25-Minute Full Body Dumbbell Only Workout (Athlete 25 Day 5)
This full-body dumbbell-only workout strengthens the upper body, lower body, and core. Perfect for athletes or anyone looking to build lean muscle, it uses compound movements like squats, lunges, rows, push-ups, and deadlifts to efficiently engage multiple muscle groups. With just a pair of dumbbells, it helps increase strength, stability and confidence in daily activities.
This is DAY 5 of my Athlete 25 Program.
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Day 5 of my Athlete 25 Workout Program challenges every major muscle group and keeps your heart rate high — all with just a set of dumbbells. It’s my favorite way to end up the week: quick, effective, and guaranteed to leave you feeling strong.
As a busy working mom juggling building a business, family life, and everything in between, my workouts need to be both effective and flexible. That’s why I love dumbbell only workouts I can do right in my own basement. With just a set of dumbbells, you can get a full body workout from home that strengthens every major muscle group without taking hours out of your day.
Because dumbbell exercises challenge your body to stabilize and coordinate multiple muscles at once, the strength you build goes beyond the workout – it carries over into real life, making things like lifting groceries or chasing after kids feel easier.
When programming a full-body dumbbell workout, I always focus on simple but powerful moves. Think squats, lunges, push-ups, bicep curls and burpees. These are some of the most effective at-home dumbbell exercises because they train multiple muscle groups at once. Push-ups, for example, target your chest, shoulders, triceps and even your core – making them one of my go-to staples.
This full body workout features 7 compound exercises in a time-drop format, where the work and rest progressively shorten to challenge your endurance and strength.
One of the best parts? You don’t need much equipment. A mat and a set of dumbbells are plenty to get the job done. Grab your heavy weights, move with intention, and make every minute count.
Workout Details
Build strength at home using just a set of hand weights with this dumbbell only workout.
A complete strength workout for athletes targeting every muscle group in the body: the lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and thighs), upper body (biceps, triceps, back, shoulders, and chest) and core.
I suggest doing this full body strength workout once a week as part of a well-rounded workout routine.
Workout Equipment
Medium-to-Heavy Dumbbells. I’m using 20-30 lbs.
Workout Instructions
Follow along with the guided 25-Minute Full Body Workout on YouTube, led by me — your certified personal trainer, Lindsey Bomgren.
Your Workout Looks Like This:
- 6 Full Body Dumbbell Exercises
- Time Drop Intervals (50 seconds of work, 20 seconds rest set one; 40 seconds of work, 15 seconds of rest set two; followed by a 10 rep burnout round set 3)
- Trisets (Repeat each strength exercise x3 sets)
Workout Outline
Buy In: Dumbbell Snatches
Exercises:
1. Dumbbell Snatch
Targets: Legs, hamstrings, hips, glutes, back, shoulders and deep transverse abdomen (core muscles).
How To Do a Dumbbell Snatch (Alternating Snatches)
- Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Place a dumbbell on the floor between your feet.
- Hinge forward at the hips, pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you as you lower down, reaching for the dumbbell with your right hand.
- Then, drive your hips forward as you ‘snatch’ the weight overhead, pulling the weight up with your right arm. Use the power and momentum created by your legs and hips, driving the weight overhead. You should finish standing tall with your right arm straight overhead, right bicep near your right ear.
- With control, lower the dumbbell back down to the ground, returning to starting position.
- Then repeat, this time performing a dumbbell snatch with your left hand.
Modification: Perform a dumbbell clean instead of a full snatch, catching the dumbbell at shoulder height.
2. Wide Squats
Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstrings, hips, outer thighs and glutes (gluteus medius and abductors) and inner thighs (adductors).
How To Do a Wide Squat
- Start standing with your feet out wider than hips for a wide squat stance, turning your toes slightly out. Hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your body between your legs.
- Lower into a wide squat, sending your hips back and down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, keeping the dumbbells centered beneath your shoulders. Knees track over toes.
- Drive through your heels to return to standing, returning to the starting position.
3. Push-Up and Back Row
Targets: Arms, chest, shoulders, triceps, back, core and abs.
How To Do A Push-Up and Back Row
- Start in a high plank position, straight line through your torso. Place your hands on a pair of dumbbells.
- Lower your chest towards the mat to perform a push-up; elbows fall back towards your hips.
- Push back up into a high plank position, then perform a back row on your right arm. Pull your right elbow up to meet your rib cage. Squeeze the shoulder blade to lift the dumbbell off the mat. Hips stay square to the mat in high plank.
- With control, lower the dumbbell back to the mat and perform another push-up.
- This time, at the top of the push-up, alternate the back row by performing a back row on your left arm.
Modification: Option to drop to your knees, performing the push-up and row from your knees. You can also take this exercise to an incline by placing your hands on a chair or bench.
