Are you looking for ways to build muscle with dumbbells at home and build a new body with broad shoulders, massive chest, big biceps and triceps and ripped abs? You're in luck because this article provides dumbbell exercises at home that will help you quickly build muscle and transform your physique in just 4 weeks.
Be sure to strictly follow the dumbbell workout plan below at home, complete the exercises in order and follow the instructions. All you need is a pair of collapsible dumbbells.
Warming up the shoulders
Let's warm up first, okay? You should do this before every workout, but be especially careful with this process before training your shoulders. Walk on a treadmill for 10 minutes to speed up blood circulation and increase body temperature. Don't train until you sweat, but don't feel too sorry for yourself either.
While warming up, clear your head of negative thoughts. Imagine your head resting on top of boulders - this is how you will look after your workout. Think about how you will feel after completing the entire workout, how pumped up and big your shoulders will appear when you look in the mirror.
- Rotate your shoulders so that your joints and rotator cuffs are fully prepared for the stress ahead. Do 20 reps forward and backward.
- Next, take light dumbbells. Perform 20 external rotations with each shoulder, 20 front raises, 20 lateral raises, 20 shoulder rotations, and 20 back raises.
- Rest 1 minute. Now you are ready to train!
The exercises presented here are basic, but they work. The trick is that you will perform these four exercises with a huge number of approaches. This means that you will perform one set of each exercise consecutively before resting. You'll work the anterior, lateral, and posterior heads of the humerus until you've completed your trapezius workout. The entire deltoid muscle area will feel a rush of nutrient-rich blood. Let's find out how to pump up your shoulders with dumbbells!
Broad shoulders as a symbol of strength
The trend for clothes with wide shoulders appeared in the 30s thanks to the French designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who loved surrealism and experimentation with clothing. The trend had historical significance - broad shoulders were loved by ambitious, courageous women who wanted to be on an equal footing with men.
In the post-war years, the shoulders on women's clothing became even wider - many women had to do men's work in the home and go to work instead of their husbands. Broad shoulders helped create a militant mood and visually enter the male working class society.
Joan Crawford and Anne Blyth in Mildred Pierce, 1945
The trend returned again in the 80s with the “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, whose broad shoulders helped express inner strength and separate gender from the position of prime minister. Then the trend became a symbol of success.
Margaret Thatcher
Broad shoulders on clothing have made a comeback on the fashion catwalk, and once again they have a social significance. In the age of women's empowerment in modern society, in the fight against the problems of violence against women and the spread of the #MeToo movement, the trend of broad shoulders fits perfectly into the feminist society.
Examples of exercises
First, let's look at the basic basic exercises for the deltoid muscles.
Bent dumbbell press
Choose a weight that you can lift for 8-10 reps. Take dumbbells and sit on a straight bench. The secret of the exercise is that you pause at the bottom of the movement before performing the next repetition. This removes all the momentum from the movement, meaning you have to work harder to get it back. You will get stronger and eventually get the shoulders of your dreams.
Bent dumbbell press
Standing lateral raises with dumbbells
Choose a weight that you can lift for 10-12 reps with 3-second stops. In other words, once you reach the top of the movement, count to three as you lower the weight: One thousand one... one thousand two... one thousand three... now you can take action!
Basic exercises
There are only four basic exercises with dumbbells. Will you say little? More than enough, actually. The effect will be achieved due to the number of approaches and the weight of the dumbbells used. You need to choose them correctly, and they will be different for everyone. For example, if an exercise must be performed 10 times, then you must do it with effort. If the process is too easy for you, you should replace the dumbbells with heavier ones, and vice versa. If you neglect these facts, then in the first case you will not achieve the desired result, in the second you will overstrain your arm, you will suffer from shoulder pain, and all these symptoms are a reason to start treatment.
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Be careful, there is an important nuance in the exercise: at the lowest point, keep your shoulders parallel to the floor so as not to involve the trapezius muscles in the work.
Standing lateral raises with dumbbells
Bent-over dumbbell raises
To perform the dumbbell raise exercise while sitting in an incline position, take dumbbells, sit on a bench and bend over with your back straight towards your knees. The technique of performing when lifting weights is similar to the exercise of raising arms to the sides with dumbbells while standing: at the top point, contract the muscles well and hold for 3 seconds.
Do you feel a burning sensation in your shoulders? Fine! This is what it takes to succeed. Do 12-15 reps before moving on to the finishing exercise.
Bent-over dumbbell raises
Shrugs with dumbbells
Take dumbbells (use the weight from the previous exercise, seated dumbbell press) and perform shrugs. Hold the weight as best you can if you still have any left.
The best shoulder exercises with dumbbells
Our delta is divided into three beams:
- front;
- average;
- rear.
The anterior bundle works predominantly in many exercises. The middle one works less. And many people don’t even know about the existence of the back one.
Now let’s divide shoulder exercises with dumbbells into 3 groups:
- bench presses;
- traction;
- flywheels
There are many more shoulder pressing movements than the others. These movements are considered basic, since they work several compounds and muscle groups.
These are exercises such as:
- standing dumbbell press;
- seated dumbbell press;
- one-arm dumbbell press;
- press of one dumbbell with two hands;
These exercises work primarily the anterior and middle deltas. Most of the load goes to the front beam.
