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A Dumbbell Workout for Faster Fat-Burning, Guaranteed!

dumbbelllsYou’ve likely heard that cardio-only workouts are NOT the best way to burn fat, right?

It’s true.

Muscle is your fat-burning furnace. The more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will climb, and the faster you will be able to shed unwanted fat.

Yes, it’s time to hit the weights!

Jumping into a resistance training routine can be pretty daunting.

  • Which exercises work best?
  • What equipment do you need to use?
  • Where should you start?

Well, start right here …

1. Choose “Big-Bang” Exercises

If you want to develop a lean physique and a faster metabolism in the shortest amount of time possible, focus on what I call “big bang” exercises. These are movements that involve many muscles working together at once. The more muscle you can recruit for a single movement, the more calories you burn during and after your workout.

Some of the best “big bang” exercises include squats, deadlifts, push-ups (or chest presses), and various types of pulls (e.g. chin-ups). Not only do these exercises stimulate a large number of muscles, but they also target your muscles that are largest in physical size (i.e. your glutes, quads, hamstrings, lats, etc.). Working these physically large muscles will stimulate your metabolism even faster.

You get the point: For best fat-burning results, you need to work many muscles, and you need to work your largest muscles.

What’s next?

2. Create a Fast-Paced Routine

Do 10 repetitions of an exercise. Sit down and rest.

Do another set, and then grab a drink.

Get one more set done. Check text messages and Facebook.

This is a huge mistake that so many people make at the gym. They waste their time by focusing on just one exercise at a time, and by taking huge breaks between each set.

Instead, you’re going to keep your heart rate elevated and your muscles engaged by training in circuits. One exercise is immediately followed by the next, which is immediately followed by another, and so on.

As long as back-to-back exercises are training different muscle groups, your body does NOT need much (if any) recovery time. So don’t take that unnecessary rest!

3. Be a Workout Minimalist

There is a lot of fancy equipment in most gyms nowadays. Do you need any of it to get results?

Nope.

Most of the programs I use with my clients include bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, and occasionally barbell work. Again, these simple pieces of equipment typically allow your body to do more work (a.k.a. burn more calories and build more muscle).

The following dumbbell workout is a perfect example of a minimalistic routine that targets your “big bang” muscles, and will keep you moving (no breaks needed here!). In other words, this is pretty much the perfect fat-burning resistance workout …

Your Dumbbell Workout Routine For Faster Fat-Burning

As described in the video, never stop moving, never put down your weights, and push the pace!

For those taking notes, here are the workout specs:

  • 50 squats
  • 40 Russian Twists
  • 30 Push-Ups
  • 20 Deadlifts (10 per leg)
  • 10 Bentover Rows

Repeat 3 times!

Play around with your dumbbells until you find the weight that is just barely doable for this entire circuit.



Now get it done! —Dave Smith

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Comments

8 Comments
  1. Roshan says:

    Weight Training For Women…
    If you look at fitness magazines for women you will find a lot of suggestions for cardio routines, articles on toning certain body parts, and strength training using light dumbbells. The truth is that women should strength train just as men do for full body health and fitness. Unfortunately this message has not been widely spread, and women are missing out on this important aspect of fitness…Read more ..http://myworldnext.blogspot.com/2016/05/weight-training-for-women.html

  2. When I started at gym…my trainer suggested me to do only cardio for 2 month. It helped a lot to lose my weight. But, Sad thing was I also lost a great deal from my biceps and chest. I don’t think these were only the fat that I lost. Later, I get to know that doing only cardio not only reduces fat but also lean weights. The best way of loosing fat and building lean muscle, as you told in your article, is to mixing up cardio with proper weight training.
    Thanks for this cool article… its always good know new tricks.

  3. XtremeNO says:

    Great ionformation.As fitness lover I would love to read these kind of blogs..I would love to do back-to-back-to back, for 30 seconds each without resting.To make the workouts even harder for me,I can reduce the rest between rounds. This will help me to increases the intensity for even better results for both fitness and for fat loss.

  4. Christine says:

    Awesome Post about dumbbell workouts! I have found that I sometimes sweat so much more during a fast paced weight set than I do on a cardio machine. Thanks for the great tips!

  5. Andi Atari says:

    Hi Dave, great article! It’s all too common for me to see people say they want to lose weight, yet all they do is run on the treadmill for hours on end. Bodyweight exercises and resistance training are a whole lot more effective than plain, steady-state cardio every day! If I may, I’d also like to add that you might want to use heavier weights for your resistance training. It will raise your metabolism through the roof and will also make your cardio workouts more effective at burning calories. Plus, it won’t bulk you up, as many women mistakenly think it will, because you don’t have as much testosterone as men.

  6. Simran says:

    Really impressed by the workout details given here. very useful information one should follow .Thanks

  7. This article is great! I really like your use of “Big Bang” exercises. These are awesome steps to follow.

  8. Judith says:

    Great workout! Nice to see a workout that works the muscles properly and the heart. I’ve only recently found out about the importance of women doing proper weight training (as opposed to light dumbell work), but I don’t feel satisfied with a workout unless my heart is racing. This is a great start, thanks.

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