6 Best Dumbbell Exercises for Full Body Workout

Dumbbell exercises are getting increasingly popular amongst fitness enthusiasts and all for the right reasons. These exercises provide an effective full body workout, boost cardio fitness, build muscle gain and expedite body fat loss.

Besides providing a full body workout, dumbbell exercises also have numerous other benefits. They enhance muscle activation along with stabilization of the body, which recruits greater muscle fiber in the body. They are comparatively safer and unilaterally work on limbs and fiber, helping in correcting muscle imbalances in the body.

Dumbbell Exercises for Full Body Workout

Here's a look at the six best and most effective dumbbell exercises you can add to your workout session for a full body workout:

1) Goblet Squat

Goblet squats are dynamic dumbbell exercises that target your entire body while targeting muscles, such as shoulders, forearms, quads, cores, glutes, and hamstrings.

This exercise can give a solid boost to your cardiovascular fitness as well as building mass. It can also help in translating the functional movement of everyday life and advancing to more compound exercises.

Dumbbell exercises enhance muscle activation along with stabilization of the body. (Image via Unsplash/ Anastase Maragos)

How to do it?

Start off in a standing position, with your feet apart at shoulder distance. Hold one dumbbell in front of your chest with both hands. Descend your body into a squatting position before returning to the initial position. Repeat.

2) Farmer's Walk

The Farmer's walk is a dynamic dumbbell exercise that works on the entire body by targeting muscles such as forearms, shoulders, back, quads, core, and hamstrings. This exercise helps in building greater muscular endurance and strength.

How to do it?

Start off in a standing position with a straight back. Grasp the dumbbells in both hands as your palms face towards the body. Start walking forward in quick and short steps with an engaged core.

You can decide the distance or duration of the exercise as you deem fine. There are no hard and fast rules or ways to do a Farmers' walk. Just remember to keep your core engaged while doing the exercise.

3) Renegade Row

Among dumbbell exercises, the renegade row is one that provides a full body workout, simultaneously activating the muscles of the core, back and shoulders. If done correctly, the renegade row can enhance balafull-bodynce and upper body strength.

How to do it?

Assume the push-up position on the ground while holding the dumbbells in both hands. With a tightened core, bring the right dumbbell towards your abdominals before returning the weight to its initial position. Repeat the same onthe left side. Keep repeating the movement by alternating for the desired number of times.

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4) Dumbbell Clean

Dumbbell clean provides for better muscle symmetry while targeting major muscle groups in the body. This dumbbell exercise helps in building the stability of the body by activating several muscle groups.

Dumbbell exercises simultaneously activates the muscles of the core, back and shoulders. (Image via Unsplash/ Dollar Gill)

How to do it?

Start in a standing position while holding a pair of dumbbells with both hands on the side of your body. Rotate the palms so that they face forward, and raise the dumbbells to your shoulder level by jumping slightly.

Straighten your legs to stand properly. Lower the dumbbells to the level of your thighs before bringing your body back to the squat position and lowering the dumbbells to the ground. Repeat.

5) Shoulder Press

The shoulder presse is an effective dumbbell exercise that strengthens the core and shoulder muscles. It also enhances the power output and lockout strength of the body.

How to do it?

Start off in an elongated position with your feet apart at shoulder distance while clutching the dumbbells at shoulder height with an overhand grip. Push the dumbbells over your head till your arms are completely straight. Slowly return your arms back to their initial position. Repeat.

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6) Dumbbell Step Up

The dumbbell step-up is an exercise that helps in boosting the explosive power of the body along with strengthening the major muscle groups.

How to do it?

Stand in front of a plyo box or bench while holding dumbbells in both hands at the side. By pushing through the heels of your legs, lift your body to an elevated platform by placing your left leg first. Bring your body back to the ground by stepping down to the floor with your left leg. Repeat.

Bottom Line

The aforementioned dumbbell exercises are some of the best and most effective exercises that provide a full-body workout while targeting several muscle groups in the body.

If you're a beginner, start with lighter sets and repetitions. After building body strength, you can move on to advanced and heavier sets.