Upper limb/body toning using at home dumbells?

[g3org3y]

I refuse to spend £35+/month to run on the spot or lift pieces of metal but am tempted to spend a bit of cash for a set of dumbells.

Nothing very exciting, just looking for better tone and definition on the upper body and arms. Not into the whole body building thing.

I already play football once a week and run 2-3 times per week. Decent diet and have shifted the borderline beer belly obtained over the summer.

Can decent results be obtained at home? I'm thinking 20-30 mins of reps every evening in front of the TV.

Any advice appreciated, esp recommendations in terms of particular exercises.

[bigandclever]

Looked at kettlebells yet?

[Lost_BMW]

g3org3y said:

Can decent results be obtained at home? I'm thinking 20-30 mins of reps every evening in front of the TV.

Any advice appreciated, esp recommendations in terms of particular exercises.

Yes, absolutely - though (again) you could consider kettlebells (there are ones that adjust in weight or Watson and Wolverson do kettlebell handles that you can add plates to). Either way things like

dumbell floor presses (one armed taxes the stabilisers and core also)

dumbell shoulder presses - esp. standing

dumbell front raises

dumbell lateral raises

dumbell bent lateral raises - for balance and stability to the rotator cuff area

dumbell rows

dumbell curls (and reversed 'Hammer' curls for forearms)

squats and lunges with a dumbell (one legged is hard!)

even hip thrusts, cleans, carrying for timed/distance runs etc. (things which many here do on dumbells or kettlebells, see Ben77 on the what training thread for instance)


supplemented by push ups (esp. with push up bars), dips, ab work and chins/pull ups if you got a door frame bar would add tone, strength, fitness and possibly some size gains depending on rep.set balance and diet etc.

I now have only two adjustable dumbells, some cable resistance stuff and bars attached to a pivot - called a Grappler - and have based my training around these for a couple of years now.

[BenM77]

The above advice is very good, Argos sell a 30kg set which would get you started and you can add weight when needed.

Make sure you buy cast iron db's as plastic ones are rubbish

[swiftpete]

Don't do it in front of tv. You need to work hard without distractions to get anywhere. If you do it in front of the telly you won't lift properly.

[g3org3y]

bigandclever said:

Looked at kettlebells yet?

I haven't. What advantage do they offer over normal dumbells?

Thanks for the advice LostBMW.

How many reps for each is a worthwhile amount to do?

As mentioned, I'm only looking at 20-30mins, perhaps 3-4 times per week? I assume this is enough.

I once remember someone stating that a good time to do such stuff was after doing aerobic exercise. As such I was thinking of doing these post run/football playing. Any truth in that?

[BenM77]

Best t

[BenM77]

Best to do weights before the run if you can, it won't make a massive difference but is the general advice

Although a big fan of kettlebells I would get some dumbbells first, start of with a
few exercises and go from there.

Push ups
Db rows
Db press
Db curls
Db squat/curl/press

There are so many exercises you can do but I think it is best to keep it simple at first.

Ben

[Lost_BMW]

g3org3y said:

How many reps for each is a worthwhile amount to do?

Depends on what you're after - for out and out strength gains low reps, say 3 to 6 once warmed up, for size development 6+ maybe up to 12 or 15 depending on the exercise (e.g. possibly higher for lateral raises than presses or rows but that's still a contentious issue), for strength-endurance and fitness (which may help with the legendary 'tone'!) higher still; I sometimes do up to 200+ per set.

You could vary this over time using one pattern for a few weeks then shifting over or lower reps one workout and higher the next?

[RobM77]

Yes, there's loads you can do at home. Free weights as you say, but also several varieties of press up, and I've even got a chin up bar in a cupboard in the kitchen

I used to work away from home a lot in different towns each week, and got an Army PTI to show me exercises that I could do in my hotel room. There are loads of varieties of press up, chin up and sit up, and if you add free weights as well then you've got a huge amount of choice.

Edited by RobM77 on Tuesday 25th October 16:19

[Y282]

You can do an enormous amount of toning with no weights.

Try getting up to a hundred pressups over a period of time.
Try handstand pressups.
Try tricep dips.

Them three will do a lot for a start.

[g3org3y]

Thanks for all the good advice. I'll get a set and see how I get on.

As mentioned, not looking to do anything too keen, just the occasional 20-30 mins a few times per week.

Ballpark in terms of noticing a discernible difference in tone? 3-4 months?

[Y282]

Very hard to say. Factors include what and when you eat, your starting point physically and your body type/reaction to exercise.

Be prepared to hear a LOT of theories.

[deadmau5]

When you start doing weights, you will normally notice gains after a month. Try and do them three times a week if you can. Try and consume some protein within 20 minutes of doing your workout, this will help your muscles recover.

[toast boy]

Y282 said:

You can do an enormous amount of toning with no weights.

Try getting up to a hundred pressups over a period of time.
Try handstand pressups.
Try tricep dips.

Them three will do a lot for a start.

This.

When I decided to do something about the fact I was basically a skinny mess a few years ago I was completely skint and didn't want to fork out for a gym membership or expensive equipment. My workouts consisted out bodyweight exercises and going for runs/bike rides, the only equipment I bought was a chin up bar and I filled old protein shake tubs with sand and used them as kettle bells.

I'm certainly not powerfully built but within a few months I definitely started to look better, I probably put on a stone in 6 months so no massive gains but enough for what I wanted.

[Lost_BMW]

g3org3y said:

Thanks for all the good advice. I'll get a set and see how I get on.

As mentioned, not looking to do anything too keen, just the occasional 20-30 mins a few times per week.

Ballpark in terms of noticing a discernible difference in tone? 3-4 months?

If you cut some excess bodyweight (fat!) if you have any and work reasonably hard 3 or 4 times a week then I'm sure you'll see - and more importantly - feel a significant difference in 2 or 3 months.

The quickest gains do usually seem to come in the first few months of serious training for most people starting weight training.

BUT obviously, don't expect it to be easy - train smart, smoothly and controlled with plenty of warm up - and then stretching later - to avoid injury but still hard enough to challenge the body and cause it to adapt. You won't grow or get stronger for long (so don't let beginers' gains fool you for long) unless you put some effort in but that doesn't mean loads of time spent, just hard, efficient, effective work. Learn to enjoy pain!

[g3org3y]

Thanks again for all the good advice.

Will sort out some weights and see how I get on.

(Off for a run in half an hour)

[honest_delboy]

100 push up challenge, you'll find it massively addictive. Use your dumbells/kettlebells as push up handles.

good luck

[carmonk]

'Toning' is a myth invented to get fat women into the gym. Basically 'tone' means having low levels of fat so you can see the muscles. Weights will either build muscle or not, depending if you're doing it right. You can't exercise one way for 'tone' and another to increase muscle size.

In terms of frequency I'd be wary about exercising arms directly more more than twice a week. That wouldn't give your muscles time to recover, and it's when they recover that they grow, not during exercise.

Results... no idea, depends on many things. If you stress the muscle properly and infrequently and eat OK you'll get some growth, 1/2 inch on your biceps in 4 months would be an excellent achievement. Really you need to do heavy basic mass builders in the gym to get the real results, e.g. bench, squat, deadlift, shrugs. Theoretically you should be able to achieve similar results with light weights as long as you stress the muscle the same, but it's very difficult to achieve, not least because you tend to tire out before you can apply the necessary stress.

[Tiggsy]

You need to change the attitude first....something you can do in front of the TV to pass the time is a crossword, not free weights.

You want to BUILD muscle - train like it.