You’ve heard about being “right down to your last dime,” but how about being “right down to your last dumbbell?”

Perhaps a tough economy forced the hearth sale of your once epic home gym. Perhaps you’re making do at a poorly equipped hotel gym. Or possibly you’re on a road trip with limited space for strength equipment.

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Irrespective of the scenario, these single-dumbbell workouts will assist you to turn strife into strength, lean times into lean mass, and hardship right into a hard body. But don’t expect charity gains. You’re going to need to work for it.

Best Single-Dumbbell Workouts

Best Single-Dumbbell Workout for Muscle Gain

Training to placed on muscle without the niceties of a totally equipped gym? Fortunately, muscle gain occurs across a big selection of repetitions and using weights starting from light to heavy (e.g. 30% to greater than 80% of maximum). (1)(2)(3)(4)

As such, a single dumbbell of moderate weight stands out as the most utilitarian tool for whole-body hypertrophy training. With thoughtful exercise selection and a time-saving strategy like agonist-antagonist supersets, you’ve got a no-frills recipe for growth.

For this single-dumbbell hypertrophy workout, a moderate weight works best (e.g. 15 to 50 kilos). Training to failure just isn’t “required” for noteworthy gains. (5)(6) For best results with limited equipment, nonetheless, you’ll need to take these sets to a high level of effort. (4) That’s, each set should approach failure. Select plenty of repetitions that leaves between one and 4 repetitions “within the tank.”

Construct Size with One Weight

This full-body workout uses paired exercises and an emphasis on single-arm or single-leg movements to get essentially the most from minimal equipment. Begin targeting the back and chest. Like a typical row, the wide dumbbell row hits the mid-back (middle trapezius and rhomboids) but may higher train the rear deltoids. (7)(8) Elevating one hand in the course of the push-up will increase the problem of the exercise by achieving a greater stretch across pectoralis major (chest) in the underside position.

Next you’ll tackle legs. In the course of the single-leg Romanian deadlift, you should use a sturdy object, equivalent to a chair or bench, for balance assistance and to maintain the deal with your hamstrings somewhat than stabilizing muscles. But be disciplined. Don’t push along with your support hand.

You’ll end the session with some direct arm work. You’re welcome. By bracing your upper arm against your thigh in the course of the concentration curl, you eliminate “cheating” from body sway and shoulder flexion. The long head of triceps is lengthened across the shoulder in the course of the overhead triceps extension, making this exercise superior for muscle growth. (9)

Wide Dumbbell Row

• Tips on how to Do it: Brace your free arm on a flat bench along with your feet in a stable stance. Grab the dumbbell along with your working arm and pull it “up and out.” In the highest position, your elbow must be nearly according to your shoulder and away out of your ribs. Keep your torso level and avoid rotating as you pull and lower the load.
• Sets and Reps: 3 sets to muscular fatigue, per arm. Depending on the load of your dumbbell, repetitions may range from six to 30 or more.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Single-Arm Emphasis Push-Up

• Tips on how to Do it: Lie on the bottom with one hand on the dumbbell and the opposite hand flat on the ground. Keep your spine and legs straight as you lower right into a deep push-up. The chest of the elevated hand might be put into a big stretch. Press up until the non-elevated hand is locked out. Perform a good variety of repetitions with each hand elevated.

• Sets and Reps: 3 sets to muscular fatigue.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. Rest 90 seconds before repeating the previous exercise.

Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

• Tips on how to Do it: Stand near a chair or the back of an incline bench while holding a dumbbell in a single hand. Use the bench, as needed, for stability. Lift the leg of the working side barely off the bottom and softly bend the alternative knee. Bend at your hips as you “reach” the dumbbell toward your foot on the bottom. Allow your working-side leg to rise into the air behind you. Keep your torso straight and don’t bend on the spine. Pull your torso back to face upright.
• Sets and Reps: 3 sets to muscular fatigue, per leg. Depending on the load of your dumbbell, repetitions may range from six to 30 or more.
• Rest time: No rest between legs. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

• Tips on how to Do it: Face away from a flat bench while holding a dumbbell in a single hand. Place the same-side leg behind you, resting your shoelaces on the bench. Squat down along with your front leg and permit your back knee to drop to the ground. Keep your shoulders pulled back and your torso upright in the course of the movement. Drive through your front foot to face upright.

