Workout 1: Chest and Back (Week 1)

Workout 1: Chest And Back (Week 1)
1A Floor press
How Lie flat on the floor, holding a dumbbell in each hand above your chest with straight arms. Lower the
weights towards your chest, then press them back up powerfully to return to the start.
Why Lying on the floor puts you in a stable position so you can attempt to go quite heavy with this move.
The range of motion is shorter than a bench press, so focus on contracting the chest muscles being targeted.
1B Hammer bent-over row
How Hold a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing each other. Bend forward, hingeing at the hips, then
row the weights up to your sides, leading with your elbows. Lower the weights back to the start under
Why This move hits the major muscles of your upper back, while your lower back gets worked to keep your
torso upright. Using a hammer grip also hits your forearms and improves grip strength.
2A Dumbbell press-up
How Get into position with your feet together and hands holding dumbbells shoulder-width apart. Brace
your core so your body is straight from head to heels. Bend your elbows to lower your chest, then press back
Why You might think press-ups are easy, but they are still a useful chest-building move – especially when you
factor in the instability of the weights to work your chest, as well as your core, harder.
2B Reverse flye
How Bend forwards from the hips with a light dumbbell in each hand, palms facing. Keeping a slight bend in
your elbows, raise the weights out to shoulder height, then lower them back to the start.
Why This move looks a lot harder than it is, and it works wonders for your upper back and rear shoulders.
Start with light weights and master the movement pattern to maximise muscle gain and minimise the risk of
3A Wide dumbbell press-up
How Get into position with your feet together and hands holding dumbbells wide apart. Brace your core so
your body is straight from head to heels. Bend your elbows to lower your chest, then press back up
Why Placing your hands in a wider position reduces the involvement of your triceps and shoulders, so your
chest has to do more of the hard work to lift and lower your torso.
3B Renegade row
How Get into position with your feet together and hands holding dumbbells shoulder-width apart. Brace
your core so your body is straight from head to heels. Row the weight up, leading with your elbow. Alternate
Why It works your upper back one side at a time so you can fully engage each of the muscles, as well as
recruiting your core and shoulder joints to keep your body stable.
Workout 2: Arms (Week 1)
1A Biceps curl
How Stand with dumbbells by your sides and palms facing forwards. Keeping your elbows tucked in to your
sides, curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps at the top. Lower them back to the start.
Why It’s the classic biceps lift for good reason: performing this move perfectly is one of the fastest ways to
add size to your biceps. Just keep your reps controlled to avoid swinging the dumbbells up and down.
1B Triceps Extension
Stand tall, holding a dumbbell over your head with one hand and arm straight. Keeping your chest up, lower
the weight behind your head, then raise it back to the start. Do all the reps with one arm and then switch
Working one arm at a time allows you to focus on making your triceps work hard to keep the dumbbell
under complete control throughout the lift and lower, while your core must be engaged to keep your torso
2A Hammer curl
How Stand with dumbbells by your sides and palms facing each other. Keeping your elbows tucked in to your
sides, curl the weights up, squeezing your biceps at the top. Lower them back to the start.
Why Adjusting your wrist position so that your palms face each other for the entirety of the set shifts the
workload to a different part of your biceps muscles, as well as recruiting your forearms.
2B Triceps kick-back
How Lean forward from your hips, keeping your back straight and arm bent holding a dumbbell. Raise the
weight behind you until your arm is straight, then lower back to the start. Do all the reps on one side, then
Why The key to making this an effective triceps-building move is to make sure you fully contract the working
muscle as you straighten your arm, and then to lower the dumbbell back to the start position under full
3A Spider curl
How Bend down and rest your elbows on your thighs, holding a dumbbell in each hand with arms straight.
Curl the weights up, squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower back to the start under control.
Why It may raise a few eyebrows in the gym, but this exercise works your biceps through a full range of
motion so you hit them from a slightly different angle, meaning even more muscle fibres are recruited.
3B Narrow dumbbell press-up
Workout 3: Legs And Abs (Week 1)

