11 Best Compound Dumbbell Exercises For Full-Body Strength

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In terms of types of training, there’s very little you can’t do with a good set of dumbbells. Among their best bang for your buck uses are compound dumbbell exercises as they engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously. 

Compound movements can be whole-body movements like deadlifts or more targeted like these dumbbell glute exercises and dumbbell ab workouts. Using dumbbells in compound movements can effectively train everything from your upper body to your legs. 

This article will walk you through different compound exercises you can do anywhere you have access to dumbbells. Even most barebones hotel gyms have a rack of dumbbells so you can stay fit anywhere!

11 Top Compound Dumbbell Exercises

These are eleven top compound dumbbell exercises that can be done in even the most basic of weight rooms:

11 Best Compound Dumbbell Exercises

Here are eleven of the best dumbbell compound exercises to incorporate into your routine. Dumbbells are versatile and can train strength, stability, muscular endurance, and power. 

Dumbbell Squat

Squats target the glutes, quads, and hamstrings but are also a great way to train core stability and overall athleticism. There are many reasons elite athletes from marathon runners to sprinters to shot putters all squat. 

Beyond the usual strength, power, endurance, and hypertrophy benefits, squats help in maintaining and improving joint health and bone density. Increased squat strength has also been linked to lower injury rates. Using dumbbells while squatting has the advantages of less equipment and less spinal loading versus barbell squats. 

Dumbbell Squat Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand down by your side.
  2. Start by pushing your hips back. Then slowly lower your hips down, as low as you can go while maintaining a good, athletic posture. Keep your chest up and don’t let your knees cave in.
  3. Once you have reached the bottom of the movement, push yourself back up with your legs. Be sure to keep your core engaged and good posture throughout as you return to a standing position.

Tips

  • Starting with moving your hips backward will help you do the movement properly rather than immediately dropping your hips. 
  • Keeping your chest up or keeping a big chest are useful cues to enable good posture. 
  • If you struggle to keep your heels on the floor, try elevating your heels on a weight plate. This will increase the available range of motion in your ankles.

Optimal Sets & Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training2–52–8
Hypertrophy2–68–12
Endurance Training2–415–25
Power Training1–31–5 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Squat

Dumbbell Bent-Over Row

The dumbbell bent-over row is an excellent exercise for strengthening the back muscles and increasing muscle endurance. The latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, and posterior deltoids all work together in this movement. It also effectively targets the muscles of the posterior chain. 

Strengthening the posterior chain has been shown to reduce pain and improve strength in sufferers of chronic low back pain. This improved functional strength and spinal stability will benefit everyone from bodybuilders to grandparents. 

Beyond sports performance, the dumbbell bent-over row mimics several everyday movements. Picking up items from a store shelf and lifting a baby from a crib will become easier with this exercise. The dumbbell bent-over row is a practical movement to maintain and enhance the quality of life as you age. 

Dumbbell Bent-Over Row Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Stand with a slight bend in your knees, holding an appropriately weighted dumbbell in both hands. 
  2. Ease your hips backward to have a nice forward lean, while maintaining good posture. 
  3. While keeping your core engaged, move your elbows back as you squeeze your shoulder blades together. This will move your hands toward your body.
  4. Briefly pause at the top of the movement, then lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. 

Tips

  • Cue yourself to squeeze your shoulder blades together to properly engage your back muscles.
  • Challenge yourself with heavy weights, but not so heavy that your form suffers. Too much weight will also prevent you from moving through a full range of motion. 
  • Maintain a good athletic posture throughout by engaging your core to reduce injury risk and use good lifting form. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training2–52–8
Hypertrophy2–68–12
Endurance Training2–415–25
Power Training1–31–5 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Bent-Over Row

Dumbbell Bench Press

The dumbbell bench press is another classic compound dumbbell exercise utilized for various training goals. Strength, hypertrophy, muscular endurance, and injury prevention are among the many reasons to incorporate dumbbell bench presses into your routine. 

Dumbbell bench presses primarily target your pectoral muscles. It is one of many great exercises one can do in a chest and tricep workout with dumbbells. The anterior deltoids, serratus anterior, and triceps also help move the weight and stabilize the shoulder throughout this movement. 

