Dumbbells are handheld weights designed for use in a variety of muscle-building exercises. They belong to a class of weights called free weights. You can use dumbbells in exercises that work muscles throughout your body, and fitness routines based on these small weights can contribute significantly to several key aspects of your overall health.
Basics
Exercises performed with dumbbells and larger free weights called barbells belong to a group of activities called strength training exercises. In addition to maintaining or increasing the size of your muscles, exercises in this category provide you with a number of important potential benefits, including increasing your resistance to injury, improving your bone density and strength, boosting your mental focus and physical stamina, helping you successfully manage your weight and reducing the symptoms associated with a variety of chronic diseases. Other strength training activities include weight lifting with weight machines, resistance band exercises, push-ups and other body weight exercises.
Exercise Routines
Dumbbell exercise routines can be used to work any of your major muscle groups. Common exercises for a chest routine include incline and flat chest presses, as well as incline and flat chest flies. Common exercises for a back routine include lying bent-over rows and single arm rows. Potential exercises for an arm routine include bicep curls, hammer curls, overhead tricep extensions and tricep kickbacks. Potential exercises for a shoulder routine include shoulder presses, front presses and lateral raises. Common exercises for leg routines include dumbbell lunges, half squats, seated calf raises and single leg calf presses. Consult your doctor or fitness trainer for more information on how to perform these exercises properly.
Specific Advantages
When compared with exercises performed with weight machines, dumbbell and barbell exercises have several important advantages, according to Sports Fitness Advisor. First, free weight exercises force you to use both your large muscles and smaller muscles that stabilize your body during independent movement. Use of free weights also allows you to customize your movements to the specific requirements of your own body, rather than forcing you to fit your movements to the mechanics of a given exercise machine. Additionally, use of dumbbells and other free weights allows you to more easily reproduce some of the movements associated with specific sports and activities.
Considerations
To gain the benefits of a dumbbell routine or any other form of strength training, you will typically need to perform enough repetitions of any given exercise to temporarily exhaust your lifting capacity. You will also need to perform the exercises in your routine for roughly half an hour at least two days each week. Get your doctor's explicit approval before beginning a dumbbell routine or any other exercise program.
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