Build muscle, improve athletic performance, and get fit at home with this full body workout with weights. A solid strength workout, nothing fancy, but nine of my favorite full body dumbbell exercises.
I have been a personal trainer for over a decade, and in my opinion, the most functional strength workouts include both bilateral and unilateral exercise for full body strength.
Which is why I programmed this workout to include important bilateral exercises like squats, deadlifts, back rows, pull ups and chest presses. As well as unilateral exercises like Bulgarian split lunges, single leg deadlifts, and Copenhagen planks.
Grab your heavy dumbbells – we want to reach muscle fatigue by the end of each circuit. Meaning the final 2-3 repetitions of each exercise should be challenging to complete with good form.
The Ultimate Full Body Workout With Weights
Build total body strength and challenge your core strength with this full body workout routine.
The exercises in this routine are designed to help you lift heavier, burn more calories, enhance core strength, and build lean muscle.
I suggest doing this full body workout once a week as part of a well-rounded workout routine.
Timed Intervals (30 seconds of work, 15 seconds rest; complete as many repetitions as you can in the timed interval)
Repeat Each Circuit x2 Sets
Workout Outline
CIRCUIT ONE:
Arms: Pull Ups
Legs: Heels Up Squats
Abs: Beast Single Arm Row and 3 Second Hold
CIRCUIT TWO:
Arms: Banded Tricep Pull Downs
Legs: Bulgarian Split Lunges
Abs: Copenhagen Plank Bottom Leg Kick Out and Crunch
CIRCUIT THREE:
Legs: Staggered Deadlift and 45 Degree Front Lunge
Arms: Rotational Chest Press
Abs: 4 Russian Twist and 1 V-Sit Press Out
9 Full Body Exercises To Build Strength At Home
1. Pull Up
Targets: Latissimus dorsi (lats), erector spinae, trapezius (traps), biceps, pectoralis major and minor (chest) and core.
How To Do A Pull Up
Start standing underneath your pull up bar, feet hip-width apart, neck and shoulders relaxed.
Reach up and grip the pull-up bar with your palms facing away from your body (overhand grip), hands slightly wider than shoulder-width distance apart.
Allow your body to hang freely with your arms fully extended.
Initiate the pull up by squeezing your shoulder blades together and pulling your chest towards the bar. Keep your elbows pointed downward throughout the movement.
Continue to pull your body, pulling your chest up until your chin is above the bar, or as high as you can comfortably go. Keep your core engaged and your body straight throughout the movement.
Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position, extending your arms fully.
Place a set of dumbbells on the ground behind your feet. Stand with your feet hip width apart, placing your heels on the bar of each dumbbell. Hold two dumbbell by your sides. Engage your core.
Inhale as you bend your knees and sit your hips back (as if sitting down in a chair). Aim for 90 degree bends at each knee, focusing on pushing your knees out (not letting them cave in). Keep your torso in an upright position.
Exhale as you press through your heels to stand tall, driving your hips forward to return to the standing position.
Modification: Perform this move with feet flat on the floor if heels raised isn’t comfortable for you.
3. Beast Single Arm Row
Targets: Abs, core, quads, back and shoulders.
How To Do A Beast Single Arm Row
Start in a table top position on all fours with shoulders stacked over wrists and hips stacked over knees. Place one dumbbell under your right hand.
Engage your core and tuck your toes under to hover your knees off the ground in a bear crawl position.
From bear crawl, pull the dumbbell in your right hand towards your ribcage to perform a dumbbell back row.
Place the dumbbell on your mat, then lift your right hand and left foot off your mat. Hold this position for three seconds.
Then, plant your left foot back on your mat and pick up the dumbbell with your right hand to perform a back row.
Modification: Perform a single leg deadlift and row, then stand tall and hold a three second single leg march.
4. Banded Tricep Pull Downs
Targets: All three heads of the tricep muscle (back of the upper arm).
How To Do A Banded Tricep Pull Downs
Anchor a resistance band to a sturdy overhead structure, such as a pull-up bar, ensuring it’s securely attached. Stand facing the band with your feet shoulder-width apart for balance.
Grab the band with both hands, palms facing down (overhand grip). Keep your elbows tucked close to your sides.
Pull the band downward by extending your elbows. Keep the movement controlled and aim for a 2-second tempo. Focus on engaging your triceps as you straighten your arms.
Slowly raise your hands back to the starting position by bending your elbows. Maintain the same 2-second tempo, keeping control over the band’s resistance.
Modification: Option to perform dumbbell tricep kickbacks instead.
5. Bulgarian Split Squat
Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstrings, hips and core.
This single leg exercise will challenge your balance and has been named one of the best exercises to build glute strength.