Since dumbbells utilize each arm independently, one side of the body can’t pick up the slack for the other. Both sides must move the weight on their own, creating a more balanced musculature and strength. 

Dumbbell Bench Press Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Sit upright with an appropriately weighted dumbbell in each hand. Each dumbbell should be rested on your upper thigh. 
  2. With a slight lift of the thighs helping push the dumbbells back, lie back flat on the bench. Your shoulder blades should be retracted and each dumbbell held in the starting position, hands facing forward along your chest. Your upper arm should form a 45-degree angle to your body. 
  3. While engaging your core and keeping your wrists straight, push your hands up and fully extend your arms. Your arms should be perpendicular to the ground and straight above your shoulders at the top of the movement. 
  4. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. 

Tips

  • As with essentially all of these exercises, opt for a challenging weight, but one you can lift properly. The extra stability emphasis of dumbbells requires good technique. 
  • If you are pushing yourself with heavy weights, have a partner spot you. Spotting for a dumbbell bench involves grabbing the wrists and helping the lifter control the weight if necessary. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training3–51–5
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training3–415–20
Power Training3–53–5 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Bench Press

Renegade Row

The renegade row is a combination of a bent-over row and a high plank. It is great for increasing the challenge and total muscle mass used during a single exercise. 

While perhaps not suitable for beginners, you can knock out core stability as well as arm and back strengthening altogether. Improving your core and upper back muscles will help your posture, which is important for all sports. 

The renegade row is a classic example of a compound movement, engaging multiple muscle groups at once: the rectus abdominis, transversus abdominis, biceps, obliques, lats, deltoids, rhomboids, and traps. 

Renegade Row Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Start in a high plank position, holding a dumbbell placed on the floor in each hand. The dumbbells should be directly below your shoulders and your feet hip to shoulder width apart. As with any plank, ensure you engage your core and maintain a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders. 
  2. Firmly grasp the dumbbells and have your wrists in a neutral position by having them face each other. 
  3. Start the rowing motion by pulling one of the dumbbells up towards your hip, keeping your elbow near your body. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you come to the top of the movement. Keep your core engaged, don’t let your hips drop. 
  4. Slowly and deliberately lower the dumbbell back to the floor while maintaining good plank form. 

Tips 

  • If you want to scale the difficulty of this movement, you can do it from your knees and/or reduce the weight of the dumbbells. Using kettlebells instead of dumbbells will add an additional challenge for stability as well. 
  • If you want to add a movement to save time and challenge yourself, add a push-up to this movement!

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training2–52–8
Hypertrophy2–68–12
Endurance Training2–415–25
Power Training1–31–5 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Renegade Row

Dumbbell Deadlift

Along with bench presses and squats, deadlifts are one of the three lifts in powerlifting. Their ability to develop strength is second to none by activating almost all of your muscle mass. 

While almost all muscles are involved in a dumbbell deadlift, the posterior chain is a primary beneficiary of improvement. The hamstrings and glutes get a great workout from incorporating this into your routine, enhancing performance and reducing injury risk. 

The hip hinge movement in a deadlift translates very well to sports and everyday life contexts. This is true whether you are trying to return a serve at Roland Garros or pick up a box from the floor. Training hip hinge movements will help you acquire functional strength for sports and life. 

Dumbbell Deadlift Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Stand upright, with an erect posture and feet shoulder-width apart. Hold an appropriately weighted dumbbell in each hand, alongside your body. 
  2. Keep engaging your core throughout the movement. Start by pushing your hips backward and slightly bending your knees to lean your trunk forward. 
  3. Lower down the dumbbells until they hit the floor or until you get to the bottom of your comfortable range of motion. Maintain a neutral spine and keep your chest up. 
  4. Move your hips forward while straightening your knees as you stand up and return to the starting position.

Tips 

  • Cueing for a big chest can help maintain good posture throughout the movement. 
  • Focus more on pushing your hips forward and back, rather than up or down. 
  • Move the dumbbells straight up and down, keeping them close to your legs throughout. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training3–54–6
Hypertrophy3–48–10
Endurance Training3–412+
Power Training3–51–3 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Deadlift

Dumbbell Overhead Press

This is a powerful movement for the upper body, particularly the shoulder and arms. The anterior deltoids are the primary muscle moving the weight. The rest of the deltoids, triceps, and upper chest are all involved as well. As this movement is done while standing, the core musculature is engaged to maintain balance and stability. 

