This workout program only requires dumbbells, has just the right amount of volume to promote muscle growth, and is perfect to do at home or on the go.
Workout Summary

Workout Description

The following workout is designed for those who only have access to a set of dumbbells.

It’s perfect for those who work out at home, travel and are on the road a lot, or beginners who are new to weight lifting.

It can be performed as a complete workout program for up to 8 weeks. At that point you may want to consider increasing the volume of the workouts or change up your routine to include more of a variety of equipment.

This program calls for you to work out 3 times a week. Since these workouts are full body workouts, it is best to have a rest day in between your work out days.

For example, you could perform this program on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This will give your body enough rest to recover in between workouts.

Be sure to track your rest periods during your workouts. The rest time in between sets for this program should be between 30-60 seconds.

Feel free to add cardio and ab specific training as you see fit. I’d recommend HIIT after your workouts on your work out days and a lower intensity form of cardio on your off/recovery days.

If you have any questions about this program, please feel free to ask in the comments section below!

After you've finished this workout program, move on to this 4 day dumbbell only workout program.

Recommended: Need help building muscle? Take our Free Muscle Building Course

3 Day Full Body Dumbbell Workout

Day 1

Exercise Sets Reps
1. Dumbbell Squat 3 10
2. Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift 3 10
3. Bent Over Dumbbell Row 3 10
4. Dumbbell Bench Press 3 10
5. Lateral Raises 2 8
6. Standing Dumbbell Curl 2 8
7. Lying Dumbbell Extension 2 8

Day 2

Exercise Sets Reps
1. Dumbbell Lunge 3 10
2. Dumbbell Hamstring Curl 3 10
3. Dumbbell Deadlift 3 10
4. Dumbbell Military Press 3 10
5. Dumbbell Flys 2 8
6. Hammer Curl 2 8
7. Seated Dumbbell Extension 2 8

Day 3

Exercise Sets Reps
1. Dumbbell Step Up 3 10
2. Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlift 3 10
3. One Arm Dumbbell Row 3 10
4. Reverse Grip Dumbbell Press 3 10
5. Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly 2 8
6. Zottman Curl 2 8
7. Close Grip Dumbbell Press 2 8

Post your post-workout swolfies in M&S gear on IG and tag @muscleandstrength, #muscleandstrength, or DM them to us to get a shoutout on Muscle & Strength stories!

1.5K Comments
Mark
Posted on: Sun, 03/10/2024 - 19:15

Hi Roger I was reading an earlier comment on resistance band training similar to this dumbbell workout and I was wondering if it’s going to happen, it would be great to see

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Roger
Posted on: Wed, 03/13/2024 - 08:55

What is good, Mark? Yeah, the people have been asking about this one, and I intend to deliver. No idea on a publishing date yet, but we're working on it. In the meantime, you want a sample to go with for now?

Mario
Posted on: Thu, 03/07/2024 - 15:48

Hello, I have a few questions I wanted to ask about my workout. (using dumbbells)

Q1: If my workout has 6 to 7 exercise per muscle group, Is full body better or upper/lower split? Also If I choose either of the two Is It better to split those exercises for each workout day?

Q2: Is resting 1min for Isolation and 3 min for compound exercises good?

Q3: Do sets per muscle per week matter that much?

Q4: Am I missing out on building muscle and strength If I exclude exercises that hit other parts of a muscle? (only doing military press and not front raise or rear delt fly)

Sorry for this many questions.

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Roger
Posted on: Wed, 03/13/2024 - 08:53

Hey Mario, first of all, never apologize for the questions here. Literally what I am here to do.

A1: Upper lower split would be better if you have that many exercises per muscle group. If you choose to go full body, then definitely split the movements up.

A2: I would go 2 minutes on compound to save time, but if you need 3, take it.

A3: Depends on the experience. Beginners need to do a certain number to know they got the work in. Advanced trainees that know how to push themselves may not need as many.

A4: Don't neglect those isolation movements. You don't need as many sets of them, but they shouldn't be ignored. When it comes to muscle and strength, the whole matters as much as the sum of the parts.

El Blanco
Posted on: Wed, 03/06/2024 - 10:42

Should I do all 3 sets in a row of each exercise or perform one set, then next exercise, etc.?

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Roger
Posted on: Wed, 03/13/2024 - 08:49

You would do all three sets of an exercise with small breaks in between, then move on to the next exercise. Hope this helps.

El Blanco
Posted on: Wed, 03/13/2024 - 20:35

Awesome. I appreciate the response. Thanks.

Sébastien
Posted on: Tue, 02/27/2024 - 15:17

Hi, can I superset any of the exercises in these 3 days ? Thanks !

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Roger
Posted on: Tue, 02/27/2024 - 19:06

You sure can, Sébastien. Let us know how you plan to do it or if you need suggestions.

