Review: I tried these 3 dumbbell workouts as a beginner

I think I speak for everyone when I say that at some point in your exercise journey, you start to think about dumbbell workouts. In fact, how do you not? Fitness influencers use eight kg weights for some light exercise. And, well, they often have some toned muscles to show for it.

So I took the plunge. If you've been following this mini-series on The Weekly, you are probably well-versed with the fact that I'm a workout beginner in every sense of the word.

So, I aptly armed myself with two kg dumbbells and searched for beginner-friendly workouts to start out.

If you're a beginner just like me, read on to find out which exercises I tried. (And don't be ashamed to say you're a workout novice; we all start somewhere, don't we?).

Full upper body workout (tone & sculpt) - 15 min at home by Madfit

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=171&v=0zhvUV1bAVQ&feature=emb_logo[/embed]

When you think of dumbbells, you probably think of a good upper body workout. You've got to give those arms some love, after all. When searching for a starting point, I made it a requirement that the instructor focused on proper posture.

I'd heard horror stories of people injuring themselves by exercising with dumbbells without proper form and definitely didn't want that to happen to me.

Difficulty:

In terms of how easy it was to follow along, I really enjoyed that Madfit showed the same exercise from both the front and the side. This made it easy to follow along and adjust my posture appropriately.

Not only that, before each move, she would thoroughly explain how to execute it. Throughout, she would also keep reminding us (or, well, me) to keep my elbows tucked, keep my knees bent, etc.

The exercises shown in the video were also really simple to follow - nothing too complicated was going on; this workout video focused more on simple movements that effectively worked the muscles.

How much it burned:

The first time I tried this workout, I was surprised by how normal I felt after it. I wasn't perspiring, I wasn't breathing heavily, and my arms didn't feel sore the next day.

So I tried again. The second time, I made sure to do each move slowly and intentionally. I focused on engaging the correct muscles instead of simply completing each move.

And that seemed to have been the determining factor.

My arms were definitely sore after the second round. Not too much, but just enough to give my muscles a good ache. However, it is worth noting that I did only use two kg dumbbells. If you are doing this exercise with heavier weights, you are probably going to feel the burn much more.

Would I recommend it for beginners:

I would definitely recommend this workout for those who are just starting to exercise with dumbbells. In fact, I'd say that total beginners could give this a whirl if they are feeling confident.

This is a slow and calm workout that will easily allow you to follow along.

You won't feel flustered at not getting the form correct - especially since each move is explained in a slow and clear manner. The 30-second breaks in between also allow you to take a breather and rest up before diving into the next motion.

20 min standing dumbbell workout | sculpt and strengthen | full body | no repeats by fitbymik

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=452&v=8PDoi7g2gZc&feature=emb_logo[/embed]

I'm going to be honest: I was feeling quite good about myself after the previous workout. I didn't find it too hard and was looking for something that would challenge me. So I decided to try a full-body workout to really get my heart pumping.

Difficulty:

For this particular workout, I found myself having to rewind the clip in order to catch the movements. Despite fitbymik going through the moves before each one, the exercises often required the whole body.

So just to make sure I understood what to do with all my limbs, I had to replay each portion in order to be sure. But other than that, the moves weren't too complicated to do.

How much it burned:

Well, I was looking for something challenging, and I was challenged indeed. I found myself having to pause in between some moves because my legs were getting wobbly.

Sure, I was used to doing lunges - but I definitely wasn't used to doing them with an additional four kg on my body. I really had to push through to the end of the workout.

But at the end of the day, I found that my body didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

Would I recommend it for beginners:

If you're a total beginner, I wouldn't recommend this workout to you. But if you do some form of exercise regularly and are looking to push yourself, this is a good place to start your dumbbell workout journey.

One thing to note is that the breaks in between each activity are only 15 seconds. This can make it hard to really catch your breath and prepare for the next movement.

20 minute dumbbell full body workout - no repeat by Caroline Girvan

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9_SoClAO5g&feature=emb_imp_woyt[/embed]

Despite the fact that this workout is also 20 minutes long, it felt so much longer than the previous one.

Difficulty:

Most of the moves were pretty simple to execute, but there was one that I struggled with quite a fair bit - the renegade row. I didn't really know how far apart my legs needed to be because of the camera angle.

The references I looked at online showed the legs at hip-width apart, but Caroline seemed to have her legs spread a bit further than that.

The last move was also really hard for me to grasp. There was so much happening that I couldn't understand what was happening.

How much it burned:

I didn't even have to wait for the end of the exercise to feel the burn. Each move left me working up a sweat and my legs and arms were aching by the end. The next day, I found it hard to walk briskly and lift heavy things.

Would I recommend it for beginners:

I'd say to leave this workout aside until you have gained some muscle in your arms. This workout was no joke; when I finished it, I sat in front of the fan and wondered why I subjected myself to such 'torture'.

But I will definitely be setting this video as a benchmark for future me: the day I can get through this without putting my hands on my knees to breathe is the day I will no longer consider myself a workout beginner!

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This article was first published in The Singapore Women's Weekly.