How To Do A Bulgarian Split Squat
Kneel in front of your bench or chair, then place your left foot behind you on a chair or bench, shoelaces down. Hold a dumbbell in your left hand.
Step your right foot forward (it will vary for everyone, but a little over a foot in front of your bench). Your front thigh will be parallel to the floor. This is the bottom of your movement.
Drive through your front right heel, squeezing your right glute to return to standing. Feel your front glute engage to power the movement.
With control, bend your knee to lower down back to the starting position (back left knee should lower down close to the ground), to make your front thigh parallel with the ground. Shoulders remain stacked over hips throughout the movement.
Modification: Perform a standard reverse lunge or split squat, keeping your back foot on the ground rather than elevating it on a chair.
6. Copenhagen Plank and Crunch
Targets: Internal and external oblique muscles (the muscles that run along the side of your core), transverse abdominus, hip abductors and hip adductors.
How To Do A Copenhagen Plank and Crunch
Start by lying on left side of body, left elbow resting on the floor directly beneath left shoulder. Extend both legs out to the right side, option to extend the right arm toward the ceiling.
Place the right knee on top of a bench and rest the left knee on the floor. Option to place the right foot on the bench if you’d like to make this more challenging.
Engage your core as you drive through the left elbow to lift your hips and your left knee off the floor.
Gaze forward and maintain a straight line from head to knee.
Then, pull your left knee and right elbow to meet in a crunch position.
Hold for a moment, then return to the starting position with left leg straighten in front of the box and your right elbow aligned with your shoulder and repeat.
Targets: Legs, glutes, hamstring, hips, quads, core and back.
How To Do A Staggered Deadlift and 45 Degree Front Lunge
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing towards your body.
Stagger your feet, so your right leg is slightly in front of your left foot. Kickstand your back left foot left heel floating off the ground. Keep 80% of your weight in your front foot, 20% in your back left toe.
Maintain a staggered stance as you hinge at the hips. Pushing your hips back towards the wall behind you as you glide the dumbbells down the front of your legs; core tight.
Then, drive through your front right heel to return to standing. Step your left foot forward at a 45-degree angle into a front lunge. Lower your back left knee toward the ground, keeping your hips square and lowering until both knees are bent at 90 degrees, with your front thigh parallel to the floor.
Drive through your front right heel to stand tall. Step back into your staggered stance with 80% of your weight on your front foot and 20% on your back toe.
8. Rotational Chest Press
Targets: The chest muscles (pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, serratus anterior and subclavius) and deltoids (shoulders)
How To Do Rotational Chest Presses
Lay flat on your back (on the ground, on a bench, incline bench, or on a stability ball) with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold one dumbbell in each hand (palms facing knees), elbows bent at a 90-degree angle.
Exhale as you push both dumbbells overhead at the same time, rotating your palms in towards each other as you press the weights up. At the top of the chest press, the dumbbells should be stacked directly over your shoulders, palms facing in (neutral grip).
Inhale as you slowly lower the dumbbells towards the ground, rotating your palms as you lower the weights so that your palms are facing away from your face at the bottom of the chest press.
9. Russian Twist and V-Sit Press Out
Targets: Deep transverse abs, rectus abdominis, lower abs, shoulders, top of the thighs and hips.
How To Do Russian Twist and V-Sit Press Out
Start sitting on your mat on your “sit bones,” knees bent at 90 degrees and feet planted on the floor. Hold a dumbbell horizontally between your hands right above your hips.
Engage your core as you lean back and lift your heels.
Keeping your torso straight and long, as you rotate your shoulders first to the right, twisting through the obliques to tap the ground outside your right hip with the dumbbell.
Return to center, then repeat on the left side, tapping the dumbbell to the ground outside your left hip before returning to center.
Then, exhale as you press the dumbbell at a 45 degree angle and straighten your legs, forming a “V” shape between your torso and knees.
With control, lower the dumbbell to your hips and bend your knees, hovering your feet off the ground. Then, return to the starting position.
Modification: Keep heels on the ground rather than floating your legs for additional core support.
FAQs
Full Body Or Split Workouts?
This all depends on the number of days per week you are training. If you’re a fitness beginner, strength training three times a week; I recommend three full body sessions. If you’re more advanced, and lifting 4-5 times a week I recommend a split training routine, targeting specific muscle groups each day (push and pull workouts).
Are Full Body Workouts With Weights Effective?
Yes, weight training or dumbbell exercises are extremely effective if your goal is to build muscle. Ultimately, the key to building muscle is to implement progressive overload which increases the intensity of your workouts over the course of weeks or months. Increasing repetitions or lifting heavier weights is a great way to achieve progressive overload.
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