4 Day Upper/Lower Women's Dumbbell Only Workout

As 2020 has proved, you never know when your situation may change. Aside from life in general, this also applies to your training. Your gym may go out of business, something may restrict your travel, or any other life situation that is out of your hands may take place. This is why you should prepare accordingly.

The good news is you don’t need a full-scale gym to reach goals and improve your fitness levels. Barbells, bands, and machines are all great assets, but they aren’t necessary. If you ladies out there have a pair of dumbbells that provide moderate resistance, then you can still have great training sessions and see improvements in how you look, your strength, and how you feel.

Of course, you can do this workout at the gym, too. Just make sure you have the dumbbells you need close by before you start. That way no one comes and takes them away from you while you’re working.

After you've finished this workout program, move on to this 5 day dumbbell only workout program for women.

The Benefits of Dumbbells

Dumbbells are very versatile pieces to have in your training toolkit. You can train heavy and see strength increases. You can go with moderate resistance for hypertrophy and to improve the shape of the muscles. You can also lighten the load, go for maximum reps, and boost your muscular endurance levels.

There is another great benefit of dumbbells. You have to stabilize the weight in each hand because you’re not holding onto one object and the handles are not attached to a cable or strap. Not only will this further benefit your strength levels, but it can also improve your coordination and help provide a harder look to the muscle.

Need more reasons to use them? They don’t require much space. You can do these workouts at the gym or at home. Having a bench would be great, but that isn’t even necessary with this program. Every workout is performed either standing, walking, or lying on the floor. For the sake of comfort, an exercise mat is recommended.

Tips for Using Dumbbells

If you have access to multiple sets of dumbbells, that would be the best bet for a workout like those that are included. If not, dumbbell handles with plates and collars would be another solid choice.

If all you have is one pair of dumbbells, use them to the best of your ability. You can change the tempo of the exercise so it takes longer to perform a rep. This will challenge the muscle in a slightly different way than having more resistance to work with.

Here’s something else to consider. Let’s say you’re performing an exercise like a curl and you don’t feel the muscle working like you think it should. Change how you’re holding the dumbbell. You’re not absolutely committed to keeping your hand in the middle. Place your hand near one end of the handle or the other to tweak how the muscle feels the weight. This might be all you need to make the most out of the exercise.

Related: 5 Reasons To Add Eccentric Training To Your Routine

The Workouts

There are two workouts below. One for upper body and one for lower body and the core. You can work these sessions in any way you like based on your schedule, but a two-day on, one day off, repeat pattern is a good suggestion to start with. You’ll train the whole body within 48 hours with a whole day in between to recover.

An example week following this schedule would look like this:

• Monday: Upper Body
• Tuesday: Lower Body/Core
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Upper Body
• Friday: Lower Body/Core
• Saturday/Sunday: Rest

Each exercise in this program should help you shape and develop the way you look and help you get stronger. To make the most out of your session, warm up by doing a lighter set of each exercise. If you only have one weight to work with, then do half the reps that are recommended. This will help you feel the muscles working and prepare you to have the best session possible.

Related: 3 Quick Solutions for Effective Warm Ups

Upper Body Workout

There are two exercises for chest and back. Each of those muscle groups has a compound exercise and an isolation exercise. You’re building the muscle and strength with the compound exercise while focusing on isolation and development with the other.

This also means the front and rear heads of your shoulders will be challenged, so the only movement for delts is for the side. Finally, there’s a bicep and tricep exercise to target the arms.

Lower Body and Core Workout

The first movement focuses on everything in the lower body from the glutes down to the calves. The focus then goes to the quadriceps followed by the hamstrings. You’ll finish the lower body portion with calves. There is one exercise for the soleus and one for the gastrocnemius. The workout concludes with ab training.

Every exercise here can be performed with dumbbells, and there are detailed instructions in the M&S Exercise section. If there is an exercise you want to switch out of this program, you can find alternate exercises in that section as well to plug in as a substitute. If you don’t feel there are enough movements here, don’t be afraid to add one or two. For example, if you want to emphasize your triceps, then add an exercise like overhead extensions or kickbacks at the end of the upper body workout.

One last tip: If you want to really burn the muscle, then hold the squeeze of the last rep for five to ten seconds before finishing the set.

Upper Body Workout

Lower Body and Abs/Core

*Weighted Knee-Ins: Position a dumbbell at legs' length away from you standing vertically. Secure the weight in between your feet and slightly bring it in towards you. Position your body into a V either on a bench or on the floor. While contracting your abs, bend your knees and pull the weight in towards your chest. You should bring your upper body into the knees as well. Squeeze your abs to increase the contraction. Release the tension by straightening your legs out and allowing your upper body to go back to its starting position. Don't let the weight touch the floor. This is one rep. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Women's Dumbbell Only Workout: Modifications for Fat Loss

If you want to focus your attention on torching calories for fat loss, then perform all of the exercises of a workout in a circuit fashion.

This means you would perform each exercise with minimal rest from one to the next. For example, it’s your upper body day. Stick to those movements but do them all in a row. Your break comes after you finish the last exercise. Rest for 2 minutes between circuits and repeat. If you’re an advanced athlete and you feel you have it in you, go for three, but three should be the maximum you need to feel the effects of this. Your heart rate will increase, your body temperature will go up, and you’re sure to notice an improvement in how you look and in your endurance.

Recommended: Need help losing fat? Take our Free Fat Loss Course

Upper Body Circuit

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Rest 2 minutes between each round. Repeat 2-3 times.

Lower Body Circuit

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Rest 2 minutes between each round. Repeat 2-3 times.

*Weighted Knee-Ins: Position a dumbbell at legs' length away from you standing vertically. Secure the weight in between your feet and slightly bring it in towards you. Position your body into a V either on a bench or on the floor. While contracting your abs, bend your knees and pull the weight in towards your chest. You should bring your upper body into the knees as well. Squeeze your abs to increase the contraction. Release the tension by straightening your legs out and allowing your upper body to go back to its starting position. Don't let the weight touch the floor. This is one rep. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Mini-Circuits

Ok, you have 20-25 minutes to train before your commitment. There’s no way you can rearrange the schedule so it’s now or tomorrow. Don’t put the workout off. You can condense this program into a five exercise giant set so you can train the major muscle groups and get on with your day. You may not feel like you would after a normal session, but you certainly won’t beat yourself up for slacking today.

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Rest for no more than 90 seconds between each round. Repeat at most 3 times.

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