Dumbbell Workouts
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Dumbbell workouts are a great form of exercise and you don’t need an expensive gym membership or fancy home gym equipment to get fit. Buying a pair of dumbbells could be one of your best investments. You can work out at home and in your time, set your own routine and adapt it to your needs. And they are so convenient! They don’t take up much space, you can push them into a corner of your room or under your bed, and haul them out when you need them. It’s a good idea to work with a strong firm bench as well, but you don’t need a huge amount of space to have a good dumbbell workout.
As a strength building exercise tool, dumbbells are rated tops amongst athletes, body builders and fitness trainers. The beauty of dumbbell workouts is that they enable you to control the weight and resistance. Exercise machines are set up to create resistance. Dumbbells make your body do the work and you can do various exercises for the muscles you want to concentrate on. Dumbbells help you to balance your weight training and work muscles evenly. Athletes and sports people tend to favor dumbbell workouts as they can replicate the movements of their particular sport pretty accurately.
The resulting benefits of dumbbell workouts are numerous – increased fitness and muscle, as well as increased strength – to name a few. You can put together a variety of routines, just working with the basic exercises. As your strength increases, so should the repetitions and sets that you do.
To concentrate on the chest, shoulder and back muscles, try these basic exercises :
Chest Presses: lie on the back on a bench, holding the dumbbells above your chest with straight arms. Slowly lower them to your chest and lift again. Use controlled fluid movements and remember to breathe evenly. You can also do this exercise on a bench that is raised, with your feet firmly on the floor.
Lateral raises: Standing with your knees slightly bent, hold the dumbbells down at your side. Raise the dumbbells out to the side until your elbows are line with your shoulders, keeping the elbows slightly bent. Slowly lower your arms to their original position next to your body. Repetitions should be continuous and controlled.
Single Arm Row: Standing next to the bench, with one knee on the bench and one arm holding the side of the bench. With the other arm, hold the dumbbell at floor level, your arm straight. Lift the dumbbell to waist level, keeping your back straight all the time. Lower the dumbbell to the original position, and repeat. Do equal repetitions with the other arm.
There are also loads of dumbbell workouts that you do to develop your biceps, triceps, legs, and calves. These are just a few of the dumbbell workouts you can start with. Make sure you are using your supporting muscles correctly, and you should not feel pain, particularly in your back and legs. If you do, stop. If you have recently had an injury and are trying to rebuild muscles, go slowly in the beginning. Remember - quality rather than quantity. Don’t overstrain your body initially. Listen to your body, and you will strengthen those muscles evenly, in a balanced way. Dumbbell workouts are key to rebuilding strained or damaged muscles, but don’t overdo it.
Before starting out on an exercise routine including dumbbells, get advice from a fitness instructor who will set out a routine specifically for your current condition and which will meet your requirements. It really is worth getting the right advice before you start, particularly if you haven’t seen the inside of a gym for a while – which many of us are guilty of!