Dumbbells are sufficient equipment to build strength and muscle mass if you know how to use them properly. Many people find it challenging to workout because their schedules are too hectic, the gym is too far away, or for various reasons. Thankfully, many people can exercise with the gym equipment they already own, which is most likely a dumbbell set.
Quick Summary
- Even though almost any heavy object can stimulate muscle building, dumbbells are the most widely used equipment because they were created specifically for this purpose.
- Adjustable dumbbells are the ideal type to utilize while trying to gain muscle mass.
- Your risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease will be reduced by utilizing dumbbells.
How Are Just Dumbbells Enough to Build Muscle?
Just dumbbells are enough to build muscle because they provide you with enough resistance, range of motion, and freedom of movement.
Although nearly any heavy object can increase muscle growth, dumbbells are the most popular tool because they are made expressly for this purpose.
Dumbbells are perfect for increasing muscle growth because they are simple for different exercises. Dumbbell-based exercises are great for building a healthy and powerful physique, even if the unilateral capability of dumbbells allows for better training specificity.
It is crucial to keep in mind that not all types of dumbbells will do to gain muscle, as increasing stress requires consideration of total weight. Your muscle growth will probably stall if you don’t keep adding more weight or volume. This is known as progressive overload, when you steadily increase the weight, frequency, or number of repetitions in your strength training routine.
How Heavy Should Dumbbells Be to Build Muscle?
5kg or 10 kg dumbbells should be used to build muscle. In contrast, intermediate to experienced users will strive for weights of at least 15 kg dumbbells.
There are many things that decide what weight dumbbell you should use. In addition, you should be able to tone your body and build muscles using these medium-weight dumbbells. Although they come in various materials and shapes, they need to provide a secure grip for your work.
What Kind of Dumbbells Should Be Used to Build Muscle?
The kind of dumbbells you should use to build muscles are adjustable dumbbells. Although practically any dumbbell can provide a training stimulus, the best ones to buy are adjustable dumbbells because you can adjust weights on them and save space and money.
It is also possible to purchase a set of incremental dumbbells. However, this will require significantly more space and money if you do not have access to an adjustable dumbbell or your training level exceeds the maximum weight of your adjustable dumbbell.
What Are the Benefits of Using Dumbbells?
The benefits of using dumbbells are lowering your risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Dumbbell exercises at the gym can help you sleep better.
Strength training promotes lean muscle growth, which helps with fat burning. Additionally, increasing lean muscle mass and fat burning contribute to weight loss. One of the advantages of using dumbbells is that by utilizing stabilizer muscles, they increase functional strength.
Best Dumbbell Exercises for Building Muscles
Although we’ve proven that using dumbbells can help you build muscle, it has still not been discussed which workouts work best.
Due to the much higher rate of muscle growth observed throughout the body and compound exercises continue to be the most effective way to employ a limited quantity of equipment, the following dumbbell workouts are predominantly compound movements.
Dumbbell Chest Presses
One of the most efficient ways to enhance the deltoids and chest muscles without running the risk of a muscular imbalance is to do the regular dumbbell bench press and its many variations.
The dumbbell chest or bench press, unlike dumbbell rows, is typically only performed with low to moderate amounts of weight since the exerciser’s stance makes it challenging to transfer the dumbbells into the proper beginning position.
Dumbbell Rows
Dumbbell rows are a common sight in many bodybuilding workout regimens, where they are utilized to build the biceps and upper and middle back muscles.
One side of the body is often trained using moderate to heavy weights, ensuring greater neuromuscular engagement than non-dumbbell row variations.
Dumbbell Squats
Though the barbell squat is frequently regarded as the best leg exercise, the dumbbell squat shouldn’t be overlooked because, with the right volume and grip strength, it may match the former exercise’s intensity and efficacy.
If one’s grip strength is insufficient to hold heavy dumbbells in both hands, one may choose the goblet squat instead, which should allow for a higher maximal load.
Dumbbell Deadlifts
The dumbbell deadlift, a little less popular than the other dumbbell exercises in this article, is a traditional deadlift done with dumbbells.
Dumbbell deadlifts exercise nearly every muscle group in the body to some extent, much like the traditional barbell deadlift. However, they are most effective when utilized as a part of a strength-training routine instead of a bodybuilding one. When executing this dumbbell exercise, beginners should exercise caution as the potential of injury might be high without appropriate knowledge of proper form and exercise mechanics.
