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.
Is there any way I could print out this workout
You should be able to hit control P and print it out. I do not have a printable version like bodybuilding.com yet.
This routine hits your biceps and triceps? I haven’t completed skimmed through it yet, but I saw in the 4 day shoulder chest legs and back, not a specific “arms” triceps or biceps.
Thanks
Arm day is honestly a waste, if you lift heavy and use compound lifts, you won’t have to “hit your arms” to build more muscle. Of course, you can add in arm work as you see fit.
All of the workout links are broken for me. I just get sent to a page and the link is about:blank. Anyone else having this issue?
I just tested all links on computer and phone and I had no luck. What device are you using?
I’m on a MacBook Pro. I just tested them again and they all seem to be working now.
Also, it was only the I’ll Pump You Up links that were not working; maybe it was just an issue with their site that has been resolved. Thanks for the follow up.
No problem, thank you for letting me know your setup. I know they were working on their site upgrading it not too long ago. I’ll run some analytics to make sure all of my links are okay!
Hey Cutty, I’m 14 and I am in kinda good shape. I have been working out for the past two years but I have been a little inconsistent. I think this program would be great for me. I just wanted to know if this program will help me to lose fat.
Thank you!
Blake just tightening up your diet a little and then getting consistent with this routine will definitely help you recomp and lose fat.
Would you recommend women do this routine? If my nutrition is on point what is going to be my body result after 3 months? Going for a lean muscle look. Thank you
This routine or our sister site The Byrn is geared more towards females. 3 months eating right and consistently training will make a pretty drastic difference in your physique.
Is there a workout that also incorporates a barbell? Additionally could I incorporate a boxing cardio workout into this without negative results, and if so when. Thanks in advance for any response.
People have a misconception that the only form of “cardio” is trudging along on a treadmill. Get out and do the boxing cardio, go hiking, and enjoy outdoors. That can be your cardio every day.
Check out under the “Workouts” section in the menu for quite a few barbell workouts. There’s something for everyone!
Hey Cutty, I just started doing this routine and i will try to do it at least for 2 month to see the results. I have one question, I train at home and I don’t have a bench so i can’t do flat bench or incline bench exercises. Can I substitute it to DB floor press and DB floor fly?
Thank You.
Those would work, yes. Good luck and let me know the progress
Hey Cutty, for this routine should it be performed as a circuit or do all the sets of one exercise then move on?
You could do either, although I would recommend do each set and then move onto the next exercise.
Hi Cutty!
I am very excited to start this routine, as I have been out of the gym for quite sometime now. I got sick of the old cardio routine as it didn’t seem to flourish any results so I decided to take a different approach and came across this! My one major question is, how much weight should I be using for this? My main goal is to lose fat and become more toned. I am 5’6 175lbs. Thank you! :)
Welcome! I would recommend checking out an article at our sister site The Byrn. It goes over ways to know how much weight is enough. You can check that article out here.
Keep in touch and let me know how things progress!
hi, I am a girl and I am following this workout. I am skinny fat. I am trying to get more into shape and get lean muscles rather than bulking up. Should I keep following this workout or change?
What you eat and how much of it you eat determines your body composition. If you start consistently doing this routine for at least 12 weeks, you are going to start building muscle. Eating plenty of protein and keeping calories in check will force your body to recomposition itself to have more muscle than fat, making the sexy lines that you are looking for.
Many women will do cardio and get themselves to a weight they feel is reasonable, but have no definition and a body that doesn’t reflect all of their hard work. Lift the weights, do cardio more for heart health, clean up your diet, and get plenty of protein. I promise you in 12 weeks you will look completely different than you do now. You will be about the same size, weigh a little more, but look absolutely amazing.
Our sister site The Byrn is geared towards women, but has the same basic principles as anything on this website. Good luck and keep me updated on your progress!