The 1-Hour Full-Body Dumbbell Workout That Hits Everything

Bro splits became popular with bodybuilders, especially those on special substances, but they aren't necessarily the best choice. Not everyone has an entire hour just to spend on their chest, and when you can't fit your workout in for one body part, it can mess up your entire training week.

Full-body workouts are excellent for making sure you hit everything with enough volume each week, and all you really need is a pair of dumbbells and a bench. Working your whole body into a single hour is much more feasible if you pare back the gear, (though, you can use more gear if you have access), since you won't have to worry about loading up bars or waiting while someone works through their fourteenth set of curls if you're at the gym.

All you need is an hour of focus to get this done.

Can I Do a Full Body Workout With Just Dumbbells?

You sure can. Dumbbells work for all the major patterns, including pressing, pulling, squatting, hinging, and carrying. They also let you work through a bigger range of motion than a barbell does for a lot of exercises. Plus, each side has to carry its own weight instead of your stronger side doing the work for both, which can cause muscle imbalances.

The only real limitation is load, but there are ways around that. Once you can stiff-legged deadlift a pair of 100 pounders for 15 reps, a barbell will serve you better, but most people aren't at that point. You can also pause at the bottom, lower the weight more slowly, or take shorter rests to increase the difficulty without adding weight (but you might need a good pair of straps or some chalk to help with grip).

Benefits of a Total-Body Dumbbell Routine

There are a ton of upsides to doing a total-body dumbbell routine instead of a split, especially body part split. If you're a bodybuilder trying to specialize, or trying to boost a specific lift, you'll likely do better on a split. Otherwise, splits…

• Build the same strength and muscle as a split as long as you get the same volume
• Cause less soreness than splits, on average (which can mean fewer skipped workouts)
• Have slightly better fat loss results
• Make it easier to hit each muscle group twice per week (which is more effective for muscle growth)

Read more: How to Make a Full Body Workout

How to Structure a Dumbbell Workout Routine

Here's how to lay out your hour so you work every muscle.

Focus on Compound Exercises

Compound exercises, the ones that use multiple joints like squats, deadlifts, presses, pullups, are more efficient because they train more muscle per set. The best ones for hitting multiple muscles more equally are moves that share the work rather than hone in mostly on one muscle.

Use Supersets That Don't Overlap

Supersetting is the best trick in the book for saving time. You can do a set of skull crushers, then walk straight over and do stiff-legged deadlifts so your triceps can recover while you work your hamstrings. Take 30 to 60 seconds after each round, then go again (you don't want to be limited by your cardio, so take that rest when you need it).

Take Every Set Close to Failure

To encourage muscle growth, you should take every set within one to two reps of failure (leave one or two reps in reserve), and take the last basically to failure. If you're only training a couple of times a week, you won't feel a ton of fatigue like you would if you were doing a six day a week split, so you don't really need to hold back.

The 1-Hour Full-Body Dumbbell Workout

This total-body dumbbell routine has five supersets of three to four sets each. Go back to back on the two exercises in each pair, then rest 45 to 60 seconds before the next round. You should be able to do 10 to 15 reps on your first set (expect to do fewer reps as you go).

Warm-Up (5 minutes)

Start with two minutes of easy cardio and some dynamic moves like bodyweight squats, arm circles, hip bridges, and then do a light set of your first exercise.

Superset 1

• Dumbbell stiff-legged deadlift: 4 x 10-15
• Close-grip dumbbell floor or incline press: 4 x 10-15

Superset 2

• Dumbbell split squat: 3 x 10-12 per leg
• One-arm dumbbell row: 3 x 10-12 per side

Superset 3

• Seated dumbbell shoulder press: 3 x 10-15
• Dumbbell pullover: 3 x 12-15

Superset 4

• Dumbbell curl: 3 x 12-15
• Dumbbell skull crusher: 3 x 12-15

Superset 5

• Goblet squat: 2 x 20
• Push-ups: 2 sets to failure

Want to go deeper on any one area, check out our guides to dumbbell chest exercises, dumbbell back exercises, and adjustable dumbbell leg workouts.

Dumbbells for Building Muscle at Home

You can get away with a couple pairs of dumbbells, but to keep progressing, you'll need multiple sets. Adjustable dumbbells are ideal since they take up far less space than several sets, and you can swap weights super quick. Adding an adjustable bench will let you do incline pressing, rows, pullovers, and Bulgarian split squats.

Takeaway

If you have an hour, two dumbbells, and a bench, you can easily train every muscle you own with supersets and shorter rests. Keep your reps in the 10 to 15 range and push the last set of each exercise hard to get the best results. Do that twice a week and you will be surprised what shows up.

FAQs

How should I structure a dumbbell-only workout plan?

Dumbbell only workout plans should be structured around a squat pattern, hinge, press, and row, then you can add arms or calves if you have the time. Superset exercises that use different muscles so you can use shorter rests. Do these workouts two to four times a week.

Can I build muscle effectively with only dumbbells?

You can build muscle with only dumbbells. Muscle grows in response to hard sets taken close to failure with gradual progression over time, which you can easily do with dumbbells. Doing anywhere from 5 to 30 reps will work as long as they are actually challenging. Add a rep per set each week, then increase the weight once you top out your range, and keep going.

Is a full-body workout with dumbbells enough for strength?

For general strength, a full-body dumbbell workout works well. Dumbbell pressing, rowing, squatting, and hinging increase strength so long as you challenge yourself. Focusing on unilateral moves will also help with imbalances that barbell training can hide.