May 1st, 2012

For those of you that do not want a gym membership and don’t have enough space in your home for a complete workout area, dumbbell exercises are the perfect solution. Dumbbell exercises allow you to work almost every muscle group in your body. This article, however, will focus on the muscles you want looking good before the summer season.

Seated Bicep Curls:

Begin seated with a dumbbell in each hand at your side. Then, slowly lift the dumbbell up towards your shoulder, slightly rotating the dumbbell so the grip bar is parallel to the ground. After, slowly lower the dumbbell back to the original starting position, and repeat with the other arm. The most important part of this dumbbell exercise is to keep the stress on your biceps, and to keep the rest of your body still.

Dumbbell Crunches:

Lie face up on a bench with your knees bent at the end and your feet on the ground. Hold one dumbbell to your chest with both hands, and lift your head and upper body straight towards the sky, pause, then lower back down to the bench. Combine this with a standing bend to get the always-desired six-pack. Holding a dumbbell in one hand at your side, slowly bend at the hips to the side of the dumbbell, keeping your arms and legs straight and focusing on your core. Repeat on the other side.

Shoulder Press:

Holding a dumbbell in each hand standing up, begin with the dumbbells next to your shoulders with elbows facing down. Then, push the dumbbells above your head until your arms are fully extended, pause, then lower to the starting position. Be sure to focus on your shoulders, and not to use your back in order to lift the weights. If needed, this exercise can be performed seated in a chair to provide support for your back.

Dumbbell exercises are used to focus on specific muscle groups. If you find yourself needing to use other muscles to perform these exercises, use lighter dumbbells to keep the stress on the intended muscle group.

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April 23rd, 2012

The back muscles are ones we use every day, yet ones we rarely work out. There are various back dumbbell exercises that one can very easily perform by simply reading these instructions. After adding these simple back dumbbell exercises to your workout routine, you will have a more complete workout addressing more muscle groups.

One Arm Row on a Knee:

With a dumbbell in one hand, place your other hand and one knee on a bench. Then, while keeping the rest of your body motionless, lift the dumbbell up next to your chest, bending your elbow behind your head. Then, after a short pause, slowly let the dumbbell down and repeat. Be sure to exhale when lifting the dumbbell up, and inhale when lowering.

Wide-stance Row:

With a dumbbell in each hand, spread your feet just beyond shoulder width and bend your knees, allowing for flexibility in your hips in the squat position. Then, lift the dumbbells straight to your chest, pause at the peak, and drop the weights back down to the starting position. Be sure your knees do not bend, putting the stress solely on your back. Like the above exercise, exhale when lifting and inhale when releasing down to the starting position.

Dead Lift:

This back dumbbell exercise is very similar to a squat with a bar. Begin with a dumbbell in each hand on the ground. Bend at the knees and hips to grasp the dumbbells, then stand straight up, making your back upright and straight. Then drop back down to the starting position and repeat. Breathing should be similar to the above, as you exhale when lifting and inhale when dropping back down.

Stiff Dead Lift:

Similar to the exercise above, begin with dumbbells in each hand standing straight up. Then, bending at the hips, lower the dumbbells straight to the ground, this time keeping your knees straight and locked. Keeping your arms straight, stand back up, keeping the stress on your back.

All of these back dumbbell exercises will expand your workout to include more muscle groups and keep the muscles you use every day strong and active.

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April 17th, 2012

For those of you that do not want a gym membership and don’t have enough space in your home for a complete workout area, dumbbell exercises are the perfect solution. Dumbbell exercises allow you to work almost every muscle group in your body. This article, however, will focus on the muscles you want looking good before the summer season.

Seated Bicep Curls:

Begin seated with a dumbbell in each hand at your side. Then, slowly lift the dumbbell up towards your shoulder, slightly rotating the dumbbell so the grip bar is parallel to the ground. After, slowly lower the dumbbell back to the original starting position, and repeat with the other arm. The most important part of this dumbbell exercise is to keep the stress on your biceps, and to keep the rest of your body still.

Dumbbell Crunches:

Lie face up on a bench with your knees bent at the end and your feet on the ground. Hold one dumbbell to your chest with both hands, and lift your head and upper body straight towards the sky, pause, then lower back down to the bench. Combine this with a standing bend to get the always-desired six-pack. Holding a dumbbell in one hand at your side, slowly bend at the hips to the side of the dumbbell, keeping your arms and legs straight and focusing on your core. Repeat on the other side.

