Do you have a compact space to workout in? You may feel that you’re unable to achieve as effective as a workout with space to spread out and perform certain moves. These 10 dumbbell exercises can change all of that.
The dumbbell is an often overlooked piece of equipment that can offer a thorough workout all in itself. You just need to know how to unlock it. Grab your 10-pound dumbbells and try some of these exercises out to push your body to its limits!
Table of Contents
1. Romanian Deadlift
Deadlifts are some of the most intense workouts you can perform with weights. The Romanian style ensures that your hamstrings are getting the proper attention that they need.
You begin by standing with your feet hip-width apart. If you’re not sure whether your deadlift technique is perfect, you can watch the video below for a thorough explanation of the proper posture.
With your toes facing forward and the dumbbells at your side, you should move your hips back while bending your knees. The dumbbells should be slowly lowered towards the floor at the outside of your legs.
Once you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings, then you can slowly lift back up. Throughout the movement, you should contract both your hamstrings and your glutes.
2. Hang Clean and Press
For an exercise that works your core, glutes, arms, and chest, then you might want to consider a hang clean and press move with dumbbells. You begin in the squat position.
Your dumbbells should be at your sides with your palms facing your body. Lift the dumbbells up to your shoulders and catch it there while lowering your squat in order to move the weight through your body.
You finish the move by hoisting the dumbbells up over your head. Then lower it back down to your sides for round two.
3. Single-Arm Snatch
To work one arm at a time, you should attempt to perform the snatch. You begin in a mid-squat position.
First, your 10-pound dumbbell should be hanging just in front of your knees. Your palm should be facing those knees.
Then, in a quick movement, you should hoist the dumbbell up over your head into a locked position. This movement should be fast, explosive, and performed multiple times to give your glutes and arm an extreme workout.
4. High Pull
Another great way to work out your arms and glutes is with the high pull. Your initial position should be with a slight bend in your knees, but otherwise standing straight.
By keeping the dumbbell in front of your knees, you should then explode with motion and lift the dumbbell straight to the upper part of your chest. This should extend your hips, ankles, and knees.
Try to keep your elbows above your wrists for the perfect form and ultimate strain. Perform a few of these until your muscles just can’t take anymore.
5. Front Squat
There are a ton of reasons why the squat should be part of your regular workout. Yet it’s easy to hit that plateau when performing normal squats.
A way to beat through that plateau and keep developing your core and legs is to add dumbbells. The front squat with 10-pound dumbbells is a great way to improve and enhance your normal squat.
Begin the move by standing hip-width apart. You should hold the dumbbells on your shoulders and keep your elbows elevated.
While keeping your spine straight, you should then slowly squat down until your hips are below your knees. The real strain comes when you stand back up into a perfectly straight position.
6. Pistol Squat
Another great squat position to try with a dumbbell is the pistol squat. However, this is an advanced move and shouldn’t be performed until you’ve built some muscles in your glutes and core.
First, hold dumbbells sideways by your hips. You should extend a left leg in front of you while squatting down on the right leg.
While you perform this motion, one of the dumbbells should be lifted and held straight out in front of you. Your squat should be low enough that your rear end touches ankle.
Then lift back up into a standing position and perform the move again with the other leg.
7. Floor Press
You don’t need a bench in order to receive a great chest workout. All you need is a pair of 10-pound dumbbells.
Begin by laying down on the floor. Your feet should also be flat on the floor.
The dumbbells should begin at your shoulders with your elbows resting on the floor. Then you push them straight up over your head and then back down to the floor.
8. The Pullover
You don’t need a machine to perform a good pullover workout either. By laying on the floor, you can use a single dumbbell to work the muscle that sits against your ribs.
Simply hold the dumbbell above you with both hands. Then arch the dumbbell over your head until you feel a stretch.
Return it to the starting position and continue the movement for several reps.
9. Bent-Over Raise
Another great way to work your chest and arms is with the raise in a bent-over position. Your feet should be hip-width apart and you should have your knees slightly bent.
Bend over slightly and hold the dumbbells in both hands. The movement you need to complete is raising the dumbbells straight out to your sides until they’re shoulder height.
Then lower the dumbbells back to the start and repeat the rep.
10. The Row
There’s a lot of great benefits that rowing can provide. For those who don’t have a rowing machine or a boat, you can still mimic the same motions with a dumbbell.
All you need is a bench or some sort of chair that you can rest facedown against at an incline. In that position, hold the dumbbells down until they’re parallel to the floor.
Lift them up to your chest and then lower.
Need home dumbbells? Check out our top picks.