With a laundry list of things to do in a day, it can sometimes feel like there's no time to exercise. But what if you could accomplish your fitness goals using just a fraction of your busy day? Enter: a 15-minute workout at home using just a pair of dumbbells.
Dumbbells can be highly effective for a full-body workout when you're short on time, according to Bridgette Duncan, CPT, owner of Slam Duncan Wellness. The benefits of working out with dumbbells are many, including:
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- They're versatile: You can use them for a wide range of exercises that target every muscle group.
- They're great for compound exercises: Use dumbbells for this type of move, which engages multiple joints and muscle groups at once so you can get the most bang for your workout buck.
- They promote functional strength: You can use dumbbells to mimic everyday movements, like lifting, carrying or pushing.
- They allow for progression: Dumbbells come in many different weights, so as you become stronger, there are many options to choose from. (You can also use adjustable dumbbells so you don't need to carve out a ton of space in your house for multiple sets.)
- They're portable: If you're going on vacation, for instance, you can take a set of dumbbells with you, and they won't take up a lot of space.
How to Do This Workout
The following 15-minute full-body workout can be done anywhere. It's a circuit workout, which means you're performing a series of exercises back-to-back with minimal rest in between, according to Duncan.
Perform each of the four exercises below for 1 minute before moving onto the next. Rest as needed in between each exercise. When you're done with all four moves, rest for 1 minute. That's one round. Complete two more rounds for a total of three rounds.
The Workout
1. Glute Bridge With Chest Press
- Begin lying on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold two dumbbells (palms facing away from you) and extend your arms straight up.
- Squeeze your glutes and core, and press your feet into the ground to drive your hips up toward the ceiling until you form a diagonal line from knees to hips to chest.
- At the same time, bend your elbows to lower the weights down to your chest.
- Slowly lower your hips back down to the ground and extend your elbows so the weights are straight up above your chest.
- Repeat.
2. Roll-Up With Oblique Twist
- Begin lying on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold two dumbbells (palms facing away from you) and extend your arms straight back so your biceps are by your ears.
- With a slow inhale, bring your arms up to the ceiling and roll your head up to bring your chin to your chest.
- Bend your elbows to bring the weights in toward your stomach, and twist your torso to the left.
- Rotate back through center, then twist to the right.
- Rotate back through center, then slowly reverse the roll-up movement until you're back to the starting position.
- Repeat.
3. Renegade Row
- Place two dumbbells slightly closer than shoulder-width apart on the ground. Grip each dumbbell and come into a high plank, shoulders stacked over hands, feet slightly wider than hip-width apart and your body in a straight line from head to heels.
- Draw your abs in toward your spine and lock your legs to stabilize your hips.
- Lift your left hand off the floor, pulling the dumbbell to the top of your ribcage.
- Return to start, placing dumbbell down softly, then switch sides.
- Repeat.
4. Lateral Raise to Calf Raise to Squat
- Stand with a slight bend in your knees, core engaged.
- A dumbbell in each hand, let your arms hang extended at your sides, palms facing toward you.
- Raise your arms out to the side of your body to about shoulder level.
- With control, lower the weights back down to the starting position.
- Rise up on the balls of your feet as high as you can go, then lower your heels back down to the ground.
- Brace your core and hinge your hips back and down into a squat, bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground (or as low as you can comfortably go with good form).
- At the same time, bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle so the weights are right in front of your shoulders.
- From the bottom of your squat, push your feet into the ground to stand back up explosively. Extend your arms back down to your sides. That's 1 rep.
- Repeat.