Strengthen With This Full Body Dumbbell Workout For Women

The World Health Organization recommends participating in strength training activities at least twice weekly. However, only 20% of American women lift weights to meet these guidelines. Many reasons have been proposed for this discrepancy, including lack of time, accessibility, and knowledge.

A full body dumbbell workout women will enjoy may help address some of these barriers. For example, dumbbells are suited for home use, making accessibility and time less of an issue. As far as knowledge, this guide will provide a detailed routine to build strength and improve your fitness IQ.

Weight training has many benefits for women, including increased strength and decreased body fat percentage. As women age, strength training may also help improve symptoms related to menopause. This article will delve further into the advantages of strength training and provide you with a blueprint to get started today.

Full Body Dumbbell Workout Women

This full body dumbbell workout for women is split into three workouts focusing on different major muscle groups each day. The workouts balance strength and hypertrophy training to provide the benefits of both.

To optimize benefits, perform workouts every other day with a rest day in between.

• Day 1: Abs And Glutes.
• Day 2: Rest.
• Day 3: Lower Body.
• Day 4: Rest.
• Day 5: Upper Body.
• Day 6: Rest.
• Day 7: Rest.

However, there is some flexibility if this doesn’t work with your schedule. You can perform the workouts on back-to-back days, but there are some caveats:

• Beginner lifters: If you need to train two to three days in a row, ensure you rest for the same amount of time between workouts. For example, if you perform two workouts in a row, rest for the following two days. If you perform three workouts in a row, rest for three days.
• Advanced lifters: If needed, train two to three days in a row with one or two days off in between. Make these days complete rest days to recover fully before training again.

Depending on the goal, the amount of weight you use will differ. For example, strength-focused sets will use heavier weights and lower reps. Hypertrophy-based sets will use moderate weight and moderate reps. 

There are two ways to determine your starting weight. You can use trial and error to determine what weight allows you to perform the reps listed for each set at or approaching failure. This may be an appropriate method for beginners, but advanced lifters may want to use their one-repetition maximum.

Your one repetition maximum, or 1RM, is the maximum weight you can lift for one repetition with proper form. For loading recommendations, your starting weight is listed as a percentage of your 1RM:

• Strength: 80%–100% of your 1RM.
• Hypertrophy: 60%–80% of your 1RM.

Perform this workout as a standalone routine, or incorporate some exercises into this full body workout for women. 

Day 1: Abs And Glutes

Day one focuses on the abdominal muscles, or abs, and the gluteal muscles, or glutes. The abdominal muscles include the internal and external obliques, transverse abdominis, and rectus abdominis. They help curl and bend your torso, on the front and sides below your ribs. 

Your glutes are in your buttocks. The gluteal muscle group is made up of three muscles: the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. Together, they are responsible for straightening your hip and rotating it outward.

This workout starts with heavier compound movements to boost strength-building in these targeted muscles. To balance this intensity, moderate weight hypertrophy sets are included toward the end to build volume and increase muscle mass. 

For more abdominal work, check out these ab workouts for women.

Day 2: Lower Body

Day two targets the lower body: the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. The quads are on the front of the thigh, while the hamstrings are on the back. The quads straighten the knee and bend the hip; the hamstrings perform the opposite movements. The calves assist with bending the knee and pointing the toes.

The compound exercises in this dumbbell full body workout for women save time by simultaneously working several major muscle groups. This helps build the volume of exercise needed to see results efficiently.

Day 3: Upper Body

Day three targets the upper body muscles, including the chest, back, shoulders, and arms. The chest contains large muscles like the pectorals and serratus anterior. The back is made up of muscles like the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and erector spinae. 

The shoulders consist of the deltoids: anterior, lateral, and posterior. The arms comprise the biceps, triceps, and the forearm muscles. Together, these muscles control the movements of the arms and upper trunk.

This routine targets these major muscle groups effectively. For example, the cable row activates the latissimus dorsi up to approximately 60% of its maximum contraction. This exercise is similar to the dumbbell bent-over row, indicating comparable activation of the lats. 

Benefits Of Dumbbells For Full-Body Training 

This routine is a dumbbell full body workout women will find challenging and enjoyable. Read on to learn about three of the most impressive.

Improved Strength

Generally speaking, resistance training increases strength. While this is important for everyone, this may be even more crucial for women, especially as we age.

Aging brings about a natural decrease in muscle tissue and strength, possibly affecting physical function and quality of life. Women also face additional physical changes related to menopause. 

Research has indicated that resistance training with free weights can increase strength in women, regardless of menopause. Therefore, this full body dumbbell workout for women can be a potent tool for improving strength and functional capacity. 

Improved Body Composition

Whether a bodybuilder or fitness enthusiast, many people exercise to achieve a better physique. Typically, this means more muscle mass and less fat.

Resistance training is effective in obtaining this goal, but only with the proper exercise volume. This full body routine utilizes compound movements that work several joints simultaneously. This results in more work in less time, increasing the overall volume per muscle group performed per workout.

When overall volume is increased, positive changes in body fat percentage, strength, and lean muscle mass can be observed.

Improved Body Image

Body image is how you perceive your physical appearance. The concept has many different facets, making it a complicated sociocultural issue. However, negative body image can lead to problems like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

Although more research is needed, resistance training may be one way to help improve body image. Many of the included studies focused on women specifically, but more information is required for specific recommendations.

Consider Cardio

Adding cardio to your resistance training can provide powerful benefits. How to incorporate it depends on your fitness goals.

To build muscle and strength, add 20 minutes of zone two cardio at the end of your workout. Zone two cardio exercise is performed at 60%–70% of your heart rate maximum. To calculate your heart rate maximum, subtract your age from 220. 

For fat loss, add 20 minutes of high-intensity interval training post-workout. Skip rope or perform sprints with breaks in between. Here are a few more options to feel the burn.

This beginner workout plan for women has more ideas for effectively incorporating cardio into your strength training.

Suggestions For Advanced Lifting 

If you’re ready for the next challenge, increase the intensity by adding up to two additional exercises per workout. Choose one muscle group to add to, and pick exercises from our exercise database. Perform them at similar sets and reps as given in the routine above.

Do the workouts as a circuit if you want to save time and increase intensity. Perform each exercise in a row, rest for two minutes, then go again. Complete three circuits for a killer workout or more, depending on your experience and expertise. 

Conclusion

Build strength and confidence with this full body dumbbell workout for women. Dumbbells provide variety and accessibility, while the full body compound movements target major muscle groups efficiently. Don’t forget to incorporate cardio to maximize the benefits. Follow the tips above to get the most out of your next workout!