Dumbbell workouts are nice because you don’t need a lot of equipment. Maybe you’re afraid of getting under the bar and would rather stick to something a little more manageable.
Whatever your reason, the best way to start this 4 day dumbbell workout routine is to just do it. Almost any gym or fitness center will have a rack of dumbbells for your all-you-can-eat gains buffet.
Don’t want to go the gym? That’s okay, too. Below will be a few links to some dumbbell sets that are affordable and would work perfect for this workout.
Before we jump into the workout, I’m going to go over some nutrition tips, recommended supplements if your nutrition is on point, links to some equipment, your cardio schedule, and of course the 4 day dumbbell workout routine.
Diet and Nutrition Tips
You can beat your muscles down in the gym but the only way to build muscle is to fuel your body with quality food. This is why it is so hard to build muscle while you are trying to cut weight — you are eating fewer calories than you burn, so what fuel do you have to build muscle?
When it comes to eating better, I try to implement an 80/20 rule. I aim to have 80% of my meals prepared by me, using the best quality food I can afford. Fresh and frozen meat, veggies, fruit, and rice are on my weekly grocery list. You don’t have to buy the natural grass-fed free-roaming hand-massaged beef and free range chickens that take strolls on the beach to benefit from eating whole foods.
Eating healthy isn’t as expensive as everyone makes it out to be. Think of it as an investment.
Learn to Cook
Cooking isn’t as hard as you may think. I never was allowed in the kitchen as a child so trust me when I say anyone can do this with some patience. The trick is learning technique and then going after the complex meals.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know how to cook 5 course gourmet meals, but I have no problem eating enough varieties of a protein and vegetable to keep me happy. I made a pretty good meatloaf and lasagna once.
Long story short here is the sooner you learn to cook, the sooner you will notice changes in your performance and physique.
Recommended Supplements
Note: If you cannot get good foods into your mouth, this section is irrelevant. You really can’t out train and out supplement a crap diet.
Pre-Workout
MTS Nutrition Clash
I personally like apple mango, but all flavors are good.
This is a great blend without too many stimulants.
Protein
MTS Machine Whey Protein: 5lbs
This is in my opinion the best tasting protein on the market. Period.
Great blend with no secrets, no amino spiking, and it is some of the best in the industry.
So far I’ve had Red Velvet and Cookies and Cream. Both are A+.
BCAA
MTS Nutrition Machine Fuel
Marc Lobliner has his sweetening on point with these supplements.
I’ve used mixed berry and grape and I love them both.
Multi-Vitamin
Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men
Once you get your diet on point, taking a multi-vitamin is important as a strength athlete.
Get the most of your gains and life with this multi-vitamin.
Cardio and Conditioning Tips
I would recommend doing a short 20-30 minute cardio session post workout at least twice a week for optimum muscle growth and recovery.
If you are running low on time, a short 5-10 minute high intensity interval session at least twice per week will help with maximizing your progress.
Note: Some low intensity walking, hiking, bicycling, etc is helpful to improve your quality of life and recovery from your workouts.
Don’t Want to go to the Gym?
Maybe you don’t have time to go to the gym or you want to train at home… what next?
If you haven’t been following me, I started an eCommerce store called Strength Junkies and I sell home and commercial gym equipment.
I am an authorized dealer for Troy Barbell and BodyCraft and adding more manufacturers soon.
Below I will suggest a couple of different dumbbell sets you could buy that would work well with this routine.
Dumbbells
Adjustable dumbbells make training easy at home because you don’t need to have a wall full of dumbbells to train anything you need.
There are a few sets and options I offer and I’ll go over their benefits and downsides below.
Before we get into the different sets, here are the threaded and regular handled dumbbell explanations.
Threaded Handles
- Pros: Holds strong for exercises like goblet squats and overhead tricep extensions.
- Cons: It sometimes comes a little loose when training and when changing weights it can be a pain.
Regular Handles
- Pros: Easy to slide weights on (it’s just like the regular Olympic size).