Overhead presses are specific for overhead sports (swimming, volleyball, tennis, etc.) and everyday activities involving lifting objects overhead.

Dumbbell Overhead Press Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Start standing upright and holding appropriately weighted dumbbells above and slightly wider than shoulder-width. Your elbows should have a 45-degree angle. 
  2. Press the dumbbells directly up until your arms are fully extended, with good posture and keeping your core engaged. 
  3. Slowly and deliberately lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. 

Tips 

  • Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position to minimize shoulder injury risk and maximize muscle activation. 
  • Engage your glutes and core to maintain stability and an athletic posture throughout the movement. 
  • There are a lot of variations you can incorporate to further challenge yourself with this movement. Arnold presses, single-arm shoulder presses and landmine presses can all provide variety to this movement. 

Optimal Sets & Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training4–56–8
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training2–312+
Power Training3–53–6 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Overhead Press

Dumbbell Lunge

Dumbbell lunges are another example of a compound dumbbell exercise that offers benefits for sports and everyday activities. The combination of stability, mobility, strength, and coordination required to perform lunges gives them a broad range of improvements. 

Lunges primarily target the quadriceps but also target the hamstrings, glutes, calves, and erector spinae. As you’re moving your entire body weight plus the dumbbells, strength can be effectively targeted. However, the balance and range of motion required also work on stability and mobility. 

Dumbbell Lunge Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Start by standing upright, with an appropriately weighted dumbbell in each hand. Have a neutral grip with your palms facing towards your body and your hands next to your hips. 
  2. Take a step forward while maintaining an upright posture and engaging your core. Ensure your front knee lands far enough away from your body so your knee will end up above your foot. 
  3. Bend your front knee and lower your body until your back knee almost touches the ground. 
  4. After a brief pause at the bottom of the movement, push your front foot back to return to a standing position. 

Tips

  • Stay up nice and tall with your upper body throughout the movement. Don’t lean forward or back. Cueing a nice big chest can help maintain good posture. 
  • Don’t let your front knee go past your toes if you have sensitive knees. This can add extra pressure to the knee. If this happens don’t step out so far next time. 
  • Start small! Use bodyweight or light dumbbells until you get a feel for the technique. Once you can comfortably execute the movement properly then start adding weight. 
  • Beyond adding weight you can also add in jumping and more explosive movements to add an extra challenge. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training4–56–8
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training2–312+
Power Training3–53–6 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Lunge

Dumbbell Step-Up

Unlike squats and deadlifts, dumbbell step-ups unilaterally work the body and better improve stability, coordination, and balance muscular strength. Step-ups are a fantastic exercise to engage your glutes and train triple extension. 

Triple extension is when the ankles, knees, and hips all extend together to create one powerful compound lower body movement. Training triple extension will benefit essentially any sport and help you run faster, jump higher, and generally be more explosive.

Properly engaging your glutes is a great way to enhance performance and reduce injury risk. Training movements like the dumbbell step-up target the glutes and avoid quad dominance. Better engaging and strengthening your posterior chain will reduce your risk of lower back pain. 

Dumbbell Step-Up Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Find an appropriately sized, stable step or box with sufficient room to comfortably and easily place your whole foot. Use appropriately weighted dumbbells, held in each hand alongside your hips.
  2. Stand in front of the step and place one foot up on the step. Be sure to engage your core and maintain a proper, upright posture while leaning forward slightly. Power should come mostly from the foot stepping up with the rear foot gently assisting. 
  3. As you shift your weight over the top foot, step your whole body up forcefully to stand both feet on top. As you get closer to standing on top of the step, stand tall with your trunk vertical. 
  4. Slowly and deliberately lower your back foot to the ground.
  5. Repeat with one leg on the step for as many reps as are in your set before switching to the other side.

Tips

  • Start small and build up to a bigger step or box as you improve.
  • Powerfully driving the knee up as you step up can help train knee drive for runners. 
  • Performing this movement with more speed and/or weight can be good, but make sure you are controlling the motion. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training4–56–8
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training2–312+
Power Training3–53–6 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Step-Up

Dumbbell Clean & Press

Olympic-style lifting like the dumbbell clean and press can greatly enhance power and has long been a staple for athletes. This is a full-body movement that requires strength, speed, mobility, and coordination. 

