Dumbbells are practical fitness tools you can use at home or even inside the gym. There are also endless possibilities on what you can do with your dumbbell.
Nonetheless, you must first understand the safety measures on using dumbbells, so you can effectively prevent any possible injuries. Below are some ideas on your home dumbbell workout.
The Basic
It involves practicing with minimal weights first, or lifting without the weights before actually holding a dumbbell. This will make you familiar with the feel of lifting in your hand. Knowing the basic can also help you in avoiding probable injuries like over rotating the shoulders and hyper extending the lower back.
Weight Selection
If you can already feel that you can go on with a good form after you have finished your target, you may add more weights to your dumbbell by about 5-10%.
Proper Breathing When Lifting
Proper Movement
When you move, you need to know which joints are acted on by your muscles. It is important to pinpoint which joints are in use because it is only these joints that should move when you work out in a particular exercise.
Proper movement also involves no swaying back and forth or using momentum by moving other body parts to lift weights.
Avoiding Errors
A common error in dumbbell lifting is when a person flings or drops the weight right after a concluded set. Another error that you must pay attention to is to not lift with a sloppy form. You must employ proper motion range.
You must also avoid lifting very fast. The dumbbells must be leveled when lifting. If you notice that the dumbbell sags at a side, and it makes it difficult for you to level it, it is a sign that the dumbbell's weight is not suitable for you.
Lower Body Workout
Dumbbells may be incorporated in your lower body exercises such as lunges and squats that can work on the hamstrings, quadriceps and glutes.
Upper Body Workout
When using dumbbells on upper body workouts; choose an exercise that does not need a spotter so you can lower your risk of injuries. You can perform bicep curls. Avoid overworking the shoulder muscles.
Lunges
Lunges are one tried and true method that becomes more effective when combined with dumbbells. To perform a weighted lunge, stand with your feet together and hold one weight in each hand.
Take a large step forward with one foot, and squat down, so that your front foot is at a 90-degree angle, and your back leg is extended with the bent knee almost touching the ground. Bring your back leg forward, so that you are back in a standing position with your feet together.
Bicep Curls
Slowly curl your arm all the way up so that the weight almost touches your shoulder, and then slowly lower it back down. Switch arms and try to do these exercises in sets of ten at a time. Switch arms to work both sides of your body evenly, or if you are advanced at the exercise, you can try doing both of them at the same time.
Tricep Presses
Slowly lower your arms with the weights, until one weight is on the mat on either side of your ears. Begin to raise your arms back into the air until they are once again fully extended above your head.
Dumbbell Hamstring Curls
Dumbbell hamstring curls can be used to work your legs during an at home dumbbell workout. Lay face down over a bench or chair with your knees hanging over the edge by a few inches. Place a dumbbell in between your ankles, and squeeze it with your legs so that it doesn't fall out.
You may also use weighted dumbbell ankle straps if needed for this exercise. Hold on to the front legs of the bench or chair, and slowly curl your knees until they are in a 90-degree angle with the floor. Slowly lower them back down until they are perpendicular to the floor and repeat.
The convenience of dumbbell training:
You can't beat the convenience that dumbbell training offers. You can train at home and forget about a gym membership and having to travel to your workouts. There is little to no setup with dumbbells.
You simply pick them up and start pumping. They don't take up much room. You can have a small dumbbell rack, or you can just have them on the floor next to your dirty laundry!
Now, if you do go to a gym, dumbbell training is still one of the most convenient ways to work out. Most people in gyms flock to the machines. If you machine a train, you run the risk of having to wait for the person to get done.
And many people on machines tend to sit there seemingly forever. They'll check their email on their cell phones between sets, send a few text messages, or fiddle around playing some cell phone game they have downloaded.
Very, very frustrating. The dumbbell rack is often like an empty desert in the gym. You can avoid the machine mess and get your training done quickly by just hanging around the desert dumbbell area.
Now, if it's a hardcore gym, then there will be more members using dumbbells. But many hardcore gyms will have multiple sets of the same weight, so there usually will be something available.
But if not, serious trainers don't screw around. They finish their sets quickly and don't hog the dumbbells like some other members hog the machines. They don't have a big machine to hide behind.
Now for the actual exercises. Here's an online e-book which has both illustrations and videos which show you every dumbbell training exercise you will need to build muscle quickly -
Workout routines to build muscle require your 100% dedication. If you are constantly distracted, perhaps by the scantly clad women on the treadmill, you will never be able to build the muscle that you desire. It is imperative that you are focusing on nothing but your next set.
A home gym removes all distractions. Sure, there may be your television or phone nearby, but as long as your gym is sufficiently far enough away to negate these distractions, it should not negatively impact on your workout routines to build muscle.
This is particularly good if you notice you train the best at a particular time of day. Many people notice that they can train with much more intensity if they complete their workout routines to build muscle during the early morning.
I fit into this category. If I were to train at a regular gym, I would need to get up at an ungodly hour, but thanks to my home gym, I awake only one hour earlier than normal; I get home from work much earlier as well.
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