- Cons: Weights can slide and the collars could come loose after a while.
Bench
“You get what you pay for” is a saying that generally is true… especially with gym equipment.
You can get adjustable benches everywhere and if you aren’t too serious about training… I guess any bench would do.
If you are working on starting your own home gym or you really want a quality bench, York Barbell has some amazing products.
4 Day Dumbbell Workout Routine
Everyone’s schedules are different. Quit making excuses and carve our four days for you to train. It’s ideal to get plenty of recovery between workouts — try to limit your workouts to two or three days in a row before taking a rest day.
Sample 4 Day Dumbbell Workout Routine
- Day 1: OFF
- Day 2: Legs
- Day 3: Chest
- Day 4: OFF
- Day 5: Back
- Day 6: Shoulders
- Day 7: OFF
| Legs | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| DB Squat | 3 | 8 |
| DB Stiff Leg Deadlift | 3 | 12 |
| DB Lunges | 3 | 12 |
| Concentration Curl | 3 | 12 |
| Chest | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| DB Flat Bench | 3 | 8 |
| DB Incline Bench | 3 | 8 |
| Incline DB Flys | 3 | 12 |
| DB Side Bend | 3 | 12 |
| DB Tricep Kickback | 3 | 12 |
| Back | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Single Leg DB Deadlift | 3 | 8 |
| Bent Over DB Row | 3 | 8 |
| DB Pullover | 3 | 12 |
| Cross Body DB Hammer Curl | 3 | 12 |
| Shoulders | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Seated DB Overhead Press | 3 | 8 |
| DB Shrugs | 3 | 12 |
| Standing Bent Over Laterals | 3 | 12 |
| Weighted Decline Bench Situp | 3 | 12 |
| 1 Arm Seated DB Tricep Extension | 3 | 12 |
4 Day Dumbbell Workout Routine Tips
Performing exercises correctly is important for growth and lowering the risk of injury. Ego lifting can be fun sometimes, but it won’t build the consistent gains you are looking for.
Progressive overload is one of the most important things to focus on, just after consistency. If you consistently train and consistently add weight or reps to your exercises, you will make progress.
Nutrition is important. That doesn’t mean you can’t eat hamburgers and nachos, it means you have to start monitoring what you are eating. You can have a 1,200 calorie bacon cheeseburger and fries as long as the rest of your day is light. Try to apply the 80/20 rule. That means 80% of your calories should come from nutritious sources, while 20% of your calories can come from what you enjoy. If you eat 2,000 calories per day, you can essentially eat 400 calories of junk food as long as you eat 1,600 calories from nutritious sources. Log your food.
Know your goal. I made the mistake of wanting to get jacked while being very overweight. This slowed my weight loss progress. What is your goal? Do you want to lose weight and get fit? Are you skinny want want to build muscle? Trying to get as strong as possible? If you’re overweight and want to build muscle, I would invite you to lose fat and then slow bulk with nutritious foods.
Like the idea of a dumbbell only workout routine but need it to be a 3 day routine? Check out this 3 day powerlifting dumbbell routine.
As always, be sure to comment or ask any questions below, I would be happy to answer them. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and sign up for updates.
I’ve actually never done preacher curls, but love the feeling of the concentration curls.
I actually do have a quick question though. My bench won’t work for the Decline Sit-ups on day four. Any recommendations on a replacer excercise?
If situps are kind of easy to you, grab some weight and just do weighted situps instead. You could probably get away with like sitting on the couch backwards and shoving your feet into the back cushion and then go all the way to the floor and up.
Or you could hook your feet on something and turn your bench so you’re sitting perpendicular on it and just do full range situps like that.
It’s sketchy but it works.
Sweet thanks for the ideas! I’ll definitely mess around and figure something out.
Work on progression and stay consistent. Everything else comes with time man.
Is it okay to add kettlebell swings in the routine, or would be counter productive?
Thanks
Of course, those are a great functional movement and it’s great on your core. Enjoy them. I need to pick me up a set of kettlebells.