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Best home workouts with one dumbbell: 7 exercises and a sample week

One dumbbell. A bit of floor. Seven moves that cover the whole body.

By Susmit Jalan, coach at Online Fitness Worldwide.

One dumbbell is enough to train every big muscle. You just have to use it well.

WHO asks adults for muscle-strengthening work on 2 or more days a week, plus 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity.[1]

ACSM's advice for beginners: 2 to 3 days a week, multi-joint moves first, and both two-sided and one-sided exercises.[2]

One-sided work is where a single dumbbell shines. Load one side, and the same weight asks more of you.

The 7 best exercises for a home workout with one dumbbell

  1. Goblet squat

    Why
    The big lower-body lift. ACSM puts large-muscle, multi-joint exercises first.[2]
    How
    Hold the dumbbell upright at your chest, both hands under the top end. Feet a little wider than hips. Sit down between your heels. Chest tall. Stand up through the whole foot.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12. Too easy at 12? Take 3 seconds on the way down.

  2. Romanian deadlift, two legs then one

    Why
    The hinge: hamstrings, glutes and back working together. When the two-leg version gets easy, the one-leg version makes the same dumbbell feel heavy again.
    How
    Dumbbell in both hands in front of the thighs. Soft knees. Push the hips back, weight close to the legs, back long. Stop when the hamstrings pull. Stand by squeezing the glutes. One-leg version: hold a wall with the free hand.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12. One-leg: 6 to 10 each side.

  3. Rear-foot-elevated split squat

    Why
    One leg at a time. In a small 5-week trial, 18 young rugby players who trained only this split squat gained about as much back-squat strength as those who trained only the back squat.[6] Small study, trained athletes. Still, it shows one leg and a light load can do real work.
    How
    Back foot on a sofa or chair behind you. Dumbbell at your chest. Lower straight down until the back knee is near the floor. Push up through the front foot. Hold a wall if you need to. New to it? Start as a split squat with both feet on the floor. Raise the back foot only when the front knee tracks over your foot at a mid-range depth. Go only as deep as stays comfortable: the back knee near the floor is the goal, not the start. Whatever holds your back foot must be sturdy and must not slide.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 each leg.

  4. One-arm dumbbell row

    Why
    The pull. It balances the pushing and builds the upper back. ACSM's advice includes one-sided exercises for this reason.[2]
    How
    One hand and one knee on a sturdy chair or bench. Back flat. Pull the dumbbell to your hip, elbow close. Pause. Lower slowly.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 each side.

  5. One-arm floor press

    Why
    A chest press with no bench. The floor sets the depth for you. Pair it with push-ups when the dumbbell gets light.
    How
    Lie on your back, knees bent. Dumbbell in one hand, upper arm at about 45 degrees from your body. Lower until the elbow touches the floor. Press up. Keep the other hand on the floor beside you.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 each side, then a set of push-ups.

  6. Half-kneeling one-arm overhead press

    Why
    The overhead push. Kneeling stops you leaning back to cheat the rep, so the shoulder and trunk do the work.
    How
    Kneel on one knee, the other foot in front. Dumbbell at the shoulder on the side of the down knee. Squeeze that glute. Press straight up. Lower to the shoulder with control.
    Dose
    2 sets of 6 to 10 each side. Skip it if pressing overhead hurts.

  7. Suitcase carry

    Why
    The weight sits on one side, so your trunk has to stop you leaning. Grip, posture and core in one walk.
    How
    Dumbbell in one hand at your side. Stand tall, shoulders level. Walk slowly with short steps. Switch hands and walk back.
    Dose
    3 to 4 walks of 20 to 30 metres each hand, or 30 seconds.

How do you make one dumbbell hard enough?

Days: 2 to 3 strength days a week to start. A load you can lift 8 to 12 times. When you beat the target by 1 to 2 reps, ACSM says add 2 to 10%.[2] With one fixed dumbbell you can't, so add reps, then a set, then a harder version.

Light can work. A review of 21 studies found similar muscle growth with light and heavy loads when sets were taken to failure. Heavy loads built more maximal strength.[3] So a light dumbbell grows muscle. It has a ceiling for top-end strength. That was a study condition, not an instruction. Training alone, stop each set with 1 to 3 reps in reserve.

You don't need to grind to failure. A review of 15 studies found only a trivial edge for sets taken to failure over sets stopped short, and none for true momentary failure.[4] Stop a rep or two before your form breaks.

Slow reps are a tool, not magic. Across 8 studies, rep durations from half a second to 8 seconds gave similar muscle growth when sets went to failure.[5] We slow the lowering only to make a light weight hard sooner.

A sample one-dumbbell week

Sample only. Not a prescription. Adjust it to your body, your history and your week.

  • Day 1 (A): warm-up, then goblet squat, one-arm row, one-arm floor press, suitcase carry. 2 to 3 sets each.
  • Day 2: 30 to 40 minutes of brisk walking.
  • Day 3 (B): warm-up, then Romanian deadlift, split squat, half-kneeling press, row. 2 to 3 sets each.
  • Day 4: rest, or an easy walk.
  • Day 5 (A again): add a rep where the last session felt easy. Slow the lowering where 12 reps came easily.
  • Days 6 and 7: one active day, one rest day. Your choice.

Want it coached live?

Iron Hour is strength and conditioning, coached live. 60 minutes, 1:1. Set-up at minute 0. Warm-up from minute 4. The primary lift starts at minute 14. Accessories at 28. Cool-down at 50.

It works at home with the kit you have. One dumbbell included. Load, reps and tempo are set each session, from what we see on the call.

Coming back after time off? Return is 45 minutes, 12 alternate-day sessions a month. Lean Reset is 20 sessions a month, 1:1. Open Floor is a small group.

Coached live on Google Meet, Zoom or FaceTime. In Hindi or English. On IST. Not sure yet? Start with a 30-minute consultation. It is a conversation, not training. Booking holds a time. The fee is agreed directly.

See the programsAsk on WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)

Before you start

General information, not medical advice. ACSM's screening model says: if you are inactive, have no symptoms and no known heart, metabolic or kidney disease, you can start light to moderate exercise without medical clearance and build up gradually. If you have one of those conditions, or symptoms such as chest pain, unusual breathlessness or dizziness, get medical clearance first.[7] Check the dumbbell before each session: collars tight on an adjustable one. Clear the floor around you. Stop if you feel sharp pain, and get advice first if you have a back or shoulder problem, are pregnant or have recently given birth.

ASCA Level 1 (strength and conditioning) and ACE (anatomy and biomechanics). These are credentials held by the coach. Neither body endorses this business or this article.

Sources

  1. [1] World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: WHO; 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128 (opens in a new tab)
  2. [2] American College of Sports Medicine. Position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687–708. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670 (opens in a new tab)
  3. [3] Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508–3523. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002200 (opens in a new tab)
  4. [4] Refalo MC, Helms ER, Trexler ET, Hamilton DL, Fyfe JJ. Influence of resistance training proximity-to-failure on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2023;53(3):649–665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01784-y (opens in a new tab)
  5. [5] Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn DI, Krieger JW. Effect of repetition duration during resistance training on muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2015;45(4):577–585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0304-0 (opens in a new tab)
  6. [6] Speirs DE, Bennett MA, Finn CV, Turner AP. Unilateral vs. bilateral squat training for strength, sprints, and agility in academy rugby players. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(2):386–392. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001096 (opens in a new tab)
  7. [7] Riebe D, Franklin BA, Thompson PD, et al. Updating ACSM's recommendations for exercise preparticipation health screening. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015;47(11):2473–2479. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000664 (opens in a new tab)