If you’ve decided you want to get strong without hitting the gym, a home workout with dumbbells is exactly what you should try. No matter what your favorite style of workout is, it’s always a good idea to add strength training to your routine; doing dumbbell exercises or moves with other weights like kettlebells or a medicine ball can help you build muscle and improve muscular imbalances, strength, and power. Without a trainer or a follow-along workout, though, it can be tough to know which exercises to do, or how to put them together to create an effective dumbbell workout.
To help you out, here’s a total-body home dumbbell workout that will leave you feeling sweaty, strong, and sore in the best way possible. Moves include goblet squats, bent-over rows, and bicep curls — just to name a few. Just grab your weights, turn on your favorite playlist, and get ready to work.
Total-Body Home Workout With Dumbbells
Equipment needed: A set of medium-weight dumbbells. (Not exactly sure how much you should be lifting? Use this simple guide to choose the right weight.)
Directions: Before starting, be sure to do a dynamic warmup. This workout should be performed in trisets, meaning every set will have three exercises in it; complete the designated number of reps for exercise 1, then move on to exercises two and three. Repeat the triset so you’ve done it three times in total. Then move on to the next triset. Try to take no more than 45 to 60 seconds of rest in between exercises and sets. Once you’ve completed the workout, be sure to cool down.
- Triset 1, Exercise 1: single-leg deadlift with dumbbells: three sets of 10 reps on each leg
- Triset 1, Exercise 2: bent-over row: 3 sets of 12 reps
- Triset 1, Exercise 3: seated knee tuck: 3 sets of 12 reps
- Triset 2, Exercise 1: goblet squat: 3 sets of 15 reps
- Triset 2, Exercise 2: bicep curl: 3 sets of 12 reps
- Triset 2, Exercise 3: elbow side plank: hold for 20 seconds on each side for 3 sets total
- Triset 3, Exercise 1: weighted glute bridge: 3 sets of 12 reps
- Triset 3, Exercise 2: dumbbell tricep extension: 3 sets of 12 reps
- Triset 3, Exercise 3: seated Russian twist: 3 sets of 10 reps
Ahead, you’ll find step-by-step instructions for how to do each exercise of this workout.
—Additional reporting by Lauren Mazzo