Shoulder Press:

Holding a dumbbell in each hand standing up, begin with the dumbbells next to your shoulders with elbows facing down. Then, push the dumbbells above your head until your arms are fully extended, pause, then lower to the starting position. Be sure to focus on your shoulders, and not to use your back in order to lift the weights. If needed, this exercise can be performed seated in a chair to provide support for your back.

Dumbbell exercises are used to focus on specific muscle groups. If you find yourself needing to use other muscles to perform these exercises, use lighter dumbbells to keep the stress on the intended muscle group.

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April 13th, 2012

Who doesn’t want to have an upper body built like people they see on TV and in magazines that all the women swoon over? Well with some dedication and a good workout routine, you can get one of those bodies yourself. One good way to accomplish this is through upper body dumbbell exercises. There are countless upper body dumbbell exercises that you could use, but I’ll give you just a few that could get you started on your quest to a great physique.

Dumbbell Flat Bench- One of the staples for many people’s workouts is the dumbbell flat bench. It is a fairly straight-forward lift. You grab a dumbbell in each hand and lay on your back on a flat bench. Hold each dumbbell off to your side and raise them until your arms are extended. At the top, try to squeeze your pecs then return to the starting position in a slow, controlled manner.

Dumbbell Military Press- You can do this exercise either seated or standing. Grab a dumbbell in each hand and hold them about shoulder level with your palms facing away from your body. From there, raise the weights straight up until your arms are fully extended. Pause at the top briefly then return to the starting position slowly.
Preacher Bicep Curls- Standing behind an inclined bench, grab a dumbbell with one arm. Place the back of the arm with the weight in it on the bench. Slowly release your arm and let it straighten out. Once the weight touches the bench, curl it back up while keeping the weight under control. Try not to swing the weight, as that will take the stress off of the bicep.

Behind-the-Head Tricep Extensions- These can be performed either seated or standing (though I prefer seated). Grab a dumbbell in one hand and raise it straight above your head. From there, slowly bring the dumbbell behind your head (bend your arm at the elbow only, try not to go too far past 90 degrees). Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position. Once back in the starting position, try to squeeze your tricep for maximum effectiveness.

These are only a few of the possible dumbbell exercises you could use in order to build muscle in you r upper body. If you are a beginner, be sure to start with a lower weight as to avoid possible injuries.

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April 10th, 2012

No physique is complete without having a set of wide shoulders. Shoulder dumbbell exercises are a good way to make sure you can obtain your very own set of solid deltoids. Without strong shoulders, you may not be able to maximize your strength with other muscle groups. It may also lead to unnecessary stress to other muscle groups which could even lead to injury in some cases. Shoulder dumbbell exercises are a very effective way to ensure that this doesn’t happen. Here are several shoulder dumbbell exercises you could use to build strength in your shoulders:

Arnold Press- While seated straight up on an upright bench or chair, hold a dumbbell in each hand about chest level with your palms facing inward, towards your body. From there, raise the weights above your head while rotating your hands so that they are facing the opposite direction. Pause momentarily at the top and come back to the starting position slowly.

Upright Rows- From a standing position, grab a dumbbell in each hand and hold them with your arm straight down. From there, pull the weights straight upward along your body until they nearly reach your chin. Attempt to keep your elbows above your hands and try not to move the weights too far away from your body. Pause at the top, and then slowly return back to the starting position.

Bent Over Reverse Flys- With a dumbbell in each hand, bend over at the waist while keeping a big chest. From there, raise the weights to the side, trying to get the weights at least level with your back. Attempt to pause at the top of the rep, while trying to squeeze your back muscles together. Return to the starting position slowly. This will build your rear shoulder.

If you use these exercises, you should be able to see improvements in shoulder strength and size. If you are a beginner when it comes to weight lifting, start out with lower weights. If you are an experienced lifter, feel free to use some higher weights. I would personally recommend at 3-4 sets of each with at least 6-8 reps in each set. You can adjust these numbers as you see fit in your workouts.