Dumbbell Overhead Presses
The dumbbell overhead press can be performed while sitting or standing, and the dumbbells can be twisted in a hammer grip or held horizontally at the shoulders. This exercise can be incorporated into any upper body strength routine.
The shoulder’s deltoid muscle is worked during this workout. Standing dumbbell overhead presses target the core for stability throughout the movement and strengthen the shoulders. Daily, you might have to put things on shelves above your head or your luggage in the airplane’s overhead bin. You can execute these things safely if you have the strength that comes from this exercise.
Dumbbell Exercises by Weight
You’ve probably noticed several dumbbells available in pounds and kilograms if you’ve ever gone shopping for them. Use KG dumbbells if you intend to participate in Olympic lifting or powerlifting events. You owe it to yourself to stock your home gym with kilos-scaled dumbbells.
Another widespread myth is that to gain muscle is that you must lift large weights. That is false. Many people wrongly believe that using light weights won’t allow you to gain muscle. You can achieve the same level of burn by using light dumbbells for more repetitions (15 to 20 or more), equivalent to lifting a heavier weight five times.
It is also a simple way to add difficulty to bodyweight exercises. Additionally, you may always use two tiny dumbbells while performing a one-armed workout to boost the intensity.
Lifters who want to bulk up and gain muscle will probably choose a heavier weight. But the reality is that there is no ideal course of action. Both heavy and light lifting is beneficial. Muscle exhaustion is the most critical aspect of building muscle. Regardless of the amount of weight you are using, the aim of your workouts should always be to exhaust your muscles.
Lightweight Dumbbell Exercises (1 KG – 10 KG)
Here is the list of lightweight dumbbell exercises:
- Kneeling Bicep Curl
- Squat Thrusts
- Lateral Lunges
- Weighted Side Plank Twist
- Bent-Over Single Arm Rows
Lifting light weights can provide an equally effective workout, particularly regarding muscular endurance.
Heavy Dumbbell Exercises (15 KG – 30+ KG)
Here is the list of heavy dumbbell exercises:
- Bent-Over Rows
- Bench Press
- Calf Raise
- Curls
- Farmers Carry
- Dumbbell Deadlift
Your muscles become stronger when lifting heavy weights without adding much mass or size.
4 Reasons Why Dumbbells Are Enough to Get You Jacked
While there is no quick fix for being ripped, the appropriate workout program may help you tighten and strengthen every muscle in your body using dumbbells. Success depends on sticking to a rigid workout program and giving your body time to recover between sessions.
Four reasons why using only dumbbells will get you jacked are covered in the list below.
1.) Exercise Versatility
Dumbbells can be used to some extent for any exercise that a barbell can do.
Specific exercises, including back squats, deadlifts, and good mornings, are undoubtedly simpler to perform with a barbell. Squats and deadlifts can still be performed using dumbbells. Simply said, it will become more uncomfortable, especially as the weights increase.
And the dumbbell variety performs equally well or better for many exercises. Exercises like rows, curls, triceps extensions, and lateral raises (no barbell variation available) There are many ways you can perform a barbell curl, for instance. But you can alter your grip when using dumbbells.
And this has the potential to modify the exercise’s focus drastically. In addition to regular curls, there are also a hammer, pinwheel, concentration, and Zottman curls.
2.) Dumbbells Address Muscular Imbalances
When one side compensates for the other, muscular imbalances occur. They may also happen if the size and strength of antagonistic muscle groups (opposing muscle groups) are excessively out of balance. An illustration would have underdeveloped lats yet strong and overdeveloped pecs. If imbalances are not corrected, they can cause damage and be unappealing.
Barbells make it far too easy to introduce imbalances. Have you ever completed a challenging barbell bench or shoulder press only to realize the bar was slanted on the final rep? This shows that one group of muscles is more powerful than the other.
Dumbbells solve this problem since they make your body function in a single direction.
Therefore, you cannot rely on your strong side to compensate for your weak side. It needs to force its way through the lift on its own [1].
3.) Dumbbells Are More Ergonomically Friendly
You have two grip options while using a barbell on a bench press: overhand (pronated) and underhand (supinated). As a result, the selection of grips is very limited.
Although learning is challenging, you can teach yourself to keep your elbows tucked in.
However, you can perform fully protonated, semi-pronated, or neutral grip exercises with dumbbells. Your body can move in a more natural motion when you can switch grips in this way.