1A Squat
How Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your chest up and core braced, squat down as deep
as you can. Push back up through your heels to return to the start position.
Why It’s the classic lift for building bigger and stronger legs and because it’s a big compound lift that recruits
multiple muscle groups, it’s also effective at torching belly fat too.
1B Woodchop
How Stand holding a dumbbell in both hands to one side. Squat down then stand back up while raising the
weight up and across your body until it’s above your shoulder. Reverse the movement. Do all the reps then
Why It’s not as well known as other abs exercises, but do it right and you will build muscle across your entire
core, as well as working your shoulders and lower back.
2A Lunge
How Stand with a dumbbell in each hand. With your chest up and core braced, take a big step forward with
one foot until both knees are bent 90°, then push off your front foot to return to the start. Do all the reps
Why The lunge provides many of the same benefits as the squat but with even more core-sculpting
advantages because your abs must work overtime to keep your body stable as you lower and raise.
2B Halo
How Stand tall holding a dumbbell in both hands in front of your face. Raise it and move it around your head
in a clockwise direction. Do all the reps, then repeat in an anti-clockwise direction.
Why It will work your abs, which must be fully braced and engaged to keep your torso stable and upright,
and it will improve the strength and mobility of your delicate shoulder joints for added injury-prevention
3A Goblet squat
How Stand tall holding one end of a dumbbell with both hands. Squat down, keeping your back straight and
core braced, until the weight almost touches the group. Stand back up to return to the start.
Why At this point of the session your legs will already be close to fatigue but this move, with a single
dumbbell as resistance, will tax a few more muscle fibres for growth and keep your heart rate high for fat-
3B Crunch
How Lie flat on the floor, holding a dumbbell across your chest. Engage your abs, then raise your torso off
the floor. Squeeze your abs at the top, then lower yourself slowly and under control.
Why The crunch is great for developing your upper abs, but only if you do it right. And the added resistance
of the dumbbell will force those muscles to up their game to lift and lower your torso without help from
Workout 4: Shoulders (Week 1)

1A Overhead press
How Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height. Keeping your chest up, press the weights
directly overhead until your arms are straight, then lower them back to the start.
Why The key to building bigger, wider shoulders is to make these muscles work through their full range of
motion, so make sure you lower the dumbbells all the way back to the start position at the end of each rep.
1B Lateral raise
How Stand with dumbbells by your sides and palms facing each other. Lean forward slightly, then raise the
weights to the sides, leading with your elbows. Slowly lower them back to the start under control.
Why This is a fantastic move for hitting your side delts – the section of the shoulder muscles that, when
developed, creates a strong and wide upper body to help create the coveted V-shaped torso.
2A Arnold press
How Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height with palms facing you. Press the weights
directly overhead, rotating your wrists as you lift, until your arms are straight, then lower them back to the
Why It’s a similar lift to the straight overhead press, except your wrists rotate as you move the weights – and
it’s this added movement that will fire up even more muscle fibres.
2B Upright row
How Stand tall holding a pair of dumbbells in front of your body with straight arms. Keeping your chest up
and leading with your elbows, row the weights up until your hands reach chin height. Lower back to the start.
Why Building bigger shoulders means you also need to work your traps, which is what this lift does brilliantly.
Don’t go too heavy at first – it’s better to perform quality reps than max-weight ones – and never jerk the
3A Front raise
How Stand tall holding a pair of dumbbells in front of your body with straight arms. Keeping your chest up
and arms straight, raise the weights in front of you to shoulder hit. Lower back to the start.
Why This lift hits the front of your shoulders predominantly and, as with all shoulder moves, make sure you
are controlling the weight at all times – it should never be controlling you. You can’t add muscle if you’re
3B Shrug
How Stand tall holding a dumbbell in each hand with straight arms. Keeping your chest up, core braced and
arms straight, shrug your shoulders. Pause at the top, then lower the weights back to the start.
Why It’s another great move for bigger traps, and the best thing about this move is that you can go heavy
because its range of motion is so short. Keep everything tight and shrug the weights up powerfully to make it

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Workout 1: Chest And Back (Week 1)

Workout 2: Arms (Week 1)

Workout 3: Legs And Abs (Week 1)

Workout 4: Shoulders (Week 1)

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