Dumbbell rowing movements can include both the front and middle deltoids, as well as the rear deltoids. It depends on the position of the body. These are also basic movements.
Now I will give a list of such exercises for the shoulders with dumbbells, specifying which part works more:
- dumbbell row to the chin (front and middle part of the delta);
- pulling two dumbbells to the chin (front and middle deltoid);
- Bent-over dumbbell rows, elbows to the sides (rear delta).
My personal opinion is that among the pulling movements, only the dumbbell row for pumping up the rear delta is worthy of attention; for the front and middle deltoids, this exercise is much better and more convenient to do with a barbell or kettlebell.
Now let's look at swinging exercises for the shoulders with dumbbells; they are isolating and can also include the front, middle and rear deltoids.
These exercises can further differentiate the load on each specific bundle.:
- lifting dumbbells in front of you with one hand or together (front delta);
- swings to the sides (medium delta);
- swings tilted to the sides (rear delta).
These exercises are no less effective than bench presses, but I recommend using them to pre-tire the working muscle, or to squeeze all the juice out of it, that is, do them either at the beginning of the workout or at the end. Now that you understand how to pump up your shoulders with dumbbells, let's move on to the training complex.
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Use belts if necessary. Contract the muscles at the top for a second before lowering the weight down. At the bottom, let them hang for one second to further stretch the trapezius muscles.
Continue the exercise until failure, or until you lose your grip. Now it's time to relax!
Dumbbell press sitting and standing.
The technique in these exercises is identical, but when performing the exercise while sitting, you deprive yourself of the opportunity to help yourself, at a moment of fatigue, to “throw” the dumbbells using your leg muscles. That is, the exercise can be performed while standing with a little cheating, but while sitting it won’t work, and it becomes more “isolating.” In the picture I am performing this exercise on a regular chair, without a back, at home. Ideally, perform it on a chair with a comfortable back, so that there is support and you can turn off all non-essential muscles from work.
Scheme with a dynamic number of approaches
For this workout, you should only have two pairs of dumbbells: the first pair for presses and shrugs, the second pair for curls. You will perform all of these exercises before resting. For both beginners and intermediate weightlifters, rest periods should not exceed 2 minutes.
If you're an advanced athlete, rest 90 seconds before doing your next set. If you're a beginner, do two of these incredible sets for now until you get used to this workout.
Intermediate athletes can perform this circuit three times. Iron veterans are better off going through four rounds, really pushing themselves to give it their all.
This workout will not take you too much time, however, you can perfectly pump up all the heads of the deltoid and trapezius muscles with dumbbells.
How to eat
If you reconsider your attitude to nutrition, you can achieve that rare harmony that many strive for. You shouldn’t think that healthy food is always not tasty, you just don’t know how to cook it, and it’s not difficult to learn if you really want to.
Should be avoided:
- Fried
- Fat
- Smoked
- Salty
- Sweet
- baked
The question immediately arises, what then is there? You can eat:
- Anything steamed
- Stewed
- Baked
- Seafood
- Vegetables
- All types of lean meat
- And for dessert you can treat yourself to marshmallows or marshmallows, as well as fruits
Shoulder training
A 2-minute rest is required between each exercise change.
Beginners: 2 laps
Intermediate: 3 laps
Advanced level: 4 laps
Bent dumbbell press
- 2-4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
Standing lateral raises with dumbbells
- 2-4 sets of 10-12 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
Bent-over dumbbell raises
- 2-4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
Standing dumbbell shrugs
- 2-4 sets until muscle failure
- Body part: Trapeze Equipment: Dumbbells
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And for more advanced athletes, we recommend trying additional exercises with greater isolation and load on one arm at a time.
Contraindications
Unfortunately, it is not always possible to exercise with dumbbells; there are some contraindications that are worth knowing about
- Diseases in which any exercise is contraindicated
- Serious heart and vascular diseases
- Menstruation period
- Asthma
- An interesting situation, that is, pregnancy
- Osteochondrosis
- Scoliosis
- Disorders related to the thyroid gland
- Fractures
- Injuries
- Hypertension
It is very important to remember that in addition to the shoulder girdle, it is worth training the whole body. Also, don’t immediately strive for heavy weights. Progression should be increased gradually; this is what will lead to results. You can also use dumbbells if it's time to diversify your program.
Training for pumping up shoulders - warm-up
Treadmill workout
- 10 minutes 1 repetition
- Body part: Quadriceps Equipment: Exercise
Circular movements with elbows
- 1 set of 20 reps
- Body Part: Shoulders Equipment: No
Rotating the shoulder away from the body while lying down
- 1 set of 20 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
Alternately lifting dumbbells in front of you
- 1 set of 20 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
One-arm dumbbell raise to the side
- 1 set of 20 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
Bent-over dumbbell raises
- 1 set of 20 reps
- Body part: Shoulders Equipment: Dumbbells
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Taking sports supplements - creatine, arginine, intra-workout, bcaa amino acid and pre-workout complexes will help you increase your strength. These sports nutrition products are specifically formulated to improve performance in sports and fitness for men and women. Just add it to your diet and go ahead to conquer new heights!
