Dumbbell Workout to Increase Muscle Mass

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. Do 4 sets of 10 increasing your weight by the 3rd and 4th set.

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.

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:

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.