Body workout with only dumbells?

[GhostFighter]

Can you work out your most of your body with only dumbells with a load of max 50lbs/22kg each?

[the beast]

Dumbbells are an excellent way to work the entire body since they make you work each side of your body individually really hitting the stabalizing muscles. They are a great choice especially if you are limited on space.

[joesteph]

I did weight-training exercises for twenty years, and I found dumbells to be far more versatile than the barbell. The top weight of each you're referring to gives a good range for arms (different curls), shoulders (presses or lateral raises), and back (rowing); if you have an exercise bench, or something comparable to lie on, you can perform presses and flyes.

Leg work can be enhanced by holding dumbbells in the down position while doing squats, and calf raises can be added to by doing one leg at a time, the arm on that side holding the dumbbell.

Give it a try and enjoy your newfound strength.

[tallgeese]

Yeah, I agree w those above, DBs will work fine for conditioning. As long as bodybuilding itself isn't your goal, which will require more variety and more weight to move, they work really well.

Also consider some other things, such as kettlebell swings done with the dumbell, olympic lifts done with paired dumbells, and farmer's walks and such. These will also go a long way to helping with conditioning.

[bushido_man96]

Yeah, you can do cleans and snatches with the dumbbells as well, and they are supposed to be more beneficial to MA movements.

Also, you can get a physio ball, and really hit the stabilizers there too.

[tallgeese]

Yeah, any exercise that is multi-joint in nature usually also works core stablilzers. Both of these types of workouts are very benifical to the MAist. We usually dwell in the spehere of total body performance while fighting.

Exercises that work the total body have a much higher cross over value for what we do.

[GhostFighter]

But how much weight do u need minimum the dumbells to be in order to work out the bigger muscles (back and & chest) to keep them in good form?

[joesteph]

. . . in order to work out the bigger muscles (back and & chest) to keep them in good form?

I don't know what weight-training you've done in the past, GhostFighter, but when working with dumbbells, using them for these larger muscles means doing the movements in special ways.

Starting with the back, the usual movement is called one-arm rows. You have one foot on the floor, the other leg's knee on a bench (or something comparable), the non-rowing arm leaning on the bench (so that your torso is horizontal), and the arm pulling the dumbbell up to your side, i.e. "rowing," doing a number of repetitions (say 8-10) per set, often in sets of three. It's not the weight alone, but the combination of repetitions and multiple sets, that makes the exercise work the back muscles well. Too many people use too much weight; it isn't powerlifting, it's weight-training, and often the use of too much weight causes you to make cheating motions that result in sloppy form.

The chest is trickier when using dumbbells, in that you have to lie on your back and use both dumbbells at the same time. You sit at the end of a bench (or something comparable), and pick up both dumbbells to rest on your thighs. This means that the dumbbells have to be light enough for you to get them into position. When you lie back, you have to be able to control the dumbbells so that they can be in the pressing postion as though they were one--like a barbell. They have to be light enough to do this motion. When you do the dumbbell presses, again it's sets (often three) of (say) 8-10 repetitions, not powerlifting (which would be a great weight for just a few--sometimes just one or two--repetitions). At the end of the pressing exercise, or even as a rest between sets, you have to be able to sit up with the dumbbells and place them on your thighs again. If you're doing flyes instead of presses, the dumbbells have to be much lighter than for a pressing motion, because to do flyes, you have to be lying on your back on the bench, extend both arms out wide, practically parallel to the floor without locking the elbows, and make the dumbbells come together in the same position over your chest as when you did the presses. You can't use a lot of weight; the muscles of the chest can't compare flyes with presses. Again, it's sets and reps.

Different exercises, even for the larger muscles of the back and chest, take different weights, and the ability to control the dumbbells, such as to get them into position, may dictate what you can use. You can always increase the number of reps, say instead of 8-10 you do 10-12, and that challenges the muscles with the same weight. You can always add another set; three is the usual, but lots of weight-trainers will do four sets.

Since it's weight-training, GhostFighter, and not powerllifting, you can concentrate of the proper use of the weight for a number of sets and reps, rather than a lot of weight for just a few reps. You build muscle when using a controllable weight for sets and reps, and dumbbells going up to fifty pounds each are a fine weight to use.

[Throwdown0850]

But how much weight do u need minimum the dumbells to be in order to work out the bigger muscles (back and & chest) to keep them in good form?

the back would be kinda be hard but, get a rope and tie one of them to your feet and do weighted dips for the chest or weighted push-ups..

[bobbyd]

i have an old pair of adjustable db's.

they're really good.

i like 1 handed rows,seated db presses,curls,and farmer walks using the db's.