Sébastien
Posted on: Tue, 02/27/2024 - 19:23

Sorry I wasnt clear. I totally need suggestions for the 3 days. Thanks

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Roger
Posted on: Tue, 02/27/2024 - 19:33

No problem. Keep it simple, pair them up in order. Superset the first two, then the next two, and so on. They actually work well together, I believe.

Lily
Posted on: Tue, 02/27/2024 - 02:50

Hi, I'm a 16 year old girl, 5'2 weighing 51kg. I've been doing about 30 minutes of HIIT with weights (growingannanas youtube channel) for over a month now with 2kg dumbbells (which seems embarrassing now after reading about the weights other people are talking about haha). I do it about 5 days per week. While my main goal is to just be in good health, I want to try to gain a bit of muscle. If I do this workout at home with 2 kg dumbbells (and replace the bench exercise with something else due to lack of equipment), for 3-4 days, do you think I will see progress or should I start with heavier weights to actually see progress?

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Roger
Posted on: Tue, 02/27/2024 - 19:03

Hi Lily! Thank you for reading M&S. You may need to eventually get some bigger weights or resistance bands, but you can still build muscle with the right nutrition and recovery with the ones you got. You can do more reps, slower reps, and pair exercises together as supersets to make this more challenging so you can get stronger and increase muscle mass.

As for the bench, do flat movements on the floor and seated movements with a chair until you can get a bench if you want one. I hope this helps.

Garrett C
Posted on: Sun, 02/25/2024 - 13:45

How do I determine my starting weight for each exercise?

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Roger
Posted on: Mon, 02/26/2024 - 18:30

Hey Garrett, the only way is through trial and error. Start with a weight that you would bet money you could get with good form, and gradually increase until you feel challenged.

P
Posted on: Fri, 02/23/2024 - 17:01

Hi there, can I do HIIT on the same day as one of these? At the moment I’m doing the strength training on Sunday,Monday,Thursday Afternoon (while also doing light-medium intensity cardio in the morning). I do HIIT on Wednesdays and Fridays, is this routine okay? Or would you recommend changing my Sunday strength training to Friday Afternoon (while I also do HIIT in the morning)? My rest days are Tuesday and Saturday. Thanks in advance I’m abit unsure as I don’t know if my rest days should be in between the weight training days.

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Roger
Posted on: Sun, 02/25/2024 - 07:26

You can do HIIT on the same day. I don't think you need to make any changes. As long as you feel recovered for the next session, you should be fine.

Ali
Posted on: Tue, 02/20/2024 - 21:23

Hi there, I wanted to know if this workout plan is good for 17 year old. I'm 17 and weighs 120kg. Is this workout good for me too lose weight . And also does this work out effect my height?
Thanks

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Roger
Posted on: Thu, 02/22/2024 - 10:24

This workout will have no correlation to your height. As long as you eat healthy, perform regular cardio, and recovery properly, you can lose weight on this program. Hope this helps!

Umar Rizwan
Posted on: Sun, 02/18/2024 - 11:57

Hey by following this workout plan consistantly and gradually increasing the reps and weights will i be able to see a difference in my body and gain a v shape, because I have heard from many people that home workouts are not effective and it will not change your body shape, is this correct ? pleasew guide me as this is very demotivating and going to gym rerquires a lot of time which i dont have due to my high school, im a 16 years old teenager 80kg, and 6,1 height

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Roger
Posted on: Thu, 02/22/2024 - 10:23

Hey Umar, this will be a great starting workout for you to improve at training and get you on the way to building that V-taper. It won't be the ultimate solution, but you will make progress. "Many people" say a lot of things, but these at home workouts have helped hundreds of thousands of people reach their goals. Focus on doing the best you can with this workout while eating healthy and I think you will find that this workout is a good one. Thank you for reading M&S!

BC
Posted on: Fri, 02/09/2024 - 09:45

Finally unlazy'd my mid-30's self and got into resistance training with this as my first program. I have an adjustable bench, a pair of adjustable dumbbells, and a pull-up bar, and functionally no background in weight training prior to this. As of now, I'm finishing up week 5.

Generally, I like the program, but each day takes twice as long as the program description indicates. The only possible way to make the half-hour mark is by dramatically cutting down the intensity. It's just not possible to push progressive overload with these exercises and keep the sessions at a half hour or less. This is not a bad thing and I doubt the program was written with adjustable dumbbells and progressive overload in mind, but it's worth noting.

For the actual exercises, I follow the program mostly as-is with minimal but noteworthy changes. 1st, any time I have lateral raises, I superset with rear delt fly and vice versa. It takes very little extra time and I want to make sure both parts of the shoulder are hit a little more often. 2nd, D2's dumbbell hamstring curl is subbed out for pullups because a: I have the pullup bar, b: I'm already hitting hamstrings pretty well with the deadlifts, c: it's hard to do with my adjustable dumbbells, and d: I wanted a third back pulling exercise for the week (bent over rows on D1, single arm rows on D3). Lastly, on D3 I subbed Zottman curl for standard reverse grip curl.

