Dumbbell Blast

Do three dumbbell workouts a week, alternating between workouts A and B for the rst four weeks. Take a rest day between workouts. For example, your schedule might look like this: Monday: Workout A Wednesday: Workout B Friday: Workout A Saturday: Cardio Interval Monday: Workout B Wednesday: Workout A Friday: Workout B . And so on.

Workout A
This workout consists of three blocks of exercises: a circuit; a superset; and a movement series. Rest for a minute or two between blocks. Remember to begin and end workouts with a short warm up and cool down.

Block 1: Circuit
Do the following three exercises as a circuit: no rest between individual exercises. Weeks 1 and 2: Do two complete circuits. Rest for 1 to 2 minutes between circuits. Weeks 3 and on: Do 3 complete circuits. Rest for 1 to 2 minutes between circuits. Dumbbell Squat with Rotational Press Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell with both hands at your chest. Squat down by pushing your hips back until your thighs are parallel with the oor. Forcefully drive up by extending your legs and rotating your hips to the left and pivoting your right foot, as you raise the dumbbell over your head and to your left. Rotate back to center while bringing the weight back to your chest. Repeat the squat, then drive up while rotating hips to the right, pivoting on the ball of your left foot as you press the weight over your head to the right. Alternate this way for 12 total repetitions. Dumbbell Plank Row Set up in a pushup position with your hands resting on the handles of two hexagon dumbbells spaced chest-width apart. Engage your core and glutes as you maintain a plank position with arms straight over the dumbbells. Now, keeping your left arm straight to support your weight, lift the right dumbbell up to the side of your chest. Lower it in a controlled movement to the oor so it can support your weight. Then, using your left hand this time, row that dumbbell up to the side of your chest. Lower the weight and repeat, alternating arms for a total of 12 repetitions.

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Dumbbell Swings Set your feet shoulder-width apart and stand straight holding a single dumbbell by its handle with both of your hands. Hold it between your thighs with arms straight. Bend your knees slightly. Now, bend at the waist, allowing your hips to shift back and the dumbbell to swing between your legs. Keeping your back at, and arms locked straight, swing the dumbbell up by straightening up until your back is in line with your legs and your arms are parallel with the oor. Bend at the waist again and repeat the swing for 15 total repetitions.

Block 2: Superset
Rest for 30 seconds between the following two exercises. Single-Arm Overhead Reverse Lunge Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart holding a single dumbbell straight over your head with your right arm. Do a reverse lunge by stepping backward with your right foot, bending that knee until is hovers just a few inches off the oor and bending your left knee to 90 degrees. With the dumbbell still held straight over your right shoulder, power up to a standing position. Repeat the move for a total of 8 repetitions. Then, hold the dumbbell in your left hand over your head and repeat the back lunge 8 times with your left leg. Stop-and-Go Pushup Put your dumbbells off to the side and assume a regular pushup position with arms about shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower yourself from the up position until you are halfway to the oor. Hold this position for two seconds, then lower yourself to just above the oor, hold for two seconds, then straighten your arms to press yourself forcefully all the way up. Do as many repetitions as you can with good form. Five to 10 reps is a good place to start.

Block 3: Movement Series

Do the following ve exercises as a circuit (no rest in between moves). You wont need dumbbells for this circuit. High Knee Run Run in place fast, pumping your arms and lifting your knees as high as you can while maintaining good form and speed. Cross Punch Assume a boxers stance with your sts held in front of your chin and your legs spaced shoulder-width apart, slightly bent. Punch out with one st at a time in alternating fashion, rotating your torso as you punch toward the left with your right hand and right with your left hand. Recoil quickly after each arm extension and punch with the opposite hand. Do this rapidly for 10 seconds. Jumping Jacks Just like your remember from gym class. Begin with your feet hip-width apart and your hands at your sides. Simultaneously raise your arms above your head and jump up so you can spread you feet shoulder-width apart. Then jump again to lower your arms and bring your feet together. Repeat quickly for 10 seconds. Side-to-Side Hops Starting with your feet together, push off with your right foot to hop laterally to the left about 3 feet. Land on your left foot and follow with your right. Hop back, this time pushing off with your left foot. Repeat hopping side to side for 10 seconds.

