The Full-Body Dumbbell Workout Program At Home

The Full-Body Dumbbell Workout Program At Home

Keeping a set of dumbbells at home is the perfect insurance policy against missed workouts. They’ll support maintenance and even progression when you can’t make it to the gym.

But they aren’t without flaws for progressive strength training. Fixed dumbbells are pricey, so you probably don’t have a full set. And adjustable dumbbells usually top out at 50-90 pounds. This limits loading as the primary source of overload.

The only solution is to emphasize other strategies. Shift your focus to other forms of progressive overload, like these:

1. Higher Reps

Create more total volume. Getting to near-failure is critical for hypertrophy. Your heavy dumbbells may take around 10 reps to reach failure, while lighter ones could take 20. So you can still gain the benefits of near-failure training for muscle growth by just upping the reps. It will be grueling but it’ll separate contenders from pretenders.

2. More Sets

Adding sets is the best strategy to increase total workload, as long as they’re tough and not junk volume. A greater volume of tough sets is one of the best metrics for effective training. In a suboptimal training environment, you’ll find it difficult to perform enough weekly tough sets to overtrain, so you’ll have a built-in safeguard.

3. Slower Tempo

Add time under tension and difficulty by slowing down each rep. Take 3-5 seconds for the positive and/or negative portion of your reps. Even if you have access to a gym, it’s still a great way to challenge your muscles with a new stimulus.

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4. Greater Density

Take shorter rest periods. This adds difficulty and metabolic stress. It tends to enhance conditioning and work capacity, versus pure strength or muscle growth.

5. Improved Form, Control, and Range of Motion

These are all connected. Improved execution of an exercise is an underrated part of the progression. It’ll lead to more strength and the ability to perform greater volume over time. Increased skill and strength often allow the use of a greater range of motion, which in turn improves growth and strength.

Use one or more of these strategies to offset loading limitations so your workouts don’t suffer.

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