We all are familiar with dumbbells, more or less. This gym equipment is commonly used to strengthen our arm muscles. But if I say you can develop your core strength with this, will you believe me? Yes, you heard me right. You can develop your midsection and abs exercises with dumbbells.
I personally prefer working out with dumbbells. It is because the risk of injury is less, and you can do exercises at home. There is one more exciting thing about dumbbells. You can add this to your regular activities to make those workouts more intense.
In this article, you will get an overall idea of abs exercises with dumbbells. I will discuss the benefits of those exercises. Also, I will add a list of workouts that you can perform at home with dumbbells.
Can exercise with dumbbells help you lose weight?
Whenever we think about weight loss exercises, the first thing that comes to mind is an intense exercise on the treadmill. Exercises like jogging, aerobics surely help you lose weight. But do you know resistance training is also effective in weight loss?
Dumbbells are one of the most effective resistance training tools. When you use dumbbells in your abs exercises, more body muscles like arm, shoulder, chest work with the core muscles. It eventually leads to more calorie burning and results in weight loss.
If you are thinking about losing weight by doing exercises only with dumbbells, well, it is also possible. But this is a time-consuming process and will take you months to witness the changes. That is why I always recommend using dumbbells in your abs exercises. Combining these two will give you a quick and more effective result.
Does dumbbell reduce belly fat?
Lifting dumbbells will definitely help you gain a flat stomach. But here is the thing. To lose belly fat, you have to reduce your whole body fat. And the best way to do that is to do abs exercises with dumbbells.
You can practice complexes to lose your belly fat. In complexes, we perform reps of different exercises instead of repeating the same workout.
For gaining a flat stomach with complexes, follow the instructions given below:
▪ Choose the weight of the dumbbells as per your ability. I recommend starting with 15 to 20 pounds.
▪ Select the exercises you want to perform.
▪ Set the alarm for 20 minutes and begin implementing the practices one by one.
▪ In the beginning, the goal is to complete 10 rounds of exercises within the time frame. Take a 30 seconds break after completing each round.
▪ Once you master the technique, you can increase the weight.
What are the advantages of abs working out with dumbbells?
Core strengthening exercises are generally very intense. When you add extra weight like dumbbells to these workouts, your activity will get more interesting. The benefits of using weight to your abs exercises are:
▪ Using dumbbells or extra weight in your core exercises involves more muscles, which make the workouts more intense.
▪ You can improve your regular crunches, Russian twists with dumbbells.
▪ Training with dumbbells for abs exercises makes your lean muscles firm and strong.
8 Tips For Basic ABS Exercises With Dumbbells At Home:
I have mentioned earlier that you can do all the dumbbell exercises at home. In this section, I will share some tips that may help you to do these exercises properly.
1. Choose the right weight
When it comes to dumbbells, always choose the right weight according to your physique. Doing exercises with heavy dumbbells will higher the chance of injury. On the other hand, the lightweight will have less effect on your abs.
Now many of you can ask how to find out which one is the perfect weight for you. Well, if you can do 15 to 20 reps with your dumbbells, then it is ideal for you. There is another way to find out. Try doing bicep curls with a dumbbell before practicing any other exercise. If you feel comfortable, then the weight is okay for you.
2. Do a short jog before starting
To get the maximum benefit from the abs exercise, you should warm up your body before starting. You can do that with a short run or jog. All you need is a 5 to 10 minutes jog to make sure that your muscles are ready for workouts.
All experts suggest warm-ups before starting any type of workout. If you are planning to do cardio and weight lifting exercises together, save the cardio for later. And always to 5 to 10 minutes short jog before lifting any weight to minimize the chance of muscle injury.
3. Stand straight
While lifting your dumbbells, keep your spine straight. Your poor posture can often lead to a permanent spine injury. That is why experts suggested maintaining a straight spine and stabilized lower back during any weightlifting workouts.
4. Take small steps at a time
Professionals suggest keeping everything in control while working out with weights. When you are lifting dumbbells, you can slip out of your move. Taking small steps will be more effective on the abdominal muscles. On the other hand, rushing through a movement can increase the chances of self-injury.
5. Start with small reps
Do not start your weight lifting training with heavy dumbbells. Instead, always start your exercise with 10 to 12 reps to make the muscles strong. After completing 3 sets of these total reps, you can increase the dumbbell weight and the number of sets or reps.
Always choose the number of sets and reps depending on the type of abs exercises you are doing. For example:
1. Strength training needs 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps with heavy dumbbells.
2. If you want to increase muscle size and build abs, do 3 sets of 12 to 13 reps.
3. 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps with a lightweight dumbbell is enough for endurance training.
6. Take a break
While working out with heavy weights, you should take rest for one minute between two sets. This helps you to perform each exercise without getting any muscle pull or injury. Also, it will keep your muscles safe from overexerting.
However, experts do not recommend doing the same group muscle exercise for two days in a row. You have to wait at least one day to give rest to your abs muscles. In this way, you will get more effective results from your abs workout with dumbbells.
7. Inhale-Exhale
Do not forget to breathe. This is maybe the most important thing you need to remember while lifting a dumbbell. Many people get excited and do not breathe quite often when they are doing intense workouts. This can lead to severe injuries.
Pumping air delivers oxygen to the muscles and prevents fatigue and any type of injury. Breathing is more important for abdominal exercises. There is a popular rule that goes around about breathing for abs workouts. It says exhale while you rise and inhale as you lower your body.
8. Do some stretching
Working out with dumbbells can often be tiring. To avoid muscle pull, you should stretch your body after finishing abs exercises with dumbbells. You can follow the instructions below to perform a regular stretch:
1. You have to lie flat on your back on the yoga mat or floor.
2. Now stretch your arms over your head.
3. Also, keep your legs straight.
You can also perform a running stretch instead of a regular stretch.
5 Weighted AB Exercises With Dumbbells
In this section, I will enlist 5 of the most popular ab exercises that you can perform with your dumbbells.
1. Dumbbell side crunch: You may know this workout by the name of the dumbbell oblique crunch. This exercise develops your oblique muscles.
It helps you to get a good posture while protecting the spine. Gym enthusiasts prefer doing sets of 8 to 12 reps or more.
2. Hollow butterfly : This is a combination of both reverse crunch and weight chest press. The exercise will strengthen your chest muscle. It can be a powerful exercise, so I discourage newbies from trying this one.
3. Dumbbell crunch press: If you are looking for an intense abdominal exercise, the dumbbell crunch press is the best option for you. This crunch presses with dumbbells will strengthen your six-pack abs and chest.
4. Russian twist with dumbbells: The Russian twist is a regular workout. You can make it more interesting by adding some extra weight. This exercise will work on your hip and oblique muscles.
5. Half Turkish get-up: This is the best dumbbell exercise for a flat stomach. Doing this workout regularly will give you body stability, and strong arms, hips, core, and back.
As a gym enthusiast, I encourage doing abs workouts with dumbbells. Well, why shouldn’t I? You can do these exercises at home just with your old dumbbells. Also, these workouts can help you lose your extra body fat. Isn’t that a bonus?
You will find hundreds of abs exercises with dumbbells, but never forget to follow the tips I shared. Those will lessen the chance of injury and make your workouts more effective.
Related: 7 Day Workout Plan For Weight Loss