• Sets and Reps: 3 sets to muscular fatigue, per leg. Depending on the load of your dumbbell, repetitions may range from six to 30 or more.
• Rest time: No rest between legs. Rest 90 seconds before repeating the previous exercise.

Concentration Curl

• Tips on how to Do it: Sit on a bench along with your feet wider than shoulder-width. Grab a dumbbell with a palms-up grip in a single hand and rest the triceps of that arm near the same-side knee. Curl the load toward your face. Don’t allow your legs or torso to swing the load up. Lower the load to full straight-arm extension.
• Sets and Reps: 3 sets to muscular fatigue, per arm. Depending on the load of your dumbbell, repetitions may range from six to 30 or more.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Single-Arm Overhead Extension

• Tips on how to Do it: Sit upright on a flat bench. Press a dumbbell overhead with one arm. Keep your torso tight and upright. Lower the load behind your head until your hand is roughly according to the highest of your head. Keep your elbow pointed generally toward the ceiling, don’t allow it to maneuver significantly. Only your hand should move with the load.

• Sets and Reps: 3 sets to muscular fatigue, per leg. Depending on the load of your dumbbell, repetitions may range from six to 30 or more.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. Rest 90 seconds before repeating the previous exercise.

Best Single-Dumbbell Workout for Fat Loss

Circuit training, a technique of exercise that links multiple exercises along with minimal rest between each, is effective for improving body composition. Along with decreasing body fat percentage and increasing muscularity, circuits can also promote modest improvements in aerobic fitness and strength. (10)(11)

Single-dumbbell exercises are perfect for circuit training because they require minimal setup. Machine-based circuit training obviously requires plenty of kit, however it also requires monopolizing multiple’s fair of the gym. Single-dumbbell circuit training can just as easily be done in a small corner of a busy gym or a lonely motel room.

One-Dumbbell Fat-Burning Circuit

A light-weight dumbbell works well for this whole-body resistance training circuit — 10 to 30 kilos should work for many lifters, depending in your strength and fitness level. It uses a descending repetition scheme, with each exercise performed for progressively fewer reps, to accommodate fatigue as you proceed to work.

Perform the exercises so as, rest briefly, after which repeat all the sequence for a complete of three rounds.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Row

• Tips on how to Do it: Take a staggered stance along with your front foot next to the dumbbell. Your working arm might be opposite your front foot — left foot forward along with your right arm working, and vice versa. Brace your non-working forearm in your front thigh. Grab the dumbbell along with your working arm and row toward your back hip. Maintain a neutral grip along with your palm facing your leg. Lower the load to a full stretch, nearly reaching ankle-level.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 30 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Single-Arm Floor Press

• Tips on how to Do it: Lie down with the dumbbell in a single hand and your elbow resting on the bottom. Bend your legs along with your feet flat. Press the load above your chest to full lockout. Lower under control. Don’t bounce your arm off the bottom between repetitions.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 25 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Goblet Squat

• Tips on how to Do it: Get up while holding the dumbbell within the “goblet position,” supporting the dumbbell with each hands in front of your chin or neck. Keep your elbows near your torso. Squat down as little as possible while keeping your upper body vertical. Keep your feet flat on the ground throughout each repetition.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 20
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Dumbbell Good Morning

• Tips on how to Do it: Hold the dumbbell to your upper chest using each hands. Barely bend your knees while pushing your hips back and bending on the waist. When your upper body is sort of parallel to the bottom, “pull” along with your glutes and hamstrings to return upright. Keep a neutral spine in the course of the movement. Don’t allow your back to round forward.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 15
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Single-Arm Arnold Z Press

• Tips on how to Do it: Get on the bottom in a “long-sitting position” along with your legs prolonged in front of you and your upper body straight. Hold the dumbbell in front of your working-side shoulder along with your palm facing your body. As you press overhead, rotate the dumbbell so your palm faces forward in the highest position. Reverse the movement as you lower the load.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. Rest 60 seconds before repeating the primary exercise.

