You don't need lots of fancy equipment or machines to get a good workout in. In fact, you'll be surprised by how much you can do with just a pair of dumbbells.
Trainer Ainsley Rodriguez recently shared a workout on Instagram which shows just how versatile this piece of kit can be.
With just six moves, this routine will help you develop muscle all over the body. Plus, it will also raise your heart rate, boosting your metabolism.
How to do Ainsley Rodriguez's dumbbell workout
There are six moves in this routine, which you complete in a circuit format. That means you do one move after the other, only resting after one round of all the exercises. Avoiding rest between each exercise will keep your heart rate up, increasing the cardiovascular benefits of the workout. Rodriguez recommends aiming for three to four rounds, taking one to two minutes of rest between each round.
You'll need a pair of dumbbells to complete this workout. As the movements in this routine recruit a range of different-sized muscles, you might need to switch between lighter and heavier sets of dumbbells to ensure you're challenging yourself, but still able to maintain good form. Replying to a comment on the post, Rodriguez revealed she used 10lb and 15lb dumbbells.
Unless you're at a gym with a rack of dumbbells, you may benefit from buying a pair of adjustable dumbbells for home so you can easily change the weight you're lifting throughout the workout. Fit&Well's guide to the best adjustable dumbbells.
Try doing this workout at least a couple of times a week to see results, gradually increasing the weights of the dumbbells you use if your goal is to build strength.
The benefits of dumbbell workouts
Strength training with dumbbells is a very convenient way to exercise, because you can do your workouts from home or in a quiet corner of the gym.
But aside from its utility, dumbbell training has some specific benefits. For a start, it involves lifting weights unilaterally, ensuring both sides have to work equally hard, helping to prevent imbalances and injuries.
On top of this, exercising with dumbbells can also help to improve balance and coordination. For example, the lateral lunge press movement in this workout encourages core stability and requires you to move multiple body parts at once, challenging your coordination.
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