The initial clean movement primarily involves the lower body including the quadriceps and glutes. It also requires the upper body to pull and catch the weight utilizing the triceps, core, and deltoids. Finally, the deltoids are heavily utilized in extending the arms during the press portion of the exercise. 

Dumbbell Clean & Press Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Start standing upright with a slight knee bend and feet shoulder-width apart. Hold an appropriately weighted dumbbell alongside each hip with your hands facing your body. 
  2. As you keep your arms extended alongside your body, lower your hips until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
  3. Once at the bottom, push down through your feet as if you were trying to jump as high as you can.
  4. As your body rises, allow the momentum to lift the dumbbells. While keeping the dumbbells close to your body, begin rotating your arms to have your elbows in front of your body. Catch the dumbbells in a front rack position as you lower back down into a squat to cushion the catch. 
  5. Stand up in a front squat motion with the dumbbells still in the front rack position.
  6. Now, do a push press to raise the dumbbells overhead. Start with a quarter squat and as you raise back up use that momentum to push the dumbbells up. Push the dumbbells up until your arms are both straight over your shoulders. 
  7. Slowly and deliberately lower the dumbbells to your chest and then to your hips. 

Tips

  • Select a weight that you can control and maintain proper technique with throughout the whole movement. 
  • Keep your core engaged and maintain good posture throughout the movement. 
  • Keep the weight close to your body to avoid it coming away from your center of mass. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training3–54–6
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training3–412+
Power Training3–51–5 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Clean & Press

Dumbbell Side Lunge

Beyond the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings, dumbbell side lunges also target the hip abductors and adductors. Many sports, such as running, cycling, and swimming, involve moving forward and backward without much side-to-side movement. 

This creates reduced stability in the lateral plane (side-to-side). Training lateral movements like the dumbbell side lunge can help athletes in these sports improve their movement mechanics. This can reduce injury risk and improve performance. 

Dumbbell Side Lunge Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Select an appropriately weighted dumbbell and hold it vertically by the top end. Cup your hands around the top end of the dumbbell. Keep a firm grip throughout the movement. 
  2. Start by standing upright with a good athletic posture, engaging your core. 
  3. While keeping an upright chest, take a wide step with your right leg out to the side. Transfer your weight over towards your right foot as you bend your right knee. Keep your left foot planted in the original spot and straighten your left knee.
  4. Lower your hips until your left leg forms a diagonal line with the ground. 
  5. Pushing through the ground with your right foot, stand back up and return to the starting position. 

Tips

  • As with essentially all of these exercises, engage your core and keep a big, upright chest. 
  • Keep your leading knee in line with your toes of the foot on the same leg. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training3–54–6
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training3–412+
Power Training3–51–5 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Side Lunge

Dumbbell Lunge With Bicep Curl

As previously mentioned, the dumbbell lunge is a versatile exercise that can easily accommodate additional movements. Besides the previously stated advantages of lunges, this adds an extra upper-body challenge, particularly for the biceps. It is also another great example of how time efficiency can be programmed in easily with dumbbell compound exercises. 

Dumbbell Lunge With Bicep Curl Guide. Video: Aliaksandr Makatserchyk

How To Do

  1. Start by standing upright, with an appropriately weighted dumbbell in each hand. Have a neutral grip with your palms facing towards your body and your hands next to your hips. 
  2. Take a step forward while maintaining an upright posture and engaging your core. Ensure your front knee lands far enough away from your body so your knee will end up above your foot. 
  3. Bend your front knee and lower your body until your back knee almost touches the ground. As you are lowering your body, lift each dumbbell towards your shoulders with the classic bicep curl movement. 
  4. After a brief pause at the bottom of the movement, push your front foot back to return to a standing position. As you are standing back up, lower the dumbbells back down to their starting position.

Tips

  • Keep in mind all the usual dumbbell lunge tips as previously stated in this article. Maintain good posture, keep your knee from going past your toes, etc. 
  • Start with a relatively light dumbbell as you get used to incorporating an additional movement to the lunge. Once the flow of the movements is no longer challenging, then go up in weight to challenge yourself. 

