break up their routine and perform a great full body workout.

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