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April 2nd, 2012

Traditionally speaking, the one area of their muscles that people care the most about are their biceps, at least for the men. It’s all about how big you look, and there are multiple bicep dumbbells exercises that can do wonders for you. They’ll have you looking beach ready in no time. These bicep dumbbell exercises can work all areas of the bicep and will truly give you a good workout. Many of you might think that the only good bicep dumbbell exercise is just the classic curl, but in reality there are tons of variations on the curl and other exercises that are great too. Below are some of my favorite bicep dumbbell exercises that I use regularly:

Biceps Curl:
This is just the classic bicep dumbbell exercise that you can’t ever go wrong with. Start by standing up and having a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other. Slowly raise the dumbbells simultaneously up to about shoulder height by bending your arms at the elbow, pause, and then slowly bring them back to the original position. You can also choose to do this one where you alternate each dumbbell, instead of doing both at the same time.

Seated Isolated Curl:
For this exercise you’ll be seated at the end of a bench with only a dumbbell in one hand. You’ll want to place your arm to where your elbow will be resting against the inside of your thigh. Then just curl the dumbbell up slowly until it’s about at your shoulder, pause, and slowly lower it back down.

Concentration Curl:
On this exercise you’ll want to stand right behind an inclined bench with a dumbbell in your hand, and your arm resting against the back of a bench with your palm facing up. Slowly raise the dumbbell up, pause, and then take it back to its original position.

There are many more bicep dumbbell exercises that we’ll go over in another post, but for now use these to start getting ready for summer! Also on all of these bicep dumbbell exercises make sure that you’re only using your arms. Don’t use any of your body because you won’t get the full workout for your bicep then. Have fun with these and good luck!

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December 20th, 2011

In this blog we’ve talked about some good chest dumbbell exercises before, but with the good responses I’ve gotten to them I wanted to put up a few more chest dumbbell exercises that will get you even stronger in your chest.
Strength in the chest area can be beneficial for many reasons, and many people regularly focus on working their chest. In our last post about chest dumbbell exercises we talked about the bench press (incline and normal), the straight arm pullover, and the lying down fly. In this post we will talk about a variation to both of the different bench presses, and the bent arm pullover. Below I’ll go over how to properly do these exercises:

Bench Press with a Neutral Grip

For this exercise, you start out the exact same way as the normal bench press with dumbbells but with one slight change. Instead of holding the dumbbells with your palms facing your feet, hold the dumbbells with your palms facing each other. Then just raise the dumbbells straight up in the air, pause, and bring them back down to the starting position.

Incline Bench Press with a Neutral Grip

As we’ve said in previous posts, the inclined bench press is the exact same thing as the normal bench press that you’ve done in your dumbbell exercises. So the incline bench press with a neutral grip is that same thing as the normal bench press with a neutral grip. Just make sure that you’re on an inclined bench instead of the normal bench and make sure that your palms are facing each other. Also in all variations of bench pressing, breathe out as you are raising the dumbbells up and breathe in when you’re lowering the dumbbells back down.

Bent Arm Pullover

The last chest dumbbell exercise that we will go over today is the bent arm pullover. For this exercise you will be lying down on your back on a bench holding two dumbbells behind your head on the ground, with your arms bent at a 90 degree angle while you’re holding them. Then, while making sure you keep that 90 degree angle for your elbows, raise the dumbbells up until your elbows hit your chest, pause, and slowly bring them back to the original position.

These are three more great chest dumbbell exercises that are very easy to do and will strengthen your chest area in no time.

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December 14th, 2011

In today’s world everyone is trying to get slimmer, stronger, and more in shape than ever. Because of this, there are so many different ways to work out and exercise. One of the best options for working out is dumbbell exercises though. There are so many reasons why dumbbell exercises are such a great option for working out and staying in shape.

One of the main reasons why dumbbell exercises are a good choice for exercising is the convenience of them. Dumbbell exercises can easily done anywhere in the house. The exercises can be done during the commercials of watching TV in your living room, they can be done in your home gym, they can be done in your bedroom. Dumbbell exercises can also be done in the actual gym if you belong to one. They’re easy and convenient to use.

Another perk of doing dumbbell exercises is that if you don’t belong to a gym and you have to buy your own equipment for your house, buying a few dumbbells isn’t expensive at all compared to the many machines that people buy. All you need is a few different types of weights and the dumbbells and you’re good. Also they don’t even take up too much space in your house. So they’re cheap, and the stay out of the way!