At 5 weeks in, my form is getting pretty dialed in and I'm getting closer to the limits of the 80lb/dumbbell for some of the leg exercises. My wife is starting to notice the work, but at least some of that will be diet-related too as I've been trying to figure out what my real-world tdee is and I've been accidentally eating at deficit for the last 5 weeks. I know gains don't come quickly so I'm not looking for (or expecting) to see them yet, but I do think this program has been good for me to get into a weight training program for the first time with limited equipment available. Once this program ends I'll have a deload week and then step up into the 4day program linked in the description.

Joseph
Posted on: Sun, 02/04/2024 - 12:32

Josh,
Can this routine work with resistance bands?
Example, replacing bench with resisted pushups with enough bands to fail at the prescribed rep range?

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Roger
Posted on: Mon, 02/05/2024 - 17:22

Hi Joseph, short answer is yes, you can.

Long answer. As long as you can work the muscles and feel challenged, go for it. Keep in mind that the negative may not be as effective because the tension decreases as the band shortens. I am actually making a pitch on all resistance band workouts like this dumbbell version. You think it would do well?

Joseph
Posted on: Mon, 02/05/2024 - 17:34

Roger,
Thanks for prompt response.
Yes...I believe it would do extremely well.

Neil
Posted on: Fri, 02/02/2024 - 02:40

Hey Roger! Thanks for answering everyone's questions - I appreciate it!

I've been doing this program for two weeks now (getting back into working out after two years, although I only gymmed 3x a week earlier), and I'm making incredible progress. It might sound like a very short period of time, but I can see muscle gains already.

Just wanted to know if I could graduate to the 4 Days a Week Dumbbell Workout now or next week? Or should I continue the program for the entire 8 weeks before switching?

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Roger
Posted on: Mon, 02/05/2024 - 17:19

Neil, thank you for being a part of the M&S community and for reading our articles. The support is appreciated, and I'm privileged to help.

This is one where it's ultimately up to you. If you really feel you can take on the extra day and volume that comes with the four-day, then yes, make the switch. No point in holding yourself back when you feel confident and are seeing great progress. The good news is you can also slide back to this one if you feel that four days is too much after trying it.

Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions on the four-day program. Looking forward to reading about your progress.

Athen
Posted on: Wed, 01/31/2024 - 14:31

Does this program work for a teenager too? I'm 5'2"/160cm tall and I weigh around 50 kg or more, I have pretty bad resistance and haven't worked out properly unless it was for PE, I'm thinking of starting with 3-4Kg dumbells.

Would that be okay?

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Roger
Posted on: Mon, 02/05/2024 - 17:17

Hi Athen, thank you for reading M&S and the question.

It is absolutely ok to start with this and use whatever weights you have or can. Everyone starts somewhere, and the sooner you start, the sooner you get better. Keep checking back in with questions and share your results with us.

sonak
Posted on: Tue, 01/30/2024 - 19:08

Hi, As I'm south Asian I suffer from being skinny fat so slim across my body except for excess fat on the stomach even though I have a healthy BMI (Body mass index).

Should I cut down the reps/sets based on the below or cut down 3 of the 7 movements or is this training programme adequate based on the below?

Will this workout cover the fact that South Asian tend to have:

Higher inflammation levels
Higher Cortisol levels
Small wrists (as do I)
Fat around stomach and hips/difficulty gaining muscle

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Roger
Posted on: Wed, 01/31/2024 - 12:06

Hi Sonak, great question and I appreciate you asking it here on M&S.

Inflammation and cortisol levels are an issue for many people, but I actually think training with a program like this will actually help. Aside from the benefits of strength training and movement in general, it can help alleviate stress, which is a big cause for cortisol. As long as you eat healthy and focus on sleep, the inflammation shouldn't be a problem, either. Again, it may actually help.

I have small wrists, and I've been training for 25 years and even competed in powerlifting. You will be fine. If you need to, wear wrist wraps when you train.

In regards to the fat around the stomach and difficulty gaining muscle, again, training and high protein will help with this. This program wouldn't really need to be altered because of these issues. Matter of fact, it may be a solution.

Skylar
Posted on: Fri, 01/26/2024 - 09:03

For the dumbell step up and the one arm dumbell row or any lift that is one sided. Should it be 3 sets of 10 reps on each side or alternate the sides?

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Roger
Posted on: Mon, 01/29/2024 - 20:00

Hi Skylar, that would be for each side. Hope this helps!

Justin Davis
Posted on: Thu, 01/18/2024 - 16:40

Maybe this has been answered but do you recommend doing the same weight for each set or increasing the weight after each one?