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Knee Drive with Reach Stand with feet spread hip-width apart and your left foot a giant step in back of you. Extend both arms above your right shoulder, then briskly swing them down to your left while you simultaneously raise your left knee across your body. Reverse the motion, raising your arms over your right shoulder while stepping back with your left leg. Repeat this movement rapidly for 10 seconds. Then stop, and repeat the exercise for another 10 seconds, this time raising your right knee while reaching your arms over your left shoulder.

Workout B Part 1.
Do three straight sets of the Dumbbell Thruster, resting 45 seconds to a minute between sets. Then move on to the superset that follows. Dumbbell Thruster Grab two dumbbells and hold them at your shoulders. Spread your feet comfortably, a little more than shoulder-width apart. Now, sit back with your hips and bend your knees into a squat. Stop when your thighs become parallel with the oor, then drive up into a standing position. At the top of the move, press the dumbbells over your head. Lower the dumbbells to your shoulders, and repeat the sequence for a total of 10 repetitions. Rest for 45 seconds to a minute before repeating the exercise.

Workout B Part 2.

Do the following 5 exercises as a superset, resting 30 seconds between exercises. Split Stance Dumbbell Row Stand holding a single dumbbell in your right hand. Take a step forward with your left foot. Bend your left knee slightly and bend forward slightly from the waist. This is the starting position. Now, using your arm and back muscles, row the dumbbell up to your ribcage, then extend your arm back down. Do 8 reps total, then transfer the dumbbell to your left hand and get into the starting position, this time with your right leg forward and knee bent. Do 8 reps of rows with your left arm before moving on to the next exercise. Mechanical Change Pushup Get into a pushup position with your hands spread about six inches apart, slightly closer together than for a normal pushup, and your arms extended straight. Lower yourself until your chin is about an inch off the oor, then extend your arms to press yourself back up. Do 4 to 10 repetitions. Next, without resting, spread your hands to about shoulder-width apart. Do 4 to 10 reps. Finally, spread your hands a bit wider than shoulder-width apart. Do this last set to failure, meaning until you can no longer do the pushup with proper form. Shoulder Fly & Bent Over Rear Row Stand with feet hip-width apart holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs. Bend your knees slightly. Now lift the dumbbells up and out to your sides until they reach shoulder height. Thats a shoulder y. Lower the weights in a slow, controlled fashion and repeat the shoulder y for a total of 8 reps. Then, immediately bend forward at the waist, keeping your back at, not rounded. Allow the weights to extend your arms hanging beneath you perpendicular to the oor. From this position, swing each dumbbell out to your sides, raising them to about torso height while squeezing your shoulder blades together. Lower them slowly under control and repeat for a total of 8 reps.

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Single-leg Romanian Deadlift Stand with your feet together holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides. Slightly bend your left knee to raise your foot off the oor. From this position, bend forward at the waist allowing the weight of the dumbbells to carry your straight arms forward. Stand straight up and tap your left foot to the oor to regain your balance. Repeat for 8 repetitions. Then repeat the exercise for 8 reps with the right foot bent. Standing Alternating Dumbbell Curl Stand straight up holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing the sides ofyour your thighs. Starting with the right arm, rotate your wrist to palms-up as you curl the weight to your shoulder. Lower the weight, and then curl with your left arm. Continue in alternating fashion until youve completed 20 repetitions. Rest for up to a minute, then repeat the 5-set circuit.