Best Single Dumbbell Workout for Conditioning

A posh is a series of lifts performed in immediate succession with the identical piece of kit. Barbell and kettlebell complexes are extremely popular, and for good reasons. They train all major energy systems, construct multi-joint strength, and fortify your grip. But the common-or-garden dumbbell doesn’t get the notoriety it deserves for complexes.

As a unilateral (single–arm) implement, it hammers the core while its balanced center of mass could also be more user-friendly than a kettlebell for certain Olympic lift-inspired exercises, equivalent to the dumbbell snatch.

One-Dumbbell Conditioning Complex

The exercises on this conditioning complex are power- and strength-based, which might are likely to tax the quick-energy phosphagen system when performed in isolation. Nonetheless, because the repetitions and rounds of the complex add up, you’ll lean hard into the anaerobic glycolysis and aerobic systems. Meaning this single-dumbbell complex is a multi-functional conditioning workout.

Perform all repetitions with the dumbbell in your left hand, followed by all repetitions with the dumbbell in your right hand, before immediately moving on to the subsequent exercise.

Dumbbell Snatch

• Tips on how to Do it: Start with the dumbbell within the “hang position” between your knees — your feet must be barely wider than shoulder-width and your palm facing your body. Drive through your hips and knees toward the ceiling. Carry that momentum through the dumbbell as you “zip” the load in front of your midline and “flick” it into the overhead position. Lockout with a straight arm. Lower the load with control to the starting position and repeat.
• Sets and Reps: 3 to five x 4 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Front-Loaded Reverse Lunge

• Tips on how to Do it: Hold the dumbbell at shoulder-level along with your thumb near your shoulder. Step backward right into a deep lunge position along with your leg on the identical side as the load. Keep your torso upright and resist the load pulling your upper body to the side. When your rear knee is near the bottom, drive through your front leg to return to a standing position. Perform all reps with one leg, then switch hands and repeat with the alternative leg.
• Sets and Reps: 3 to five x 4 per leg.
• Rest time: No rest between legs. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Dumbbell Push Press

• Tips on how to Do it: Mix a mini-squat and ballistic overhead press to drive the load overhead. Begin with the dumbbell near your shoulder and your palm facing your head. Squat down several inches before exploding upward as you press overhead to full lockout. Lower the load under control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 to five x 4 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. No rest before moving to the subsequent exercise.

Single-Arm Overhead Squat

• Tips on how to Do it: Challenge your trunk stability and shoulder complex mobility with this full-body squat. Press the load to lockout overhead and widen your stance. Squat as little as possible without moving your locked out arm overhead. Keep your torso as upright as possible and resist any rotation or twisting.
• Sets and Reps: 3 to five x 4 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest between arms. Rest 90 seconds before repeating the primary exercise.

Best Single Dumbbell Workout for Strength

Heavy bilateral (double-limb) movements with barbells and machines are likely to be the go-to exercises for strength in traditional gyms. But when all you’ve got is a single dumbbell, you’re going to need to make it work.

An efficient strategy for enhancing strength is “accentuated eccentric training.” Accentuated eccentrics apply greater loads in the course of the negative or lowering phase of the exercise than those applied in the course of the concentric phase. (12) Weight releasers are commonly used for accentuated eccentric training, but this specialized device only works for one repetition, as the additional weight is jettisoned at the underside of the primary repetition. More importantly, it’s not compatible with dumbbell training.

Fortunately, accentuated eccentric loading may be achieved by performing a unilateral, or single-sided, exercise with the help of the opposite limb in the course of the concentric (lifting) phase. In plain English, you’ll use your off-side arm or leg to “help” in the course of the upward phase of the lift and lower the load with only your working side.

Construct Strength with Just One Weight

Just as training to failure just isn’t essential for muscle hypertrophy, it just isn’t a requirement for strength. (6) You possibly can and can construct strength with not-to-failure sets of those exercises so long as your dumbbell is moderately heavy (e.g. 30 to 70 kilos, depending in your strength).

Half-Kneeling Single-Arm Overhead Press

• Tips on how to Do it: Kneel on the bottom with the load on the identical side because the down knee. Use your off-side arm to help in lifting the dumbbell from the underside of the movement to lockout. Lower the load using only your working-side arm. For every repetition, use the non-working arm to assist lift the load.

• Sets and Reps: 2 to six x 4 to six per arm.
• Rest time: Rest two minutes between sets.