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Roger
Posted on: Thu, 01/25/2024 - 06:53

Hey Justin, I've answered thousands of questions on these, so I don't remember if it's been answered or not. So always ask the question in the future. We're happy to answer them because someone can always benefit.

If you're able to increase the weight, do it. Nothing wrong with getting stronger. If you need to stick with the same weight, that is just fine. Make the reps count so you can build muscle. In short, it's up to you.

Jude
Posted on: Tue, 01/16/2024 - 09:06

Hi,

How would I structure the programme e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

I've got tennis (doubles) on Tuesday and sometimes Saturday for 2 hours.

When would I schedule the rest days and can I do some light exercise or brisk walking and what type of exercise would be appropriate for the rest days?

What type of exercise and how vigorous would be appropriate for the cardio days.

Would it be more beneficial do the dumbbell routine on the weekend or Monday/Friday when I work from home?

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Roger
Posted on: Thu, 01/25/2024 - 06:50

Hello, Jude. M, W, and F would be great days for this. I don't think tennis will interfere with these workouts, and once you get acquainted to training, it shouldn't interfere with your play either.

Rest days can be Thursday and Sunday. Moderate cardio at best would be good on one of these days. The other should be complete rest. If you can train from home, do it as long as you can train hard. You should feel challenged on these workouts. Hope all of this helps.

Turgut
Posted on: Mon, 01/01/2024 - 01:28

Hello,
I have been doing another programme for more than three months. I have had several programmes in the last 10 years but never continued properly. I am not a beginner but I can only spend 3-4 days at home with my dumbbells.
Would that be reasonable to increase the sets to make this programme a little bit more intermediate? Or what can I do? I want to start with a 3 day full body and I will see if I can spare more time to do 4 day split.
Thanks a million!

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Roger
Posted on: Tue, 01/02/2024 - 20:09

What's good, Turgut? Yeah, add the sets to make it more challenging. You can also add a couple of reps to those sets as well. Other options include doing multiple exercises before rest (supersets) and doing slower reps to make the muscles work harder for longer. Any of those tips can work.

Hope this helps!

Bill
Posted on: Fri, 12/29/2023 - 16:16

Day 3 Exercise 3 in the workout PDF is a one arm dumbbell press but on this page it's a one arm dumbbell row. Which one is correct?

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Roger
Posted on: Sat, 12/30/2023 - 20:23

Row is correct, Bill. I will pass that on to my editor. Thanks for pointing it out. Hope this helps!

Shan
Posted on: Thu, 12/28/2023 - 20:53

Hi there, I was wondering, is there any video or guide of stretches you would recommend to do after completing one of the day's for this workout plan? I have only recently found out that it is a good idea to do some like static stretching after a workout and was wondering if there was any particularly recommended one. Thanks

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Roger
Posted on: Thu, 12/28/2023 - 21:24

We don't have a specific stretching routine for this plan, but we do have this guide that can help you out.

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/stretching-and-flexibility.html

Jenny
Posted on: Wed, 12/27/2023 - 11:56

Squats and lunges hurt my knees so bad. What am I doing wrong?

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Roger
Posted on: Wed, 12/27/2023 - 19:59

Hard to answer that question, Jenny. I would suggest talking to a doctor about your knees. Have you tried wearing knee sleeves or wraps?

Jenny
Posted on: Thu, 12/28/2023 - 09:15

No I have not tried sleeves or wraps. I've been doing cardio and other workouts since the beginning of the year and have never had this problem before. Nothing else hurts my knees but those two exercises for some reason

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Roger
Posted on: Thu, 12/28/2023 - 21:23

Consider trying knee sleeves out the next time you try them. If they still hurt with those on, then it's time to talk to a doctor. Good luck!

Dan
Posted on: Wed, 12/20/2023 - 17:01

Thanks for putting these workouts together. Really helping me get back in shape. I have a set of adjustable dumb bells that go from 5 to 50 lbs, and a foldable bench. I had a few questions:

1. Why are some exercises 10 reps and some 8. Should I be trying to lift heavier if there are only 8 reps?
2. For a few exercises like dumb bell bench press and deadlifts 50lbs is getting more easy. Should I add more reps, or look at going up to the 4 day plan? I'm not sure about a compact way of investing in even heavier dumb bells than the current 50 lbs max I have.

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Roger
Posted on: Wed, 12/27/2023 - 19:58

1. The 8 rep sets should be with heavier weights.

2. You can either slow the reps down, do more pauses, or up the reps. I would advise doing five second negatives if you max out the reps.

Hamid
Posted on: Thu, 12/07/2023 - 12:17

Thanks for this perfect programs, I am wondering how I should choose the weight of the Dumbbells. Light? Medium or heavy? should be able to do all sets easy or I have to struggle on last ones? Please advise.