Saturday Workout
20-minute interval cardio workout using the cardio exercise of your choice: run, bike, row, elliptical, etc. Do some dynamic stretching to warm up before the interval session. 3 minutes -- walk to slow jog 30 seconds hard work at an intensity level of 8 out of 10 60 seconds recovery at an intensity level of 3 to 4 out of 10. Allow your heart rate to slow back down. repeat the 30 on, 60 off interval for 4 rounds 60 seconds hard work at an intensity level of 5 to 7 out of 10 60 seconds recovery at 3 to 4 out of 10 Do 2 rounds of this interval 30 seconds hard work at 8 out of 10 60 seconds of recovery at 3 to 4 out of 10 Do 2 rounds of this interval 3-minute cool down slow jog to walk

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Workout C
Add this third workout to your rotation during weeks 5 through 8. Workout C is a straight metabolic circuit of 8 exercises. Do each exercise for 30 seconds then move to the next exercise after 20 seconds of rest. You will do two rounds of the circuit during weeks 5 and 6, three rounds during weeks 7 and 8. Romanian Deadlift to High Pull Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a slight bend in your knees. Hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs. Now, bend forward at the waist while pushing your hips back. Allow the weights to move your arms forward. Then lift your torso back up to standing position while simultaneously pulling the weights up to your shoulders in front of your chest. Immediately lower your arms while simultaneously bending at the waist. Repeat for 30 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds before moving to the next exercise. Split Stance Curl to Press Holding dumbbells at your sides, step forward with your left foot into a split stance. This is the starting position. From here, curl both dumbbells at the same time to your shoulders, then press them overhead. Lower the weights to your sides, and repeat for 15 seconds. Next, move your right foot forward and repeat the exercise for another 15 seconds. Dumbbell Row Stand with feet hip-width apart, dumbbells in each hand at your sides. Push your hips back and bend at the waist slightly. This is the starting position. Now, raise both dumbbells to your ribcage while squeezing your shoulder blades together. Lower the weights and repeat for 30 seconds. Rest for 20. Iso-Hold Squat Put the dumbbells on the oor; this move is done without weights. Stand with feet spaced a little wider than your shoulders. Now bend your knees and sit your butt back into a squat. Instead of pushing up out of the squat, stay there with thighs parallel to the oor for 30 seconds. If you cant hold for 30 complete seconds, go as long as you can, stand and shake it out and get back into the squat. Do this as many times as it takes to complete 30 seconds total. Rest for 20 seconds. T Pushup Get into a pushup plank with your arms extended straight below your shoulders. Lower yourself then press yourself up as in a normal pushup, but when your arms are extended straight rotate your body left and lift your left arm to point toward the ceiling. Hold that position for a second, then drop back into another pushup. This time when you push yourself up, rotate right and raise your right arm toward the ceiling. Do as many as you can with good form. When you start to lose form, stop and rest. Then continue for a total of 30 seconds. (Note: if this exercise is too difcult, elminate the pushup and simply do the T from the top pushup plank position. Alternate doing Ts with both arms. Glute Bridge Lie on your back with knees bent. Dig your heels into the oor and raise your toes up toward your shins. Engage your glutes and raise your torso off the ground so that your back is straight from shoulders, through thighs to your knees. Release down, then squeeze up and so on for 30 seconds.

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Dumbbell Woodchopper Stand with feet shoulder-width apart holding a single dumbbell in both hands in front of you. Now, bend your knees and rotate your body to the left while moving the dumbbell to the outside of your left knee. As you press up into a standing position, rotate your body right and press the dumbbell over your right shoulder. Thats one rep. Continue chopping down and up, quickly but in control for 15 seconds. Then repeat the exercise for another 15 seconds, this time rotating down to your right while bending your knees and chopping the dumbbell down to outside of your right knee. Reverse the motion as you stand and rotate left and press the dumbbell over your left shoulder. Rest for 20 seconds. Rolling Side Plank Get into a side plank position. Lie on your right side with legs out straight, stack your feet and brace yourself on your right elbow and forearm. Raise your hips off the oor using your obliques so that your body is in a straight line from your feet to your head. Hold in the up position for a second or two, then roll over onto your left side and drive right into a left side plankbracing yourself with your left elbow and forearm, your right foot stacked on your left. Continue holding the plank and rolling onto alternating sides for 30 seconds.

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