As someone who has been going to the gym for many years, I’ve always, perhaps unfairly, assumed that home workouts aren’t quite as effective as gym workouts.
However, I recently moved to a new area and I haven’t been able to find a gym I enjoy training at, so I’ve switched to home dumbbell workouts and I’ve been surprised by how much progress I’ve made.
But, working out at home means you don’t necessarily have the variety of equipment that you get at the gym. So, I asked personal trainer Pippa Sealey to put together a workout that mimics a varied gym-based workout with just a pair of dumbbells.
How to do this home dumbbell workout
“This workout allows you to increase the intensity at home by adding more sets, reps and a more challenging tempo,” Sealey explains. You’ll notice that as well as sets and reps, two of the exercises include tempo advice, which refers to how many seconds you should spend on each section of the move.
For example, if the tempo of a squat is 3111, that means you should spend three seconds lowering, one second at the bottom of the movement, one second to stand up and one second at the top of the movement.
Focusing on tempo can increase the time your muscles are under tension, which is a great way to help promote muscle growth, replicating the type of stimulus you achieve in the gym with a heavier weight.
This workout also incorporates supersets, which means you do two exercises back-to-back with no rest. “Adding in supersets is a good way of adding intensity at home,” says Sealey.
Complete all the reps of exercise A, then all the reps of exercise B to complete one superset. Continue until all the sets are complete, then move onto the next pair of exercises.
1A. Deficit calf raise
Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 Rest: 0sec
How to do it:
- Stand with the balls of your feet on the edge of a step, with your heels hanging off the edge.
- Slowly lower your heels below the level of the step, feeling a stretch through your calves.
- Push through the balls of your feet to raise your heels as high as possible, squeezing your calves at the top.
- Lower your heels back down slowly and with control, keeping your legs straight without locking your knees.
1B. Single-leg bridge
Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 each side Rest: 60-90sec
How to do it:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
- Engage your core and lift your left foot off the floor.
- Push through the heel of your right foot to lift your hips until your body is in a straight line from shoulders to your right knee.
- Squeeze your glutes at the top, making sure your hips are level and you’re not arching your lower back.
- Slowly lower your hips to the floor.
- Do all your reps on one side, then switch sides.
2A. Dumbbell goblet squat
Sets: 4 Reps: 12-15 Tempo: 3111 Rest: 0sec
How to do it:
- Hold a dumbbell vertically against your chest with both hands, keeping your elbows close to your body and your feet approximately shoulder-width apart.
- Engage your core.
- Bend your knees and push your hips back to lower, keeping your chest upright, until your hips are at knee height or lower—take three seconds to complete this movement.
- Pause for one second, keeping your heels planted and your knees directly above your feet and pointing in the same direction as your toes.
- Push through your feet to stand upright, taking one second to complete the movement.
- Pause for one second and squeeze your glutes.
2B. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift
Sets: 4 Reps: 10–12 Tempo: 3111 Rest: 60-90sec
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells in front of your thighs with your knees slightly bent.
- Push your hips backwards to lower the dumbbells, keeping them close to your legs and maintaining a neutral spine, stopping when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings—take three seconds to complete this movement.
- Pause for one second.
- Drive your hips forwards to return to standing, taking one second to complete the movement.
- Pause for one second and squeeze your glutes.
3A. Half-kneeling single-arm dumbbell press
Sets: 3 Reps: 8-12 each side Rest: 0sec
How to do it:
- Start in a half-kneeling position with your left knee on the floor and your right foot flat on the floor in front of you, with both knees bent to 90°.
- Hold a dumbbell at shoulder height in your left hand.
- Engage your core.
- Press the dumbbell overhead, avoiding leaning backwards, arching your lower back or letting your ribs flare.
- Slowly lower the dumbbell back to shoulder height with control.
- Do all your reps on one side, then switch sides.
3B. Dumbbell reverse lunge
Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 each side Rest: 60-90sec
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding dumbbells by your sides.
- Step one foot backwards and bend both knees to 90° to lower.
- Keep your chest upright, core engaged and your front knee tracking in line with your toes.
- Push through your front foot to return to standing.
- Do all your reps on one side, then switch sides, or alternate sides with each rep to make it more difficult to maintain your balance.
4A. Dumbbell side bend
Sets: 3 Reps: 10-12 each side Rest: 0sec
How to do it:
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in one hand by your right side.
- Engage your core.
- Slowly bend from your waist to the right side, lowering the dumbbell down the outside of your leg.
- Lower only as far as you can comfortably without twisting your torso or leaning forward.
- Use your obliques (the muscles on the sides of your torso) to lift your torso back to an upright position, moving slowly and with control.
- Do all your reps on one side, then switch sides.
4B. Dumbbell dead bug pull-over
Sets: 3 Reps: 6-8 each side Rest: 60-90sec
How to do it:
- Lie on your back, holding one dumbbell securely with both hands above your chest with your knees bent at 90° and legs raised with your knees directly above your hips.
- Engage your core and gently press your lower back into the floor, keeping your ribs down throughout the movement.
- Slowly lower the dumbbell overhead while extending and lowering one leg, maintaining tension through your core.
- Return to the starting position with control, then repeat with the opposite leg, alternating legs with each rep.
Shop adjustable dumbbells
To get a gym-like experience at home without taking over a spare room with a weight rack, it’s a good idea to buy a pair of adjustable dumbbells, which allow you to add or subtract plates from one set of handles. Here is our top three picks from our guide to the best adjustable dumbbells.
