You might not have access to gym.
You might be too scared to even go to the gym.
You might be travelling and stuck in a pinch (use a heavy backpack for this routine).
Whatever your case, this workout routine can be used to build muscle and lose body fat without ever having to even step inside of a gym.
Ideally you’ll want to get a gym membership to build your body, but almost everyone has access to dumbbells, milk jugs, or a backpack you can load up so it’s worth knowing!
About This Workout Routine…
When I was living on a tiny island in Thailand without access to a gym, I used a combination of this workout and feeder workouts in order to build and maintain my physique.
Seeing as most dumbbells kicking around the house are usually 15-30lbs we will be doing a higher rep workout with minimal rest. This will raise your heart rate and burn fat while you build muscle.
If on a particular exercise your dumbbell is too heavy (concentration curls for example), you can spot yourself with your other hand, or take a slightly longer rest if you need to.
This is a 3-day split meaning you will perform each workout once per week, totaling 3 workouts per week. The days of the week aren’t particularly important but should look something like this:
Monday – Arms
Tuesday – Rest
Wednesday – Chest/Back
Thursday – Rest
Friday – Shoulders/Legs
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Rest
You will perform each exercise for the allotted amount of reps and sets.
You will rest only 1 minute in between each set. This is going to make it an intense fat burning workout.
Combined with the high reps you will get unreal pumps and your physique will love you.
If you are confused about any of the exercises, just click the exercise name and an instructional video will open in Youtube.
1) Arms
We are going to be working out arms on the same day. This will be the biceps and the triceps together for workout number one. We will focus on good squeezes, really utilizing the muscle and obtaining a full pump. Make sure to isolate the muscle and exercise strict form. It will hurt. That’s the goal!
Supersetting: We will be supersetting our bicep and tricep exercises. This means you will perform one and immediately move into the next exercise. Once you have finished the supersetted exercise, you will begin your rest.
Hammer Curl – 4 sets of 12 reps
Skull Crushers – 4 sets of 12 reps
Bicep Curl – 4 sets of 12 reps
Seated Tricep Extension – 4 sets of 12 reps
Concentration Curl – 4 sets of 12 reps
Tricep Pushups – 4 sets until failure
2) Chest/Back
We are going to be hitting chest and back in the same day. Your goal is to get a good squeeze. FEEL your muscles contracting under the weight. This is especially important with your chest. Make sure you are actually lifting the weight with your chest.
Back is by far the most challenging (and least utilized) muscle group when it comes to dumbbell workouts. Following this routine you should be able to get a good pump and work your lats hard.
With your rows, make sure to let your lats fully stretch out for a full range of motion.
NOTE: If you have access to a chinup bar I highly recommend throwing in a few sets of pullups until failure. If not, you will still be able to hit your back but chinups do wonders for lats.
Dumbbell Flyes – 5 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell Pullovers – 5 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell Press – 5 sets of 12 reps
Pushups – 5 sets until failure
Bent Over Row – 6 sets of 12 reps
Shrugs – 5 sets of 14-16 reps
One Arm Row – 6 sets of 12 reps
Pullups (optional) – 4 sets until failure
Shoulders/Legs
Our last workout is shoulders and legs. With legs, you will not have heavy enough weight to hit them hard but you can still rep out like always and get a good pump. Make them burn, stick to the rep ranges and lower rest times and you’ll still be able to effectively hit them.
Our goal with shoulders is to isolate each head of the shoulder with higher rep work and really get a good pump. Exercise strict form on each lift and make sure you rep them out. Your dumbbells should be light enough to reach these rep ranges with no problems.
Dumbbell Squats – 4 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell Lunges – 4 sets of 12 reps
Stiff Legged Deadlift – 4 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell Swings – 3 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 4 sets of 12 reps
Front Raises – 4 sets of 12-14 reps
Side Raises – 4 sets of 12-14 reps
Rear Raises – 4 sets of 12-14 reps
In Conclusion…
There you have it! You can now work your entire body with just a pair of dumbbells.
This isn’t some slacker workout either. Give it a shot and you’ll see – the pumps are unreal, you will be sweating like crazy, and more importantly building muscle and burning fat.
I have had to rely on this in times of need and have gotten amazing results and I’m sure you will too.