Workout With Dumbbells for Weight Loss

Doing home workouts is a great way to keep fit. For most individuals, it’s the only way to ever really meet their exercise needs when gym membership becomes too expensive or when career and family schedules prohibit otherwise.

For a weight loss exercise program to succeed, it should always include cardiovascular and strength training exercises. Aerobic exercises like running, jogging or power walking serve to torch overall levels of body fat while strength training exercises serve to tone muscles. Weight-bearing exercises, such as those involving dumbbells, contribute even more to your weight loss efforts by forming muscle.

When you have more muscles in your body, your resting metabolic rate or RMR (defined as the pace with which your body burns calories even at rest) also amplifies. This translates to more fat loss.

Below are dumbbell exercises that can be done in the comfort of your very own home three days a week. Make sure that you rest after a workout session, so you’ll have to do your workouts on alternating days. Five-pound dumbbells are good weights to start with, working your way up incrementally. Beginners can start by completing one set for each workout, increasing themselves to three sets when they have built the necessary strength.

1. Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise. Begin in a standing position with a dumbbell in each hand and your feet shoulder-width apart. Lift up the weights to the side. As you raise the weights, your arms should be parallel to the floor. Lower the weights and repeat. Strive for 10 to 12 repetitions.

2. Bent-Over Row. Start by bending your back, keeping it almost parallel to the floor. Keeping your legs and feet together, bend your knees a little. Let your arms hang to the sides of your body, with the dumbbell almost touching the floor. Pull up the dumbbells without moving the rest of your body until they are now level with the lower part of your rib cage. Lower your hands again repeatedly for 10 to 12 times.

3. Lying Dumbbell Flye. With a dumbbell held in each hand, lie down on a mat. Bend your knees with your feet spread apart for balance. Position the two dumbbells at arm’s length above your head. With your elbows slightly bent, lower your arms to the floor slowly and raise them back above your head immediately. Do ten repetitions.

4. Walking Lunge. Holding a pair of weights on each hand, step your right foot forward and assume a lunge position. Return to starting position and do the same to the left leg. Alternate the exercise on both legs 12 times.

5. Standing Calf Raise. Hold a dumbbell on one hand and stand in front of a box or a stair step. Position the free hand on a banister or wall so you keep your balance throughout the exercise since only half of each foot should rest on the box. For 10 times, raise yourself up and down on your toes. Do 10 more repetitions with the dumbbell on the other hand.

To tone your abs, you may also add floor crunches to your routine. If you keep to this regimen, you’ll be rewarded with a leaner and fitter body. You will grow stronger and more confident as you continue to develop your physique as well.

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