4. Deadlift
Targets: All the posterior chain muscles, including the hamstrings, glutes, core, lats and lower back.
How To Do Dumbbell Deadlifts
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your hips (palms facing in towards your body).
- Hinge at the hips, pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you as you glide the dumbbells down the front of your legs, keeping your core tight, slightly bending both knees. Lower your dumbbells until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings. Range of motion will look different for everyone.
- Drive through your heels to push your hips forward, pulling the dumbbells back up towards your hips and returning to the starting position.
5. Bicep Curls
Targets: The biceps brachii (the front of your arms or the long head of the biceps muscle).
How To Do a Bicep Curl
- Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your core engaged. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing outward (underhand grip or supinated grip).
- Exhale, squeezing the biceps muscle to curl the weights up to shoulder height. Think about keeping your elbows tucked into your sides and your shoulder blades pulled down.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells down to your sides. Return to the starting position and repeat.
6. Walking Lunges
Targets: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, inner thighs and core.
How To Do a Walking Lunge
- Start by standing at the back of your space, feet hip-distance apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing in towards each other (hammer curl grip).
- Step your right leg forward into a front lunge, dropping your back left knee down towards the ground as you lower your hips until both knees reach a 90-degree angle, front thigh is parallel to the floor.
- Drive through the front right heel to stand tall. Rather than stopping at the top, immediately step your left leg into a front lunge. Drop your back right knee down towards the ground as you lower your hips until both knees reach a 90-degree angle, front thigh parallel to the floor.
- Repeat, alternating front lunges as you move forward in a walking motion.
Modification: Stay in place, performing split lunges instead of walking lunges.
7. Dumbbell Burpees
Targets: Total body — legs, hip flexors, calves, arms, shoulders, back, abs and core.
How To Do a Dumbbell Burpee
- Stand with feet hip-distance apart, or a little wider. Hold two dumbbells in front of you, at your hips.
- Engage your core and lower your hips down to the bottom of a squat as you place the dumbbells on the ground between your feet.
- Step or jump both feet back to a high plank position. Make a straight line with your body from head to feet.
- Pause for a moment, then in one explosive movement, jump both feet forward and land just outside your hands or dumbbells.
- You should land in a deep squat from which you explosively stand up, pulling the dumbbells up.
Modification: Option to sub a squat and dumbbell press out to stand and dumbbell overhead press. Or, make the dumbbell burpee low impact by stepping back to plank and walking your feet back into the bottom of the low squat instead of jumping back and jumping in.
FAQs
Are full body workouts good for athletes?
Yes, full body workouts are great for athletes. They build functional strength, improve coordination, and train your body to move as one powerful unit (just like you do in sport). By targeting multiple muscle groups at once, full body workouts enhance athletic performance and endurance, while also improving recovery and reducing the risk of imbalance or overtraining a single area.
Are dumbbells much less effective than barbells for building muscle?
No, dumbbells are not much less effective than barbells for building muscle. Both offer benefits for muscle growth. Barbells are often preferred for adding more weight to exercises like squats and deadlifts. Dumbbells are great for muscle isolation, a greater range of motion and targeting muscle imbalances. I generally prefer the versatility of dumbbells in home workout programs.
Can you work out your whole body with just dumbbells?
Yes, especially if you include a combination of compound exercises and isolation exercises. Compound exercises are more efficient, meaning you can often lift heavier weights and burn more calories. Whereas isolation exercises (or exercises that focus on a specific muscle group, such as glute exercises, back exercises or chest exercises) can improve muscle definition and address muscle imbalances or weaknesses.
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4 comments
Another amazing workout! Thanks for this terrific new program! For the bicep curls, I really feel my core working hard, so I’d say it’s definitely functional for that aspect (besides the vanity perk 🙂 ). I also like the time-drop format a lot! With counted reps, I’m often not keeping up with you at the same pace and then have to pause to catch up, so I feel better about the timed intervals. Thanks again and keep up the fantastic work at NML!
Hi Sarah! Thank you for the feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed this workout and are liking the Athlete 25 program! Thanks for choosing to work out with us – keep up the great work! -Lindsey
Pure Fire! Not sure I’ve ever been left completely winded after one of your full body workouts and I’m not one to be out of breath easy. I found myself hoping that the push-ups in this workout counted for my 10 push-ups a day and I didn’t even have the energy to say Santos Platanos! Week 1 was fabulous! Looking forward to week 2! Thank you
There are some really challenging moves in this workout! And that 50-second work time in set 1 is tough!! Glad you enjoyed the first week of Athlete 25, Jessica! Looking forward to sweating with you in week 2. Keep crushing these workouts!! -Lindsey