The elbows come into your body when you change your grip for the bench press to a position halfway between neutral and pronated. Your shoulders won’t have to bear as much weight, and your risk of damage will probably be lower. Dumbbells can typically be used in a way that is more anatomically appropriate because they are smaller than barbells.
4.) Dumbbells Provide a Superior Range of Motion
More muscle tissue is worked as the range of motion increases. For instance, if you stop short of parallel during squats, you can lift more weight than if you went parallel (or below). However, you can lift more weight in this position because you aren’t using your entire range of motion. Additionally, you are not targeting as much general muscle as you would.
Dumbbells offer a wider range of motion for several exercises than barbells. This is because most barbell workouts somewhat restrict the range of motion. Consider the bench press with a bar.
The weight is at its lowest point when the bar reaches your chest during a barbell bench press. You simply cannot go lower. However, dumbbells allow you to slightly lower your arms for a deeper stretch and greater muscle engagement.
What Muscles Can Dumbbells Work?
Dumbbells can work the chest, biceps and triceps, latissimus dorsi, glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings. You can develop full-body strength, muscular mass, and fat loss with just dumbbells.
Your upper and lower bodies will burn off in this total-body dumbbell workout, which also works to develop core strength and cardio stamina. Yes, it’s a workout that pretty much accomplishes everything.
Deltoids
You can target your shoulder from a variety of angles using dumbbells. All three heads of the deltoid muscle are engaged as a result. All of your stabilizer muscles must be active when using dumbbells.
Every shoulder exercise provides versatility and makes your core work harder to keep everything together. All three heads of your deltoids are targeted by dumbbells, which can be used to build and sustain tension in the muscles.
Biceps & Triceps
You strengthen your bicep muscles with a flexion motion. This motion is used in several dumbbell exercises that target the biceps, such as dumbbell curls. There are several curl variations as well, all of which work your biceps and triceps.
Three separate muscles that link your elbow to your shoulder are together known as your triceps. Using dumbbells to isolate your triceps will help you gain muscle mass quickly.
Latissimus Dorsi
The latissimus dorsi, often known as the lats, begin in the lower back and form a “V” shape before spreading out to the top sides of the back. This big muscular group can be worked out using dumbbell movements like the bent-over row.
During this exercise, you must draw your shoulder blades inward as you raise the weights to your lower stomach. Both the major and minor rhomboids, which are located between the shoulders, are also worked by this.
Glutes, Quadriceps & Hamstrings
The gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus make up your glutes. Your quads are located in front of your thighs. On the back of your thighs, your hamstrings begin beneath your glutes and extend all the way to your knees.
Dumbbells can be used to exercise all of these muscles. Your glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings will all benefit significantly from dumbbell lunges. These muscles are activated by knee and hip flexion and extension.
FAQs
Can I Build Muscle With Just Dumbbells?
Yes, you can build muscle with just dumbbells. While there is no quick fix for being ripped, the appropriate workout program may help you tighten and strengthen every muscle in your body using dumbbells.
Are 5KG Dumbbells Enough to Build Muscle?
Yes, 5kg dumbbells are enough to build muscle. You should be able to tone your body and build muscles using these medium-weight dumbbells.
Are 10KG Dumbbells Enough to Build Muscle?
Yes, 10kg dumbbells are enough to build muscle. For those new to working out at the gym or who haven’t gone in a while, 10 kg of dumbbells will be plenty to start seeing changes in your appearance.
Do Heavier Dumbbells Build More Muscle?
No, heavier dumbbells don’t build more muscle. It is a misconception that you need to lift more weights to bulk up; if you’re consistent and persistent, you can get identical results using lighter weights.
How Can I Gain Mass With Dumbbells?
You can gain mass with dumbbells by doing exercises like clean and press and Arnold press. To build muscular mass, you must tear the muscle as much as possible.
Why Is Free Weight Training So Important?
Free weight training is so important because it forces you to use your muscles to stabilize movement.
Thanks to this, you can develop strength, power, and coordination all at once. They can be used in various situations and methods, making them versatile.
You can adjust your posture in a variety of ways to better meet any unique needs you may have while doing out.
Let me know which is your favorite exercise to do with the dumbbells.
References:
Author Bio
Vanja is a Faculty of Sport and Physical Education student and a functional training enthusiast. He fell in love with the idea of functional strength during his sportsman years when his coach showed him movement pattern-based training. Today, he aims to convey as much knowledge as possible through his blog Functional Body Savage and create modern functional savages.
