Don't let the glossy magazine articles that show a fit, muscular woman doing a chest press with 5-lb. dumbbells fool you. While there are good reasons to start with 5-lb. weights, such as mastering basic lifting technique or rehabbing an injured muscle, most women and men quickly progress to lifting larger weights, especially for compound movements involving large muscles in the chest, back or legs. Because of this, if your workout plan involves 5-lb. weights, you need greater-than-average savvy to get the best workout possible.
Use Small Muscles
Save the 5-lb. weights for exercising small muscle groups, where the 5 lbs. will seem like a more significant challenge. Appropriate small-muscle exercises for small weights include front and lateral raises, rear deltoid flys and upright rows.
Practice Good Form
Practice new exercises with 5-lb weights, until you're comfortable that you can maintain proper form with heavier weights.
Warm Up
Use your 5-lb. weights to warm up major muscle groups for lifting more intense weights. Do a set of 15 to 25 repetitions with 5-lb dumbbells on big-muscle exercises like the chest press, before switching to the heavier weight. While the quick "prep" set doesn't take the place of a five-to-10-minute cardio warm-up, it will help loosen your muscles, increasing blood flow and preparing them to lift the heavier weight.
Lift Slowly
The slower you move a weight the harder it is to lift, because there's no momentum helping you out. Lifting slowly introduces variety into your workout and can make even 5-lb. weights seem like a challenge. Try performing each concentric and eccentric contraction in any exercise to a slow count of 10, instead of the more standard two-count.
Finish Yourself Off
While one set of 12 repetitions is enough for most weight lifters, according to the Mayo Clinic, bodybuilders and athletes may want to do extra sets to muscle fatigue. Even if you're strong enough to lift larger weights with your small muscles, once you've fatigued those muscles sufficiently, even a 5-lb. weight will be a challenge.
Interval Training
If you're strong enough to lift 5-lb. weights quickly with good form, you can use them for 30-second to 1-minute high-intensity circuit training intervals. Just intersperse heavier weight lifting with exercises like biceps curls or chest presses using the 5-lb. weights, executing each rep as fast as possible while still maintaining good form and complete control of the weights. As soon as your form starts to erode because of muscle fatigue, slow down or stop.
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