Skater Squat

• Tips on how to Do it: Stand in your working leg while holding the dumbbell within the front rack position, hugged to your upper chest with each hands. Squat down until your off-side knee gently contacts the ground. Dig your off-side foot into the ground to help back to a standing position. In the event you are unable to perform skater squats with control, place a pillow or stack of textbooks under your off-side knee to limit the range of motion.

• Sets and Reps: 2 to six x 4 to six per leg.
• Rest time: Rest two minutes between sets.

Single-Leg Good Morning

• Tips on how to Do it: Begin standing on one leg with the dumbbell within the front rack position, hugged to your upper chest with each hands. Hinge forward on the hips with minimal knee bend. Allow your back leg to rise into the air until your torso is sort of parallel to the bottom. In the underside position, bring your off-side foot to the ground to help your return to a standing position. Perform all reps with one leg before switching sides.

• Sets and Reps: 2 to six x 4 to six per leg.
• Rest time: Rest two minutes between sets.

Tips on how to Warm-Up for Single-Dumbbell Workouts

A typical warm-up consists of 5 to 10 minutes of general aerobic exercise followed by several lighter sets of the exercises that might be included within the workout. Because you’ve only got one dumbbell, cardio equipment and lighter “work-up sets” are out of reach.

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Nonetheless, even in these desperate times, a warm-up is very important to get essentially the most out of your workout. Consider jogging or ropeless jump rope (“pogo hops”) to raise your body temperature.

For squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, and good mornings, a body weight warm-up of three sets of 10 to 12 reps should suffice. For non-bodyweight exercises, perform non-challenging, low-repetition sets of the first movements you’ll train within the workout.

One Weight is All it Takes

Performed with intent and intensity, single-dumbbell workouts can construct muscle size, promote fat loss, improve conditioning, and develop strength. These workouts may be useful whenever you end up in less-than-ideal scenarios where equipment is proscribed or you possibly can deliberately program a single-dumbbell workout as an exercise in minimalism. Advantages of single-dumbbell training include versatility, the potential for unilateral loading for a difficult stimulus to the core, and the flexibility to efficiently perform accentuated eccentric exercises. Next time you might be “right down to your last dumbbell,” a single-dumbbell workout might change your outlook from grim to grateful.

References

1. Lasevicius, T., et al. (2018). Effects of various intensities of resistance training with equated volume load on muscle strength and hypertrophy. European Journal of Sport Science, 18(6), 772-780.
2. Jenkins, N. D., et al. (2017). Greater neural adaptations following high-vs. low-load resistance training. Frontiers in Physiology, 8, 331.
3. Schoenfeld, B. J., et al. (2021). Loading recommendations for muscle strength, hypertrophy, and native endurance: a re-examination of the repetition continuum. Sports, 9(2), 32.
4. Pareja‐Blanco, F., et al. (2017). Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on athletic performance, strength gains and muscle adaptations. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 27(7), 724-735.
5. Vieira, A. F., et al. (2021). Effects of resistance training performed to failure or to not failure on muscle strength, hypertrophy, and power output: a scientific review with meta-analysis. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 35(4), 1165-1175.
6. Grgic, J., et al. (2021). Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a scientific review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sport and Health Science.
7. Hedrick, A., & Herl, M. (2021). Strategy of the Unilateral Dumbbell Wide Row. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 43(4), 121-123.
8. García-Jaén, M., et al. (2021). Electromyographical responses of the lumbar, dorsal and shoulder musculature in the course of the bent-over row exercise: a comparison between standing and bench postures (a preliminary study). Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 21(4), 1871-1877.
9. Maeo, S., et al. (2022). Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed within the overhead versus neutral arm position. European Journal of Sport Science, 1-11.
10. Ramos-Campo, D. J., et al. (2021). Effects of resistance circuit-based training on body composition, strength and cardiorespiratory fitness: a scientific review and meta-analysis. Biology, 10(5), 377.
11. Schmidt, D., Anderson, K., Graff, M., & Strutz, V. (2015). The effect of high-intensity circuit training on physical fitness. The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness, 56(5), 534-540.
12. Wagle, J. P., et al. (2017). Accentuated eccentric loading for training and performance: A review. Sports Medicine, 47(12), 2473-2495.

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