A last advantage to working out with dumbbells is that they are able to work a variety of areas on your body. If you were to buy machines, they only work one specific area of muscles. But dumbbells can be used to work every muscle in your body. Even when you are doing an exercise that is meant to primarily focus on one muscle group, other muscles get worked out. This way you’re able to make sure that no one muscle group is getting too much work while the other groups aren’t. Everything moves along at a similar pace and it’ll have you looking great!

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October 13th, 2011

Dumbbell Back Exercises

Many people in the United States admit to having a lot of back pain going through life, and dumbbell back exercises will easily help get rid of this pain and have you feeling great. It’s very understandable why they have this pain, people sit in an uncomfortable office chair all day, drive in their car for long periods of time, and then could even come home and not have a supportive bed so that only adds to their pain. A big reason for their back pain is that their back isn’t strong enough to go through all of the daily pains that people have to deal with. Dumbbell back exercises might be the best way to strengthen your back. There are so many different dumbbell back exercises that can work either the lower or upper back, and will strengthen your back in no time. Below are some of the better dumbbell back exercises:

Stiffed Leg Dead Lift

Be standing up straight and have a dumbbell in both hands. Then bend down only at the waist until the dumbbells touch the ground. Then pause once you’re down there, and then finally come back up to the original starting position. During this exercise you want to make sure that you keep both of your arms and both of your legs straight so that you actually strengthen your back.

Wide Row

Start out with a dumbbell in each hand and get into the athletic position (knees a little bent and legs about shoulder width apart). While staying in the athletic position, lift both of the dumbbells straight up to chest height, pause, and slowly bring the dumbbells back to the starting position. It is vital that you don’t change the angles of your hips or knees to do this exercise correctly.

Back Fly

Find a lifting bench that you can lie down on your stomach with. Have a dumbbell lying on the ground in each hand, and make sure that your elbows are bent at 90 degrees while you’re holding the dumbbells. Next, lift your arms out until your arms are parallel with the ground, pause once they are parallel, and slowly bring the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Opposite Foot Bend

For this exercise you will start standing straight up with a dumbbell at each of your feet. The weight of the dumbbell can just be whatever you are comfortable with. Reach down with your right hand to your left foot and pick up the dumbbell that is at your left foot. You will then lift the dumbbell up until you are standing in an upright position, and then you will slowly put the dumbbell back to its original place. Next do the exact same thing except use your left hand and the dumbbell at your right foot.

All of these exercises are easy to do in a variety of places, including your own home. They will have your back feeling stronger in no time, and with a stronger back you will have less pain throughout your daily life.

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August 29th, 2011

While dumbbell shoulder exercises can help maintain strength, they can also be very beneficial in making your shoulders stronger. If you think about it, every single thing that you do with your upper body involves your shoulders. If they were stronger, then everything would become a little bit easier. Because your shoulders are involved in so many things it is vital that they aren’t too weak. When your shoulders are very weak it can lead to other parts of your body taking on the work of your shoulders, eventually injuring those other parts of your body. For example, when your shoulders aren’t as strong, your arms, chest, and back take on the majority of the work and this can be a lot of unnecessary stress for them. Finally, strengthening your shoulders can help you avoid potential injuries. Below are some of the best dumbbell should exercises for you:

Seated Shoulder Press (Military Press)
For this exercise you need to be sitting straight up either on a bench or chair. Be holding a dumbbell in each hand and put them one on each shoulder with your palms facing out. Then just raise the dumbbells until your arms are fully extended, pause, and bring them back to the starting position

Lateral Raises
You can either be sitting or standing for this, but make sure your back is straight. Hold the dumbbells in each hand down at your side. Then raise them out to your side at chest height, essentially making a “T”, pause, and then slowly bring them back down to the starting position.

Front Raises
Be standing up straight with dumbbells in each hand down at your side with your palms facing you. Slowly raise the dumbbells out in front of you so that your arms are directly in front of your chest, pause, and then bring them back down to the starting position.

For all dumbbell shoulder exercises make sure that you go slowly, and don’t do too much weight. These can be for either maintaining or gaining strength, are very easy to do, and give great results.

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