Optimal Sets And Reps

Training Style

Sets

Reps

Strength Training4–56–8
Hypertrophy3–48–12
Endurance Training2–312+
Power Training3–53–6 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Dumbbell Lunge With Bicep Curl

Best Compound Dumbbell Workout

With compound dumbbell exercises, the world is your oyster! You can tailor the movements, sets, reps, and weights to make the workout perfect for you on any given day. Below is an example of a great compound dumbbell workout, but customize it and make it right for you!

Exercise

Sets x Reps

Rest
Dumbbell Clean and Press2–3 x 1–52–4 minutes
Renegade Row2–3 x 5–81–3 minutes
Dumbbell Lunge with Bicep Curl2–3 x 6–101–3 minutes
Dumbbell Bench Press2–3 x 6–101–3 minutes
Dumbbell Side Lunge2–3 x 6–101–3 minutes
Compound Dumbbell Workout Routine

Benefits Of Dumbbell Compound Exercises

Reduces Muscular Imbalances 

Unlike barbells, dumbbells utilize each side independently, therefore one side of the body can’t do extra work for the other. Both sides must move the weight on their own, creating a more balanced musculature and strength

Time Efficiency

Since movements can be so easily combined in compound dumbbell exercises you can save a lot of time. If you don’t have time to do separate sets for things like lunges and bicep curls, do them all in the same movement!

Improves Coordination

Improves Coordination
Compound movements help your muscles work together efficiently. Photo: ibrakovic/Freepik

The total amount of muscle mass used in compound movements makes them a very effective strength training exercise. Using more of your total muscle mass in coordinated movements like lunges and cleans helps your muscles work together efficiently. 

Improves Stability

While you can lift more weight with barbells, they don’t challenge stability like dumbbells can. The independence of two dumbbells from each other requires the body to better stabilize itself and the weight. Barbells are rigid, pieces of steel that provide extra stability that your body must provide for itself with dumbbells. 

Improves Mobility

Several of these dumbbell compound exercises target mobility. Movements like lunges have large ranges of motion for our hips and ankles and pressing for our shoulders. Additionally, strength training in general has been shown to have similar range of motion benefits as stretching. 

Expert Training Tips

  • Warming up and cooling down properly will help improve performance and enhance recovery. 
  • The extra stability, mobility and coordination emphasis of dumbbell compound exercises means you should start small with the weight. Don’t challenge yourself with extra weight until the movement itself is no longer challenging. 
  • Posture is important for these movements. Be sure to engage your core and have a neutral spine throughout the movement. If you can’t do any of these movements with correct posture then use less weight and/or easier movements. 
  • Focus on the muscles you are trying to target. This directed attention can help activate the muscles and enhance your strength gains. 

Conclusion

Dumbbells are classics for a reason. You can really do everything under the strength and conditioning sun with a good set of dumbbells. Compound dumbbell exercises are particularly great as they engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously. 

Incorporate these exercises into your routine then get creative and incorporate other compound dumbbell exercises as well. You can even invent some of your own; variety can be the spice of training life!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are dumbbell exercises compound?

Some are and some aren’t. Simple movements only using one muscle group like a bicep curl are not compound. Larger movements incorporating multiple muscle groups like a lunge or bench press are compound movements.

How many dumbbell compound exercises should I do?

It depends. Use the progressive overload principle and do a little bit more volume or intensity than you have previously. Refer to the tables in each exercise section of this article for recommendations on sets and reps.

Should I do dumbbell compound exercises every day?

Allow for rest days. The body needs recovery to adapt to training and get stronger. The physical changes our bodies make to our muscles and tendons take time and only happen during recovery.

What are the potential drawbacks of compound dumbbell exercises?

The extra stability, mobility, and coordination that compound dumbbell exercises require make them more unpredictable for beginners and people with injuries.

Resources

Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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About the Author

Born and raised in California, Kevin Mangan has been involved in sport in several ways. He competed and coached in NCAA Division 1 Track & Field and Cross Country before starting a PhD in Exercise Science. He has a BA in Communication from the University of Washington and an MS.. See more

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